10 emotional pictures of Rory McIlroy’s Open homecoming as he sends direct demand to bosses
Rory McIlroy has demanded that the R&A swiftly return to Royal Portrush for The Open Championship despite losing his emotional Northern Ireland homecoming to Scottie Scheffler.
The 2025 Masters champion, who completed the Grand Slam earlier this year, could not overturn a six-shot overnight deficit to Scheffler when he teed off on Sunday, and ended up settling for a share of seventh place at 10-under-par. Meanwhile, Scheffler finished at 17-under-par, four shots clear of Harris English to win his fourth major title.
Scheffler is now just one U.S. Open win away from joining McIlroy and other of the sport’s best-ever in being a Grand Slam champion. Despite losing in his home country, McIlroy has urged R&A bosses to make a swift return to the Royal Portrush for The Open Championship.
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Around ten different courses are considered for The Open’s rotation, and the last time Royal Portrush played host was in 2019. McIlroy told reporters: “I tried as best as I could to keep my emotions in check, especially walking up the last there and that reception.
“It’s been an awesome week. I’ve gotten everything I wanted out of this week, apart from a Claret Jug, and that’s just because one person was just a little bit better than the rest of us. It’s been an amazing week. I feel so thankful and just so lucky that I get to do this, I get to do this in front of this crowd.
“Hopefully, I’ll have one or two Opens left here, if the R&A decides to keep coming back. Probably one while I’m still competitive and another one while I’m more gray than I already am. It’s just been incredible to come back here and to play and at least feel like I had a chance today going out there. Just an awesome week.”
McIlroy has also claimed that the R&A hosting The Open at the venue more frequently would be very popular among players. He continued: “Honestly, I think Portrush has quickly turned into one of the best two or three venues that The Open goes to. Talk to every player this week, and they won’t say one single bad thing about the golf course.
“Then I just think the way it sets up, from a logistical standpoint, I think the R&A has worked so well with the local government to make sure everything runs smoothly. Yeah, I hope so. It’s only been six years since 2019. I’m not sure Portrush is going to have The Open every six years, that would be nice, but I would obviously love it to keep coming back.”
