THE
ANATOMY
OF RORY’S
PORTRUSH
RECORD
ory McIlroy was a curly-haired
wannabe when he broke the
course record at Royal Portrush,
posting an 11-under 61 on the Dunluce course
as a 16-year-old amateur. Playing off +4 in the
summer of 2005, he bettered the old record by
three shots during qualifying for the North of
Ireland Amateur Open Championship. No
one’s even come close to beating it since, let
alone coming home in 28 shots! McIlroy
needed just 26 putts and birdied his final five
holes. The scorecard now sits on display in the
clubhouse, right next to the entrance.
R
The new course record on the redesigned Dunluce course is
held by Caolan Rafferty. He shot a seven-under 65 in July 2017.A NEW RECORD“I got off to a pretty
decent start, birdied
the 2nd and 6th. I
was playing steady
enough, and birdied
the 9th as well to turn
in three under. Then
things just started
happening from
there.”“I eagled 10,
birdied 11, parred
12 and 13, and
birdied my way in.
It was the first
round I’d ever had
without a bogey!”“It was just
unbelievable.
When I came off
everyone was
congratulating
me, saying ‘what
a score!’. To
shoot 61
anywhere is
great, but to
shoot it around
Royal Portrush is
even better.”“When I got to about eight-under
standing on the 16th tee, I just
thought about trying to par my way
in. But I hit a nice tee shot off 16, a
nice shot in and holed the putt. I
knew 17 was going to be a pretty
easy birdie as well, so I got to 10
under. I was just trying to par the
last, but luckily the putt went in.”If I could pick one tournament
to win this year, it would be
Royal Portrush. It would be the
biggest achievement of my career
if I was able to win it.I never thought I would play a
Major in Northern Ireland.The
work the country has done to
bring The Open back is a great
achievement,and testament to
how great Northern Irish golf has
been in the last few years, with
myself, G-Mac and Darren all
winning Majors.The 2019 Open is something
that’s been on my radar for along time.I think everyone’s
getting up for it at home as well. I’m
going to be very proud to
showcase where I’m from and to
play in front of all the people who
have supported me throughout my
career. It’s going to be really cool.When you grow up so close to
great courses like this, you sort
of take them for granted. When
you go and play all over the world
and come back, you just realise
how good it is.One of the great things about
Royal Portrush is when you’re
driving from Belfast. You come upover the crest of a hill and the
Royal Court Hotel is on your right.
All you see is the course and the
sea. That’s when it really hits you,
how beautiful it is. You smell the
salty air, usually the wind is hitting
your face and more than likely
some rain. But that is what I grew
up with. Any time you got out of
the car and stepped on to the golf
course, that is what you felt. You
knew you were in for a tough day
on the links, but that’s what made
it more enjoyable.I desperately want to win. I’m
going to prepare for it the way I
always would. I’ll be nostalgic. I’llthink about my dad playing the
North of Ireland there, me playing
the North of Ireland there, all the
great rounds I’ve had there just
casually with mates... But at the
end of the day I’m trying to win
The Open Championship, so I’ll try
to treat it just like any other event.It would be a dream come true
to win. I’m not going to lie; I’ve
thought about what it would mean
and how special it would be in my
career. Not a lot of guys get the
opportunity to play such big
tournaments in front of their local
fans and people. It’s going to be
incredible; I can’t wait for it!Rory is a rare breed of golfers who says what he thinks. So believe him when he says that winning
The Open at Royal Portrush would be bigger than anything... including completing the Grand SlamINTERVIEW COURTESY OF THE R&AI DESPERATELY WANT TO WIN