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He’s played the course hundreds of times and knows the new changes
as well as anyone, so who better to talk us through every hole?GMAC’S
GUIDE TO
PORTRUSH
WORDS MICHAEL CATLING PICTURES BOB ATKINS, GETTY IMAGES
GOLF COURSE ILLUSTRATIONS DECLAN HAYES - COLLABARO
MCILROY INTERVIEWS THE R&Aew know Royal Portrush better
than Graeme McDowell. He
grew up playing the course,
his brother works there as a
greenkeeper and most of his family still live in
the town. And the 2010 US Open champion
is doing his utmost to make sure he plays
there this July.
“Having grown up in the town and lived
there for most of my life, it would be one
of my proudest moments to play The
Open there,” he admits. “Growing up as a
young boy, the Claret Jug was always very
synonymous with Portrush, but I don’t think
I ever, in my wildest dreams, pictured going
back there to play an Open Championship.
“It goes without saying that it’s one of
my huge goals over the coming months
to qualify. I’ve got many ways in via my
world ranking, spots in the Irish or Scottish
Open, Final Qualifying at Royal Lytham &
St Annes... There’s a lot of balls in the air.
I feel like I’m playing well and am capable
of getting it done. But if I don’t, it will beone of the most bittersweet experiences of
my career.”
Despite basing himself in America now, he
still takes time out from the PGA Tour to visit
his home town whenever he can and often
that includes a round on the newly-designed
course. “The R&A has done a fantastic job in
capturing the flavour of Portrush with some
of the new green complexes and changes,”
he told us. “The two new holes capture a
beautiful piece of land off the Valley course,
which was probably my favourite corner and
used to be the old 5th and 6th. They’ve really
captured Harry Colt’s original architecture.
I’m sure the players will love it.”
The expectation is that many of them will
be trying to pick his brains between now
and the middle of July, which is why we got
in early and persuaded GMac to give us his
guide to the course. You can also find out
what Rory thinks about the new 7th and 8th
holes, plus Portrush’s Head Pro Gary McNeill
shares some tips on how to tackle the key
shots there.F
GOLFINGSCENE