Even the new haircut is an issue. In front of the British Open in his home country of Northern Ireland, superstar Rory McIlroy focuses on.
The ex-Lockenkopf regrets the thing with the hair. “Well, as you know, I am getting gray. Then I thought, when I let her cut them briefly, you can see it less,” Rory McIlroy commented on his new look with a huge shot of self -irony: “It backfired. But the good thing is that the hair is growing – and until the Ryder Cup in September they have the right length again.”
However, the prestigious comparison between the best golfers in the United States and Europe is only the highlight after next. Previously, the last major of the year is on the program from Thursday (7:30 a.m. MESZ/Sky).
And before the 153rd British Open on the picturesque Royal Portrush course on the Northern Irish coast, everything revolves around the local superstar. Almost every 300,000 expected fans want to see McIlroy Siegen.
That was the case before. But when the “Champion Golfer of the Year” was last searched in Portrush six years ago, McIlroy smashed and missed the cut.
Golf: Mcilroy feels support and pressure from home fans
“I still remember the applause before the first tee and how I was not prepared for the upcoming feelings,” said the 36-year-old when looking back: “I thought: ‘These people absolutely want me to win.’ That triggered pressure with me because I didn’t want to disappoint people. “
This time McIlroy wants to do better at the oldest golf tournament in the world. “It probably makes more sense to simply accept attention because it is nice to be able to accept admiration – even if it is sometimes difficult for me,” said the world ranking second: “One of my challenges will be to master this fight.”
They are authentic statements like this that make McIlroy the world’s largest sympathy wearer in his sport. And it is the human weaknesses of the five -time major winner that make him so popular.
While the world ranking list of Scottie Scheffler (USA) has been delivering one top result for months, McIlroy has only been able to free himself from his long-lasting deep in the past few weeks at the Scottish Open.
Mcilroy fought with motivational hole
McIlroy openly admitted that after his triumph in April he fell into a hole at the Masters. For over a decade, the northern end had run after the entry in the history books.
After completing the career Grand Slam as the sixth professional of history, the motivation was gone. Neither with the PGA Championship nor with the US Open, McIlroy had something to do with the front places.
But in the fight for the coveted silver cup that Claret Jug, McIlroy wants to have a say. “Above all, the performance in Scotland encouraged me,” he said: “I feel well positioned.”
Before the expected dealing with Scheffler, defending champion Xander Schauffele (USA) and the approximately ten other fellow favorites, McIlroy should perhaps think that he played the best round of history in Portrush (61 strokes) as a 16-year-old. Back then as a curly head – without a gray hair.