The year was 2019. After a 68-year gap, the R&A took the Open back to Royal Portrush. The influence of major winners from Northern Ireland such as Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell was viewed as crucial in the decision.

So here is our final major big board of the year, ranking the top 30 golfers in the field. This is not simply the 30 best golfers in a vacuum. These are the 30 golfers that our crack team of Gabby Herzig, Hugh Kellenberger and Brody Miller believe are best suited to win this week at Royal Portrush.

Rory McIlroy was always destined for greatness. The Northern Irishman was chipping golf balls into washing machines on television talks shows when he was eight years old. Everyone who encountered

McIlroy said Monday that he was overwhelmed by the reception he received six years ago in his home of Northern Ireland. Now a Grand Slam winner, he's ready for this week's championship.

When Rory McIlroy arrived at Royal Portrush six years ago it was meant to be a glorious homecoming for Northern Ireland's most famous sportsman but his British Open hopes lasted only two rounds.

Rory McIlroy grew up in Holywood, Northern Ireland, and learned to play golf at Holywood Golf Club. I visited and took the "McIlroy Tour."

A two-story mural depicting a precocious Rory McIlroy in 2012 has seen such better days that you can barely tell it is the Grand Slam golfer anymore