The Panel
Golf Experts
The Open: How will Rory McIlroy handle fresh major pressure and expectation of Northern Irish crowd at Royal Portrush?
Rory McIlroy chases major victory on home soil at The Open; McIlroy missed the cut when Royal Portrush last held The Open in 2019 but arrives among the favourites this year, having completed the career Grand Slam at The Masters in April; watch live on Sky Sports Golf
Last Updated: 16/07/25 7:43pm
Former major champion Graeme McDowell believes the weight of expectation could harm Rory McIlroy's chances of a home major victory at The Open.
McIlroy ended an 11-year wait for a fifth major title and completed the career Grand Slam at The Masters in April, with the world No 2 now looking to claim a first win as a professional in Northern Ireland.
The 36-year-old missed the cut when The Open was last held at Royal Portrush in 2019, firing a quadruple bogey on his opening hole, with McDowell questioning how much McIlroy will be affected by the added pressure of the home support.
- The Open: Latest headlines, highlights and more 📰
- Got Sky? Watch The Open on the Sky Sports app 📱
- Not got Sky? Stream The Open with no contract 📺
"I think Rory is going to have too much emotion to deal with this week," McDowell told Sky Sports. "I still hope he competes but I think it's going to be very difficult for him with the weight on his shoulders of all the emotion, and the weight of a country on his back.
"It's a really, really tough call this week because of the (forecasted) rain. Playing golf well in the wet is an art form. It's very difficult to pick a guy out there that we think is really good at it because they're all spoiled and we play in the sunshine most of the time.
"This is going to sound a little biased, but Jon Rahm is kind of popping out to me. I'm looking at a European or a British and Irish player, a little bit gritty, a little something in there."
McIlroy bounced back from an opening-round 79 to fire a second-round 65 in the 2019 contest, where he missed the cut by a shot, but former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley believes he will learn from that experience and can contend this week.
"I think he [McIlroy] is in a better place mentally to deal with it," McGinley told Sky Sports. "The last time he was here he tried to treat it like just another tournament, to disconnect from the fact that it's home and just play golf. Obviously that didn't work out very well.
"We're a few years down the road. He's a lot more experienced. He's now got his Grand Slam in his back pocket. The words that he has used this week is 'I'm going to go and embrace the challenge. I'm going to embrace the crowd'.
"He likes when the spotlight is on him and I think that's what he's going to come out with tomorrow. So that's the first big thing you would say about Rory, is he's in a different place mentally."
'Complete' McIlroy ready to contend at The Open?
McIlroy's Masters victory was his third of the year on the PGA Tour, having won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Players, while the 2014 Open champion comes into this week off the back of a tied-second finish at the Genesis Scottish Open on Sunday.
"I think his game is a lot more complete than it's ever been before," McGinley added. "What we considered weaknesses in the past are now strong strengths.
"You'd argue that actually putting, statistically, is the best part of his game now. He's ranked number four or five in the PGA Tour in putting this year. Who would have thought that? A few years ago, before he started working with Brad Faxon, he was 125th or something in putting.
"It's the same with his wedge play. He's gone from 75 to 125 yards. He's top 20 in the PGA Tour for that now. He's hitting a different flight. He's bringing it down. He's controlling the distance better.
"Then the third thing, the string to add to his bow, is he has become really good at hitting this 'stinger', as Tiger called it. We saw him use that at the US Open around Pinehurst when he nearly won. We're seeing him use it more and more on tight holes.
"There's three good statistical reasons and shot-making reasons on top of what I see as a better attitude. I'm not going to say he's going to win, but I think he's here to perform and I think he'll put up a really good challenge this week."
McIlroy's win at The Masters came via a play-off against Ryder Cup team-mate Justin Rose, who feels the former world No 1 can embrace the home support without needing to worry about the result.
"Rory is obviously a local hero around here, and rightly so," Rose said in his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday. "He has been probably since he shot 61 here as a kid. The legend around him in these parts has been growing for a long, long time.
"Obviously he's going to be incredibly well supported this week. I feel like the pressure is off him almost from that point of view this time around as it was to 2019.
"The fact he's got nothing really more to prove. This would just be like cherries on top of everything. I feel like probably he's in a good mindset, I would imagine.
"Obviously I've had a bit of a come down off the back of The Masters. I feel like I'm coming back around to having more energy and focus again. I can see maybe the same for him too. Yeah, it's probably coming at a good time."
Who will win The Open? Watch the final men's major of the year throughout the week live on Sky Sports? Live coverage of the opening round begins on Thursday from 6.30am on Sky Sports Golf. Stream The Open and more top sport with no contract.
