The final major of the 2025 golf season will commence from Northern Ireland on Thursday. Here are some interesting storylines to follow at Royal Portrush.
Will we see the good or bad Rory McIlroy?
No golfer will generate more attention this week than the world number two. That is because Rory McIlroy will be competing in his home country of Northern Ireland as he calls Holywood home. In 2025 we have seen the great and the ugly from McIlroy. He had a great start to the season with wins at Pebble Beach, the Players Championship and the Masters. Then McIlroy stumbled with a 47th place at the PGA Championship and a dreadful result at the Canadian Open, where he was in 149th place out of 154 golfers who participated in the tournament. In his last two appearances, McIlroy has built momentum. He was sixth at the Travelers and second at the Scottish Open.
Who won the British Open at Portrush in the past?
This will be only the third time that the British Open has been at Royal Portrush. The first time was 1951 when Max Faulkner of Bexhill-on-Sea, England defeated Antonio Cerda of Argentina by two strokes. Faulkner posted a winning score of -3. Then in 2019, we saw the greatness from Ireland’s Shane Lowry who beat England’s Tommy Fleetwood by six strokes after posting a score of -15. Lowry became the second Irishman ever to win the British Open, following Padraig Harrington of Dublin, who won in back-to-back years of 2007 and 2008.
Who is the betting favourite?
Scottie Scheffler is currently at +500. He has a narrow advantage over McIlroy at +700. So far this season, the native of Ridgewood, New Jersey has won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson by eight strokes, the PGA Championship by five strokes, and the Memorial Tournament by four strokes. One thing to keep in mind, unlike McIlroy (2014) and world number three Xander Schauffele of San Diego, California (2024), Scheffler has never won two majors in the same calendar year.
Rain in the forecast
There is rain expected. The question will be how much? Play will go on as long as the rain is not extremely heavy and as long as there is no thunder and lightning in the area. Players generally prefer the rain compared to heavy winds.
LIV Representatives
There are 19 LIV golfers at the British Open. They include major champions Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Cameron Smith and Henrik Stenson.
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