Oakmont, Pa. — Since earning the 2025 Master a few months ago and completing a career Grand Slam, Rory McIlroy’s run has been almost unforgettable. The Masters winner has since reached the pinnacle of his professional career, fighting and motivating before aiming for the next mountain that has been attracting attention following his midway performance at the 2025 US Open.
“I climbed Everest in April. After you do something like that, I think you need to come back and you have to look for another mountain to climb.” “The opening of the (Royal) Portrush is certainly one of them.”
Since sliding the green jacket, McIlroy has not considered the past two major championships. His final round of 67 at the Oakmont Country Club pushed his name to the leaderboard, but it wasn’t enough to continue his top 10 straight wins at the national championships that ended on Sunday’s six.
Next up after McIlroy is the Travelles Championship, a PGA Tour signature event, before traveling with family from Florida to London. This sets Scotland’s participation in the Open as a warm-up before the opening.
McIlroy shockedly missed the cut when Claret Jug last got his grab in the Royal Portrush in 2019. McIlroy missed out on a cut at last year’s Open after a consecutive top six finish in the majors in 2022-23.
The five-time major champion claims he will be out of this funk by the time the 2014-winning tournament returns to his home country in July. Despite his recent series of misery, he was listed on 13/2 and won the open.
“If I can’t motivate myself to stand up for an open championship at home, I don’t know what will motivate me,” McIlroy said. “I just need to put myself in the right mind frame. I’ve probably not been there for the last few weeks. But like I said, if I go home and spend a few weeks off before that, I hopefully refresh myself and rejuvenate and take me to the right place again.”
McIlroy’s missed cut at the 2024 Open was an epic way as he was the first major to achieve a heartbreaking defeat at the US Open that year. This was after McIlroy was unbearably close to winning his 150th Open on the old course at St Andrews.
The Open marks McIlroy’s first European tournament since his master won and a career Grand Slam victory. Ulsterman is sure to be welcomed like a king as he tries to add to the celebration by notching his sixth career major championship and raising his second claret jug.
“Hopefully we can celebrate with them on Sunday nights with a claret jug and a green jacket,” McIlroy said. “It’s amazing to see, go home and play in that vibe and see a lot of people who haven’t seen it yet. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m glad this week ended with a slightly positive note on the way I played (Sunday).
