Rory McIlroy admits home Open Championship provides extra motivation and 'little bit more pressure'
Rory McIlroy admits there’s extra motivation – and pressure – to win on home soil ahead of returning to Royal Portrush for next week’s Open Championship.
The opportunity to play in front of a home crowd doesn’t come around often for McIlroy – this is only the second Open to be staged in Northern Ireland during his career after 2019, where the Holywood native missed the cut.
McIlroy came close to a magical Irish Open victory at Royal County Down last year, ultimately missing out by one shot to Ramus Hojgaard, but now returns to his homeland having completed a career Grand Slam following Masters joy in April.
He will be the star attraction throughout a week where 278,000 spectators are set to flock to the iconic Dunluce course, marking Northern Ireland’s biggest ever sporting event, and McIlroy admits there’s an added sense of importance on this tournament given its location.
"If venues in golf matter to you, it maybe puts a little bit more pressure on you,” he said. “I would love to win an Open at Portrush, absolutely.
“There's venues in the game that just mean a little bit more.
“Having Portrush from home and the experience I had there last time, you know, I want to, the Friday was amazing, the Thursday, not too much.
“It's a little like (Novak) Djokovic winning the Olympics last year, he knew that was going to be his final chance, and you saw the emotion and how much it meant to him.
"You think about it, and you can't pretend that it's not there, but when you are on the course, you just have to go out there and play as if you're not playing at home and just play as if it's another golf tournament.
“It has a little more emphasis. There's something extra there, just like there is at an Open at St Andrews or a U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.”
After taking a couple of weeks off, McIlroy returned to action at the Scottish Open and produced a stunning second round on Friday, posting a five-under 65 which included six birdies.
It moved him onto seven-under for the tournament and the world number two feels he’s beginning to shake off some rust ahead of The Open.
"I'm feeling pretty good,” said McIlroy. “I did a lot of good things today.
"Still a couple of loose shots here and there but overall I thought it was a good day and obviously I’m excited for the weekend being right in the thick of things, in contention going into the last two days...if there is anything you need to work on in your game, that's where it's going to show when you're under that sort of pressure trying to win a tournament.
"There's still a few loose shots in there but for the most part it was a good day. I held a lot of putts. I did most things pretty well.
"It was a good day for that and as I said, getting into contention and then seeing how your game holds up when you're in the thick of things.
"I think that tells you a lot more about where you are than just the first two days of a tournament.”