Wiser Rory McIlroy better equipped to handle home pressure at British Open this time around

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Rory McIlroy was younger and less seasoned mentally than he is now. 

He had no idea what to expect when he stepped to the first tee in the opening round of the 2019 British Open at Royal Portrush, a golf course in Northern Ireland located 60 miles from his boyhood home on which he set the course record as a 16-year-old. 

McIlroy hit his opening tee shot out of bounds, broke the face of a spectator’s mobile phone with the errant shot, took a quadruple-bogey 8 on the hole and played himself out of the tournament with a 79. 

He rallied with a 65 in the second round, and the atmosphere around Portrush was as electric on a Friday as it would get on a final-round Sunday, with the locals willing McIlroy to make the cut and play the weekend.