Open Championship golfers and the British Open favorite to win ahead of the year's final major at Royal Portrush

By the time Rory McIlroy finished his first practice round for the British Open at Royal Portrush, a big crowd that weathered rain and sunshine was waiting to see him finish.

Rory McIlroy was there for the most consequential moment of Shane Lowry’s career, kneeling greenside when his best friend secured t

Golf's oldest championship returns to Royal Portrush. It's the third time the British Open has gone to the Northern Ireland links. Shane Lowry won in 2019.

You wouldn't have necessarily picked Northern Ireland as the lab to create one of the greatest drivers of the golf ball of all time. But in retrospect it makes sense. Rory McIlroy's game doesn't resemble the stereotypical wind-formed,

In the lineage of golf courses, Royal Portrush isn't in the same stratosphere as St. Andrews or Augusta National or Pebble Beach. But to Rory McIlroy, it's special.

The world No. 2 finished runner-up at the Genesis Scottish Open, gaining momentum for next week's British Open in his native homeland.