THE Mourne Mountains were out in all their majesty, keeping watch over the merry band of golfers and accompanying celebrities as they hacked their way around Royal County Down on Wednesday morning.
No VIP entitlements were granted, however, by this monster of a course.
Even with a low autumn sun overhead, and the illusion of postcard-perfect calm from a distance, all hell was breaking loose as balls flew here, there and everywhere – the twisting, torturous wind howling in off the Irish Sea showing no respect for number one singles sold, Irish caps won or episodes of Cold Feet watched.
The first busloads of punters to pull up huddled together, watching from outside the white picket fence of the putting green; like staring into a petting zoo in search of famous faces acting oblivious beneath bobble and baseball hats.
As course tents clung onto the turf below, the forecast offers little to suggest the following will be any different.
Yet the rain stayed away until it was almost Rory time.
Teeing off just after midday, skies suddenly darkened before the clouds gave way, leaving crowds to anxiously scuttle towards the first for McIlroy’s tee off.
Not for the last time this week, all eyes were on him. It’s the same wherever he goes but when he’s in Ireland, when he’s in the north especially, that interest is ratcheted up another couple of notches.
And, as much as he enjoys being back home, that love has not always been reciprocated on Irish courses – the Holywood man so often struggling to produce his best, missing the cut when the Irish Open was last held at Royal County Down in 2015, to the point he even corrected himself when referring back to that week.
“I played the Irish Open here nine years ago – well, half an Irish Open…”
There was a rueful laugh, but there is no doubt it niggles. Because the bare stats don’t lie.
In 14 Irish Opens, he has won once – at the K Club the year after his Newcastle nightmare - recorded two other top-10 finishes, missed five cuts and finished up way down the order every other time.
Of the four tournaments played in the north as a pro, McIlroy missed the cut in three: the 2019 Open at Portrush, as well as Irish Opens at Royal County Down and then Portstewart.
There were mitigating factors, too, the last time he played on the county Down coast. As host, it was his name that raised the profile of the event to new levels, bumping up the prize money and bring 14 of the world’s top 50 – including American stars like Rickie Fowler – across the pond.
Perhaps it was the energy expended, the expectation, the weight of it all, but his bubble burst in spectacular fashion with a nine-over-par 80 on the first day.
Now, nine years on, McIlroy hopes to banish those ghosts.
“Yeah, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword,” he said at Wednesday’s press conference, after playing nine holes in the pro-am event.
“I get the buzz but I also feel the added pressure of trying to perform at home. It’s something I’ve honestly struggled with in the past. You know, the couple of Irish Opens I’ve played in Northern Ireland, the one Open Championship I played in Northern Ireland, hasn’t went so well.
“I usually just try to relax and go about my business as I would at any other time of the year.”
Some of that pressure comes from a sense of duty to the young faces staring up at him wherever he goes. Based in America for so much of the year, opportunities to return to Ireland – never mind play there – have become few and far between.
Because, not so long ago, or at least that’s how it seems, Rory McIlroy was just like them.
“I was one of those kids in that line trying to get an autograph at Mount Juliet, or an Irish Open wherever it was back in 2003, 2004. I know how much it meant to me to get, you know, Tiger’s autograph, or Ernie or Sergio, or any of those guys.
“I understand that it’s hard to get to everyone but I try to make an effort, especially when I come back here. I don’t get to play competitive golf very often back here, so I certainly appreciate the support that I get.
“I try to make sure that they know that it’s appreciated and hopefully I can, I guess, give them something to aspire towards in the future if golf is what they want to do.”
In the grand scheme, Irish Open what-might-have-beens are small beer when compared with McIlroy’s bid to end a Major drought that stretches back over 10 years. Until he does, if he does, those questions will follow him wherever he goes.
Such is the price of being judged against your own astronomically high standards, but those millions in the bank can never compensate for what could, perhaps should, have been his in the decade since kissing the Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool.
The Paris Olympics saw him right in the mix for gold, and podium places at least, until a late collapse ended with him leaving the French capital empty-handed. But it is the US Open that still stings, that footage of a crestfallen McIlroy leaving the scoring room after a missed four-foot putt opened the door for Bryson DeChambeau to walk through.
“Rory’s been around a long time, he’s had a lot of disappointments as well as a lot of success – people forget that,” said former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley after his pro-am round.
“But I think he’s always shown resilience in his career, he’s been asked a question again from the US Open and he’ll bounce back from it.
“It’ll be interesting to see where his focus is going to be in the next few months as he plays here, next week and finishes out his season… it’s been a long season, a lot of golf.
“One thing I’ve learned in golf more than anything over the years is the guy who turns up focused and hungry is generally the guy that’s going to do well. There’s a lot of draws on Rory’s time and Rory’s energy – that’s his biggest challenge more than anything.”
“I think I’ve got myself in good positions this year,” said McIlroy later.
“The US Open and the Olympics are probably the two that I’ll look back… I think it’s maybe a little bit of game management. You know, I look back to Pinehurst and I definitely was very aware of where I was on the golf course, very aware of where Bryson was on the golf course.
“Partly to do with the nature of the golf course and how the layout was but also, I probably wasn’t in my own world enough on that particular afternoon.
“So I think just those little things, or, you know, I think you need to be aware of where you’re at but then you know, whether it’s just sort of finding that balance between pressing enough and not pressing too much, and if I think back to the 15th hole at the Olympics on that last day, I pressed a little too much there, trying to get a wedge a little too close, instead of maybe accepting 15 or 20 feet behind the hole.
“So it’s picking the right shot or having the right thought at the right time. At the top level of all sport, whether it’s football or golf or rugby, the margins are so, so fine, and this year, I’ve just been on the wrong side of those margins.”
Talk of when, if, that elusive fifth Major arrives rolls on but, for now, there is business to take care of, and a redemption story of a different kind to write.
And, in attempting to tame Royal County Down this time around, starting on Thursday afternoon, he will have a familiar face for company.
Tom McKibbin was just 12 when he played a practise round with McIlroy before the 2015 Irish Open – now they share the same stage, just an hour away from where their stories both began.
“It’s been amazing to watch his journey and see him from that little boy to come up and be a European Tour winner… it’s really cool. It’s cool to feel like I’ve had a tiny part in that journey, in some way.
“And you know, I’ve tried to help Tom as much as I think he needs my help; I don’t think he needs much of my help. He knows that if he ever has a question, I’m on the other end of the phone.
“I think he knows what he needs to do, he’s a very mature young man… I don’t think he needs much advice from me, but if he ever does feel like he needs it, he always knows that I’m here.
“I’m excited to play competitively with him these next couple of days, it’ll be a great atmosphere out there, and I’m sure we’ll both enjoy it.”
