Rory McIlroy says that this year's Open at Portrush is the event he looks out for, more than all other tournaments. The Northern Ireland star might have clinched The Masters and sealed the career Grand Slam in 2025, yet it’s the return to Royal Portrush that he is eagerly looking forward to.

"When I was looking at the calendar for 2025, this was the tournament that was probably, I don't know, circled, even more so than the Masters for different reasons," McIlroy said. "It's lovely to be coming in here already with a major and everything else that's happened this year."

His last outing on this course during the 2019 Open turned into a nightmare. It is also the ground where a 16-year-old McIlroy once set a record-shattering 61.

The 2019 experience saw him card an appalling 79 on the opening day, and despite a valiant 65 on the second, he couldn't make the cut. Nonetheless, McIlroy enters this week off the back of a joint runner-up finish at the Scottish Open on Sunday, brimming with confidence.

He added: "I'm excited with where my game is. I felt like I showed some really good signs last week. I feel like I'm in a good spot and had - not that last week was a pure preparation week, but I definitely feel like it put me in a good spot heading into here.

"I'm certainly encouraged by how I've played the last two starts, especially last week in Scotland. I think the two weeks off after the Travelers just to reset, to get over here, a bit of a change of scenery has been really nice."

He reflected on the unexpected emotional impact of the crowd's support at the 2019 championship when a challenging start saw him score an eight at the opening hole. "The ovation I got on the first tee on Thursday and not being prepared for it or not being ready for how I was going to feel or what I was going to feel," he recounted.

 "Then the golf on Thursday feels like a bit of a blur. I try to forget that part of it. But I remember the run on Friday. I remember I was making a charge and making a run to try to make the cut, and I hit a 6-iron into the 14th, second shot, and I remember the roar from the crowd.

"It was sort of getting a little dark [on the 14th] and it was overcast, and for whatever reason, that's the one thing I remember is that shot and that roar of the crowd, and walking up to that green and getting a standing ovation. It was really special."

With regret that his 2019 appearance was short-lived, McIlroy hopes for a better outcome this time around. "I wish I had have been here for two more days to get a bit more of that and experience it," he concluded. "But hopefully I can change that this week."