THE honour of hitting the first shot of The Open at Royal Portrush has been bestowed upon two-time champion Padraig Harrington.
The oldest tournament in golf returns to the Antrim course this week for the first time since 2019 when Shane Lowry memorably streaked clear of all other contenders.
Two of his three major wins came at this tournament[/caption]
Rory McIlroy won at Royal Liverpool in 2014[/caption]
Shane Lowry will be hoping lightning strikes twice at the home of his greatest hour[/caption]
Harrington, 53, triumphed in successive years at at Carnoustie and Royal Birkdale in 2007 and 2008 respectively.
In a sign of the standing he’s held in on both sides of the Irish Sea, tournament organisers have chosen him as the lucky golfer to hit Thursday’s opening tee shot.
At the time of writing, the playing groups for the first two days of play have yet to be announced so we don’t know who will be alongside the Dubliner throughout the opening 36 holes.
While definitely in the back nine of his career, Harrington remains a force to be reckoned with as shown by him once again clinching the US Senior Open two weeks ago.
Rory McIlroy will of course be the number one centre of attention of course as he’ll hope this bid to win the year’s final major on home soil goes better than it did for him in 2019.
He famously endured two rounds from hell starting with an errant tee shot on the opening hole as he wound up missing the cut.
But feels he can scamper to a sixth major triumph at The Open – after finally getting a break from the “hamster wheel” of professional golf.
McIlroy believes the reason it took him so long to recapture his competitive vibe after his Masters triumph was because he had no chance to enjoy his career-defining achievement.
The USPGA and the US Open followed hard on the heels of Augusta, where McIlroy, 36, finally completed the career Grand Slam, after a major drought lasting more than a decade.
And he says it was only when he took two weeks off following last month’s Travelers Championship that he was able to appreciate what he had achieved.
He explained: “Yeah, I think everyone could see over the last couple of months how I struggled with resetting my goals, after I’ve done something that I’ve told everyone that I wanted to do.
“I probably just didn’t give myself enough time to let it all sink in. But that’s the nature of professional golf.
“They do a very good job of keeping you on the hamster wheel, and you feel like it’s hard to get off at times.
“But it’s been an amazing year. The fact that I’m here at Portrush with the green jacket, having completed that lifelong dream.
“Now I want to do my best this week to enjoy everything that comes my way and enjoy the reaction of the fans and enjoy being in front of them and playing in front of them.
“But at the same time, I want to win this golf tournament, and I feel like I’m very capable of doing that.”
McIlroy proved he is not ready to simply bask in the glory of becoming only the sixth player ever to win all four majors as he launched himself into his Open preparations yesterday.
He was still on the course at the Scottish Open until nearly 7pm on Sunday – and was back in action just 12 hours later to play his first practice round at Portrush.
