Organisers of The Open golf championship at Portrush delivered a highly successful event in a land scorched by recent sporting failure. The collapse of plans to host matches in football's Euro 2028 tournament in Belfast damaged Northern Ireland's reputation in the world of sport.

Rory McIlroy’s jokes about “more grey than I already am” for the Open’s return to Royal Portrush before his retirement could also apply to the impact of trying to close down Sunday champion Scottie Scheffler.

Rory McIlroy couldn't have asked for much more at Royal Portrush, save one thing. But there just happens to be one man unparalleled in his generation.

So here is our final major big board of the year, ranking the top 30 golfers in the field. This is not simply the 30 best golfers in a vacuum. These are the 30 golfers that our crack team of Gabby Herzig, Hugh Kellenberger and Brody Miller believe are best suited to win this week at Royal Portrush.

Rory McIlroy arrived in his home country with unfinished business. And even though he lost the Open by seven, left with something more important.

How to watch every single shot from the biggest names in golf throughout Round 4 at the 2025 Open Championship

HOLYWOOD, Northern Ireland — Two decades before Rory McIlroy’s career-defining triumph, when he finally conquered his Masters demons with an emotional rollercoaster of a win at Augusta National, he did, in fact, already own a green jacket.

McIlroy capped the Grand Slam in April, and called this “an awesome week' after tying for seventh place at Portrush.