Rory McIlroy insists he is ‘very capable’ of continuing his ‘amazing’ year by following Grand Slam success with a historic major victory, on home soil, at The Open.

McIlroy became just the sixth player in history to complete the Grand Slam with his play-off victory at The Masters in April, where at third worldwide victory of the season ended an 11-year wait for a fifth major title.

The world No 2 struggled over the next two majors but has show a return to form in his last two starts, finishing tied-sixth at the Travelers Championship before claiming a share of second at the Genesis Scottish Open last week.

McIlroy arrives at Royal Portrush with the chance to claim a maiden professional victory in Northern Ireland, with the 36-year-old ready to embrace the challenge and confident of adding to his major tally.

“I’m certainly encouraged by how I’ve played the last two starts, especially last week in Scotland,” McIlroy said in his pre-tournament press conference. “I think the two weeks off after the Travelers just to reset – to get over here, a bit of a change of scenery, has been really nice.

“When I was looking at the calendar for 2025, this was the tournament that was probably circled even more so than The Masters for different reasons. It’s lovely to be coming in here already with a major and everything else that’s happened this year.

“I’m excited with where my game is. I felt like I showed some really good signs last week. I feel like I’m in a good spot and, not that last week was a pure preparation week, but I definitely feel like it put me in a good spot heading into here.”

McIlroy arrived as pre-tournament favourite when Royal Portrush last hosted the tournament in 2019, only to fire a quadruple-bogey at the par-four first on his way to an opening-round 79 and eventual missed cut.

“I think that [fan reception] brought its own sort of pressure and more internally from myself and not really wanting to let people down,” McIlroy explained. “I guess it’s just something I didn’t mentally prepare for that day or that week.

“I learned pretty quickly that one of my challenges, especially in a week like this, is controlling myself and controlling that battle.

“I talked about it at The Masters on that last day. The battle on that last day wasn’t with Augusta National. It wasn’t with Bryson. It wasn’t with Justin Rose. The battle that day was with myself.

“I think whenever you get put in environments like that, that’s basically what it is. It’s you trying to overcome your mind and trying to give yourself that clarity to give yourself the best chance to put together a really good performance.”

McIlroy travelled from Scotland late on Sunday night and played a full practice round at 7am on Monday morning at Royal Portrush, a move he believes can help him best prepare for a potential sixth major victory.

“The last couple of majors, at the PGA [Championship] and the US Open, the practice rounds took so long,” McIlroy admitted. “I feel like there’s 50 people inside the ropes all the time. I feel like I just can’t get good work done, good preparation.

“I didn’t come up here ahead of time to try to get a couple of practice rounds in, so I just wanted to get out early, sort of beat the rush, beat the crowd, and do my work with not a lot of people around. It worked out well.”

More to come from McIlroy?

McIlroy previously described completing the career Grand Slam earlier this year as “climbing his Everest”, although remains determined to build on that memorable victory at The Masters with further major success.

“I still feel like I have a lot more to give,” McIlroy insisted. “Talk about the pressure being off, yes, but we’re all competitors. We all want to do better. We all think we can just get a little bit extra out of what we have.

“I’ve alluded to this, but I probably just didn’t give myself enough time to let it all sink in. But that’s the nature of professional golf. They do a very good job of keeping you on the hamster wheel and you feel like it’s hard to get off at times.

“But it’s been an amazing year. The fact that I’m here at Portrush with the Green Jacket, having completed that lifelong dream. I want to do my best this week to enjoy everything that comes my way and enjoy the reaction of the fans and enjoy being in front of them and playing in front of them.

“But at the same time, I want to win this golf tournament, and I feel like I’m very capable of doing that.”

How can I watch The Open live on Sky Sports?

Sky Sports is once again the exclusive home of The Open, with live coverage from all seven days of tournament week and round-the-clock coverage of the final men’s major of the year.

Wall-to-wall coverage of the opening round begins on Thursday from 6.30am on Sky Sports Golf, with live action available for all four tournament days and a host of extra feeds also available on Sky Sports+.

Who will win The Open? Watch the final men’s major of the year throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage of the opening round begins on Thursday from 6.30am on Sky Sports Golf. Stream The Open and more top sport with no contract.