Royal Portrush’s Dunluce Links in Northern Ireland is regarded as one of the most challenging of its kind in the world, with all the elements you’d expect of a top-quality links layout, including dunes, undulations and regularly tricky wind conditions. It’s also the home of the feared Calamity Corner at the 16th, a huge chasm short and right of the green that makes it one of the best par 3s in the world.
Not that you’d have thought it was so difficult if you’d been one of the select few there to witness Rory McIlroy’s performance in the 2005 North of Ireland Amateur. On that occasion, McIlroy, who was a precocious 16-year-old at the time, didn’t just showcase his ability to an increasingly interested world, he annihilated the course record in the process.
The previous lowest score at the course had been 64, but McIlroy, who was raised an hour or so’s drive from Royal Portrush and knew it well, carded a new record with a 61.
His astonishing round included one eagle and nine birdies, with his back nine in particular something to behold. He began it with an eagle at the 10th, followed by a birdie at the 11th and five successive birdies to finish.
Speaking to The Open’s official website before the 2019 Major at the venue, McIlroy remarked: “There are not many golf rounds where I remember every shot but for that round, I do.”
In preparation for the 2019 Open, several changes were made to the course, including replacing the 17th and 18th holes of the original course with what became the 7th and 8th, while the 2nd was lengthened by 40 yards, meaning his unforgettable day there in 2005 would forever stand as the old course record.
Given McIlroy’s history at the course, combined with the impressive professional career he had already built, by the time the Major began, he had been installed as favorite.
To say things didn’t go to plan would be an understatement, with him carding a disastrous opening round of 79, meaning that even a vastly improved 65 in the second round wasn’t enough to see him into the weekend, much to his disappointment.
However, the day after McIlroy departed, Irishman Shane Lowry set a course record for the new design, with a 63 in his third round on his way to winning the title by four.
In that round, he went bogey-free, making eight birdies along. Most impressive were three successive birdies from the 15th, and he even threatened to at least match the lowest men’s Major round in history – a 62 achieved by Branden Grace at the tournament two years earlier, but he narrowly missed a birdie putt at the 18th.
In any case, the scale of the performance was not lost on Lowry, who recalled afterwards: “I said to Bo walking off the 17th tee: ‘We might never have a day like this on the golf course again, so let’s enjoy this next half an hour.’
"And that’s what I did. The crowd was incredible. I just can’t believe what it was like. Honestly, that’s the most incredible day I’ve ever had on the golf course.”
