Rory McIlroy's nightmare start to The Open Championship at Royal Portrush six years ago left a lasting impact on Tom McKibbin, who was feeling the nerves ahead of his opening round

Here's what to know about McIlroy's roots, from his hometown and upbringing, to his young golf career before he emerged as one of the best players in the world. McIlroy was born in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland in 1989. His father was also from Holywood, while his mother was from Lurgan, County Armagh.

The Open Championship returning to the Dunluce Links course at Royal Portrush represents just the second time Rory McIlroy has played a major in Northern Ireland

IT was the golfing duel that stopped the nation. Shortly after midnight on April 14, Britain was gripped by the sight of two of its own scrapping for The Masters’ Green Jacket at Augusta. After a

It was the moment the majority of Royal Portrush fans on opening day of the Open Championship had been waiting to see – as Masters champion and Northern Ireland hero Rory McIlroy stepped up to end the anticipation and tee off around 3pm on Thursday.

Six years ago at Royal Portrush, McIlroy, who grew up less than an hour away, hit his opening shot out of bounds on the par-4 first on his way to a quadruple-bogey 8 and a 79. He pulled his tee shot again, this time around, but it settled safely in the left rough.

Rory McIlroy attended the Association of Golf Writers dinner on Tuesday evening and was decked out in green — Masters green.

So here is our final major big board of the year, ranking the top 30 golfers in the field. This is not simply the 30 best golfers in a vacuum. These are the 30 golfers that our crack team of Gabby Herzig, Hugh Kellenberger and Brody Miller believe are best suited to win this week at Royal Portrush.

Rory McIlroy is attempting to follow up on his Masters triumph earlier this year with victory in The Open, which gets underway at Royal Portrush on Thursday morning