Shane Lowry was almost doing cartwheels after he opened with a one-under 70 and his pal Rory McIlroy was equally relieved to overcome a wayward driver to match him and lie just three shots off the pace in The Open at Royal Portrush.

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — If anybody stepped to the first tee at Portrush with a powerful memory, it was Shane Lowry. He is, after all, the last player to win a British Open at Portrush, in 2019, and he’d been anticipating the emotions that would engulf him for that first tee shot this week for quite a while.

Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy addresses the crowd's presence after Round One of The 2025 Open Championship

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Shane Lowry has returned to Royal Portrush as the last man to win The Open at this year's venue, but the former champion admitted he was nervous ahead of his first tee shot

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A raucous reception will greet Rory McIlroy as the British Open returns to Royal Portrush and Northern Ireland on Thursday for the first time since Shane Lowry's 2019 triumph. Two-time champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland will hit the opening tee shot at 6:35 am local time,

Shane Lowry said ahead of the Open Championship on Monday that feeling pangs of self-doubt before big events isn't always a bad thing.

If we were feeling especially dramatic, that might be the way we'd describe the scene on the first tee Thursday afternoon at around 3:10 p.m. British Standard Time, when Rory McIlroy hit what can be reasonably described as the most anticipated first tee shot of 2025.