Counterintuitive though it may seem the Open Championship, in its 148th staging and with a history stretching back to 1860 in Prestwick, has entered uncharted territory. Never before has this tournament been so defined by its venue. Significance of location far outweighs the most illustrious participants. After a wait of 68 years, a stretch marked for so long by grim societal realities, Royal Portrush is the Open’s terrain once more.
Tears will be shed as Darren Clarke strides forward to lash the major’s first drive at 6.35am. Thereafter the competitive instincts of Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Tiger Woods and others will take over. Nonetheless the connotations of what this tournament in this area means will linger far beyond four days. The eagerness and expectancy of crowds, even in the practice days, has been palpable. In Northern Ireland there is not only pride that the Open can be here but a determination that it should rank among the best.
Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland
It is a fine line for McIlroy between taking inspiration from this home Open and being overawed by the occasion. McIlroy’s recent record in this major is terrific – 2013 marked the last time he finished outside the top five – with a lush, softer Portrush presumably working in his favour.
Day one tee time: 10.09am with Gary Woodland (US), Paul Casey (Eng).
Jon Rahm, Spain
The Spaniard loves links golf in Ireland; success at the Irish Open at Lahinch earlier this month was his second there in three years. Rahm’s share of third at the recent US Open at Pebble Beach continued his trend towards major victory. Understandably, he is many people’s fancy here.
Day one tee time: 3.21pm with Patrick Cantlay (US), Matt Kuchar (US).
Henrik Stenson, Sweden
The Swede is recovering from his latest career slump, with injury an explanation for troubles of not so long ago. The 2016 champion, so deadly accurate from tee-to-green, finished inside the top 10 of the US Open and did not shoot a round higher than 69 at last week’s Scottish Open.
Day one tee time: 9.14am with Xander Schauffele (US), Graeme McDowell (NI).
Adam Scott, Australia
Darren Clarke has tipped Scott for success after playing practice holes with the Australian last week. Scott’s Open record is decent rather than excellent but he has given the impression of a career renaissance after starting a family and putting woes impacted on the former Masters winner’s form.
Day one tee time: 9.58am with Francesco Molinari (It), Bryson DeChambeau (US).
Shane Lowry, Ireland
Four Open missed cuts in succession would not draw you towards the 32-year-old. Yet Lowry has a history of playing well in Northern Ireland and is enjoying arguably his most consistent year on both sides of the Atlantic. Success in Abu Dhabi was followed by strong performances in two of the three majors.
Day one tee time: 7.52am with Phil Mickelson (US), Branden Grace (SA
In the garden of Seamus Heaney there would be no more poetic story than McIlroy ending a five-year wait for a major win at the course he first encountered as a wide-eyed child, watching his father, Gerry, compete in amateur championships. If that claim appears to ignore the worldwide reverberations as Woods won this year’s Masters, the size of that epic achievement appears to have temporarily blunted the 15-times major winner’s edge. Woods’s Open buildup has been silent, an apparent consequence of realising that scaling mountains for a second time comes at psychological cost. It would be a shock were Woods to win a fourth Claret Jug at a course he remains so unfamiliar with.
The notion that Koepka cannot perform at the seaside is scoffed at by those closest to him. In Ricky Elliott, a Portrush native, the American has a caddie more akin to the site’s vagaries than most. However unsatisfactory it may be, there is a huge element of luck with regards to the draw even before erratic links bounces are considered. Predictions are a fools errand.
It may seem unfairly trivial to point out the importance of birdies and bogeys replacing bullets and bomb scares in the local vernacular. Yet Northern Ireland’s fractious history is intrinsically linked to why this event is so momentous. Even 20 years ago any concept of the oldest major crossing the Irish Sea would have been laughed out of court. The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 proved a line in the sand after decades of bloodshed but elements of trepidation from outsiders remained.
It is wholly appropriate that golf will deliver the grandest sporting spectacle the island of Ireland has ever staged. The sport was never defined by north or south. This Open will return the second-biggest attendance in its history, at more than 237,000. More pertinently a huge global television audience is anticipated. The normalisation of Northern Ireland as a tourist venue and sporting stage is worthy of celebration.
The top-level victories of McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington precipitated pro-Portrush lobbying towards the R&A – then headed by Peter Dawson – which proved impossible to ignore.
“It started off as a joke – why can’t we go back to Portrush?” McDowell said. “Myself and Darren and Rory, especially. And the reasons were: infrastructure, this and that and the other.
“When the ball really started to get rolling was when Padraig won his three majors. Then I won and Rory and Darren picked up a major each, as well. The jokes turned kind of serious.
“At the Irish Open in 2012 we broke the European Tour attendance record. The R&A couldn’t ignore the fact that this could be a commercial success. The jokes became very serious. It was like: ‘We can do this, we can pull it off.’”
To the immense credit of those involved, including the now-retired Dawson, here we are.
To insist new beginnings have completely eradicated deep divisions would be gross exaggeration; but then, there has been quite a bit of that. Irish ability to self-promote is recurring as it is admirable. The Dunluce links is a fantastic piece of land on a stunning coastline. This also applies to Turnberry. Muirfield, St Andrews, Royal Birkdale, Carnoustie and Royal Lytham & St Annes can lay legitimate claim to be superior courses. Portrush does not tend to rate as the finest course in Northern Ireland, with Royal County Down afforded higher status.
“Coleraine Supports Soldier F,” booms a banner adjacent to the railway station in the town six miles from here, backing the paratrooper facing murder charges over Bloody Sunday. The horrendous tragedy that befell Lyra McKee in Derry occurred as the golf world was still giddy from Woods’s heroics at Augusta National. Any spirit of widespread cooperation, as is necessary when fluttering eyelids towards the R&A, is rather undermined by the fact the Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended since early 2017.
Portrush has definite potential to prove one of the Open’s more exciting backdrops. Risk-reward features heavily, especially on the closing stretch. The ease with which two new holes – the 7th and 8th – fit into the landscape is an architectural phenomenon.
Max Faulkner collected £300 for his 1951 triumph here. There will not be much change out of that from a day at the Open now. To Portrush and its people, however, the entire scene is priceless.