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Shane Lowry and Collin Morikawa during their practice round on Tuesday, when it was announced that they’ll also be playing together on Thursday and Friday. (Photo: John Dickson / Dickson Digital)
Scottie Scheffler in action at Royal Portrush
Rory McIlroy took time out with fans after his rounds on Monday and Tuesday
Darren Clarke, Rory McIlroy and Tom McKibbin on the 18th hole during their early practice round on Tuesday morning
Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke during their early start on Tuesday
Rory McIlroy spent 15 minutes signing autographs for fans after his practice round on Monday.
Rory McIlroy’s early start proved to be an inspired decision as afternoon starters like Justin Thomas (inset) were left frustrated by weather stoppages.
Shane Lowry on Monday
Rory signs an Ulster Banner that featured all four major championship logos – choosing to sign The Open corner.
Rory McIlroy made this fan’s day early on Monday morning
Rory McIlroy on the course on Monday morning. (Getty Images)
Phil Mickelson is set to tee off in the first group on Tuesday morning.
Gareth Hanna and Adam McKendry
Today at 15:16
Rory McIlroy will start his first round on Thursday at 3.10pm with his Friday round starting at 10.09am as tee-times for The Open have been released.
He will be playing alongside Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood, who finished as runner-up at Royal Portrush in 2019.
The winner that time, Shane Lowry is out in the exact opposite times, at 10.09am on Thursday and 3.10pm on Friday. He is alongside Collin Morikawa and world number one Scottie Scheffler.
There will be an early start for NI man Tom McKibbin, alongside Padraig Harrington and Nikolai Hojgaard in the first group at 6.35am on Thursday.
Scroll down for the tee-times in full to find out when your favourites will be on the course.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday the Met Office has warned of potential disruption not just at Royal Portrush but across Northern Ireland between 11am and 5pm.
As on Monday – when play was twice halted due to a threat of lightning – it could underline the wisdom of Rory McIlroy’s surprise early start.
For the second day in a row, he stole a march on the crowds by sneaking out for a 7am practice round in preparation for The Open Championship, this time accompanied by fellow Northern Irishmen Tom McKibbin and Darren Clarke.
The trio were getting their second look at the course after McIlroy did the same on Monday morning having raced over from Scotland, before addressing the media in the afternoon, talking about how he has learned from his approach to 2019.
Shane Lowry and Collin Morikawa during their practice round on Tuesday, when it was announced that they’ll also be playing together on Thursday and Friday. (Photo: John Dickson / Dickson Digital)
Who is Rory McIlroy and what is golf’s Career Grand Slam?
Shane Lowry headed out for his Tuesday practice round at 12.36pm, starting at the first.
Follow along with all the week’s action right here on our live blog:
Key updates
Revealed: Tee times for rounds one and two
World number one explains what is ‘unusual’ about Royal Portrush course
In photos: Rory and his legion of fans
Major winner on why he’s ‘jealous’ of Tom McKibbin
Yellow weather warning issued
Bryson has arrived
Bryson DeChambeau is out on the course for nine holes this afternoon, having completed his media duties before he had set foot on the course yet this week. He’s playing alongside Robert MacIntyre and Justin Rose in a group that’s well worth a watch for fans out on the course.
Reminder to fans: Autograph hunting etiquette
There was a bit of an incident out on the course when Shane Lowry had to tell a couple of young fans to get back behind the ropes after they ducked under and ran up to him looking for an autograph. He’s being very generous with his time on signings, but fans have to respect the rules around that too. Or else it’ll get ruined for everyone.
Quoted messageAutograph hunting: The tactics
That’s what it’s all about this week so for some of the young fans here in Portrush. It’s a sport in its own right. So what are the top tips?
Get in place: Get ahead of the group and find a spot right where the rope will be on the path between a green and a tee. If they are signing mid-round – some do and some don’t – that’s where it will be.Ask politely: ‘Shane could you sign this please?’ Mind your Ps and Qs.18th green: Down the slope to the left of 18 there is a little pocket for fans to gather, which is where Rory has spent so long with fans after his rounds. And when Phil Mickelson did likewise earlier. He was there so long, the group behind played through and were gone before him! Fun on 8Collin Morikawa is having some fun with Brian Harman as they walk up to the green. Harman hit first and played a nice shot to around six feet, with Morikawa following and hitting it so accurately that he hits Harman’s ball and knocks it to the back of the green!
“You gotta play it where it lies!” Morikawa laughs as Harman rolls his ball back to its original spot.
Morikawa is still the one laughing when it’s all said and done. He holes the birdie putt after Harman misses.
Lowry loveThis isn’t the crowd watching Shane Lowry, this is the crowd waiting for him on the eighth green. Another set of fans, just as big, are following him up the fairway. Portrush loves their 2019 champion.
In the meantime, the ones by the green are occupying themselves by watching Akshay Bhatia, Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth on the 10th green. That’s some group.
Pinch point
Here’s something to watch over the next few days – there’s a build up of players between the ninth green and 10th tee, which has led to a bit of a backlog. The key issue seems to be over the blind tee shot on 10 – you hope that won’t be a problem come Thursday.
Revealed: Tee times for rounds one and twoRory McIlroy will start his first round on Thursday at 3.10pm with his Friday round starting at 10.09am as tee-times for The Open have been released.
He will be playing alongside Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood, who finished as runner-up at Royal Portrush in 2019.
The winner that time, Shane Lowry is out in the exact opposite times, at 10.09am on Thursday and 3.10pm on Friday. He is alongside Collin Morikawa and world number one Scottie Scheffler.
There will be an early start for NI man Tom McKibbin, alongside Padraig Harrington and Nikolai Hojgaard in the first group at 6.35am on Thursday. They will be out at 11.26am on Friday.
Revealed: Tee times for rounds one and two
2019 champion on 18No, Shane Lowry hasn’t played the fastest practice round of golf ever, it’s his caddy from six years ago on the final green, Ardglass man Brian ‘Bo’ Martin.
He now caddies for Minwoo Lee, and the pair’s presence has actually drawn a fair crowd.
Coming up: Round 1&2 tee times
We’re reliably informed the tee times are set to be announced very shortly, which will help fans coming on Thursday and Friday plan out their days.
Is there a storm coming?
It’s just starting to look a bit darker grey over the hill. There could be a drop or two of rain coming, but then it’s felt like that all day.
World number one explains what is ‘unusual’ about Royal Portrush course
As he faced the media this morning, world number one Scottie Scheffler gave some detailed thoughts on the Dunluce Links.
Here’s what he had to say: “Irish links so far is quite a bit different than Scottish links. It’s a bit greener over here. You have to play a lot more shots into the air. This golf course has a few false fronts on the greens, which I would say is a bit unusual for links golf.
“A lot of times people talk about running it up but a lot of times it’s difficult to run it up with a false front on the green, especially playing here into the wind.
“There’s a lot of different shots you have to play. It’s an interesting golf course and, from what I’ve seen, it seems to be really fun to play and very fair.
“The pot bunkering here is also very different than the other links courses that I’ve played where, in terms of these bunkers, I think it’s going to be quite rare for you to see guys with one foot out of the bunker with their knee up on the side. I think some of the links courses I’ve played, it was kind of hit or miss when you went into a bunker what kind of lie you were going to get. There’s some times you’re going to be putting the ball into the middle of the bunker just to have another shot, whereas these there’s a lot more slope into the bunkers where the ball kind of funnels into the middle. I would argue that might be a little bit more fair than two guys hitting a similar shot and one guy has to putt it back into the bunker and the other guy has a clean lie.
“So I think I would prefer this type of bunkering just in terms of fairness. So that’s another good thing about this golf course.”
The real action It does feel like the action here for the young fans is all taking place between the holes as Shane signs as many hats and flags as he can. Collin Morikawa has also joined the group and is similarly generous. Not where he wants to beLeft off the par five second tee and it’s a pitch out for Shane. The fairway sweeping right to left off the tee makes it a little hard to find your mark. Autograph hunting: The tactics
That’s what it’s all about this week so for some of the young fans here in Portrush. It’s a sport in its own right. So what are the top tips?
Get in place: Get ahead of the group and find a spot right where the rope will be on the path between a green and a tee. If they are signing mid-round – some do and some don’t – that’s where it will be.Ask politely: ‘Shane could you sign this please?’ Mind your Ps and Qs.18th green: Down the slope to the left of 18 there is a little pocket for fans to gather, which is where Rory has spent so long with fans after his rounds. And when Phil Mickelson did likewise earlier. He was there so long, the group behind played through and were gone before him! Shane meets Shane
This young Shane Lowry lookalike got a signature from the man himself as he made his way from the first green to the second tee. Shane (the real one) seems in good spirits as he signs plenty of items for his fans. How couldn’t he be in good form as memories of 2019 flood back?
Mind the false frontOne of Lowry’s playing partners, Andrew Novak, had his caddy toddle a ball off the front edge of the first green and it sped up and sped up as it rolled past a bunker 10 yards short and into a collection area. You don’t have to ally want to come up short here – or give yourself a long putt back down the hill. Distance control is key.
The trio are taking their time putting until their hearts are content as they get to grips with the speed of the greens.
Worth popping over to the first tee
So the three NI-interest may have come and gone but there’s plenty more talent out there. In fact, arriving on the first tee right now is 2019 champion Shane Lowry, alongside Americans Brian Harman and Andrew Novak.
Elsewhere, Xander Schauffele, Keegan Bradley and Patrick Cantlay are out together again on 13 just behind Padraig Harrington.
On the front nine, Robert MacIntyre is on the fourth.
You never know who you’ll bump into
Former Northern Ireland football star Chris Brunt is at The Open today. He’s enjoying the practice day and will be back at the weekend. Chris is a fine golfer himself and plays off a handicap of five.
How’s the weather holding up?
Thankfully, the weather warning hasn’t lived up to its early promise of thunderstorms and flooding – it’s all still looking pretty rosy here! As proof, here’s the most recent photo filed, of Japan’s Takumi Kanaya putting on the 16th green at Calamity Corner. Looks bliss, eh?
THE Rory shot on 18
Absolute chef’s kiss moment from our photographer John Dickson on 18 with these shots of Rory hitting his approach in towards the wraparound grand stand.
And scroll to the ‘making of’ image with John in the black jacket a red top standing beside Rory’s caddy Harry Diamond.