PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — He played his first British Open as a curly-haired, chubby teenager in 2007, earning low amateur honors the same week that Padraig Harrington lifted the Claret Jug.
Back then, Rory McIlroy could have never dreamed the Open would be played in his home country, less than an hour from his boyhood home, something that has now happened twice.
McIlroy, who won the Open in 2014, didn't lift the Claret Jug on Sunday, perhaps the only disappointing aspect of his week at Royal Portrush. He walked away a winner anyway, with a tie for seventh to cap a major season that saw him complete the career Grand Slam in April with his Masters victory.
MORE: Final results, payouts from Royal Portrush
“I tried as best as I could to keep my emotions in check, especially walking up the last there and that reception,” said McIlroy, who finished seven shots back of winner Scottie Scheffler. “Look, 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 decide 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.”
Royal Portrush hosted the Open for just the third time, the first coming in 1951 and the second six years ago when Ireland’s Shane Lowry won the championship. Those are the only times in 153 Opens that the tournament has not been played in Great Britain.
Political strife and then infrastructure issues made the idea of returning appear almost unfathomable as recently as 15 years ago. But when McIlroy won the U.S. Open in 2011, one year after Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell won the same event and right before another local, Darren Clarke, won the 2011 British Open, momentum began to shift.
The tournament was awarded to the area in 2015, to be staged in 2019, and was such a success that it returned faster than just about any venue outside of St. Andrews.
“Honestly, I think Portrush has quickly turned into one of the best two or three venues that the Open goes to,” McIlroy said. “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 have worked so well with the local government to make sure everything runs smoothly. 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.”
Next year’s Open will be at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England, followed by the Old Course at St. Andrews in 2027. No venue has been announced for 2028 and there are several courses that have gone a long time without hosting, including Muirfield and Turnberry.
For McIlroy, the Open was a chance to get back on track after a rather tumultuous time following his Masters victory. He performed poorly at both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open, where a good final round helped finish in a tie for 19th. Along the way, he missed the cut at the Canadian Open.
But he started to find some form again recently, with a tie for sixth at the Travelers Championship and a tie for second at the Scottish Open.
He won three times early in the year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Players Championship and the Masters and said he’s feeling more like he did then—although with one big disclaimer.
“I also had the three wins when Scottie wasn’t quite on his game,” McIlroy said. “But I do, I feel good. I feel like being back in Europe for a bit was a nice reset. Yeah, I feel like I’m getting back to where I want to be, and we’ve still got a lot of golf left this year with obviously Ryder Cup being the big one in there in September.
“I don’t want to play too much leading up to that because I want to be fresh, so I’m looking forward to a few weeks off here. I’ll reflect on what’s been already a good year and start to get myself ready for that run up to the Ryder Cup.”
McIlroy didn’t say so, but he is expected to skip the first FedEx Cup playoff event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tenn. That means his next start would be the BMW Championship at Caves Valley near Baltimore, followed by the Tour Championship.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rory McIlroy Takes One Final Bow at British Open to Complete Historic Major Season.