Rory McIlroy says he can't wait to play The Open at a course his Dad took him to as a 10th birthday present.
The oldest of golf's four major championships starts at Royal Portrush tomorrow, at a course where the world number three set the course record as a 16-year-old.
It's the first time the event has been held at the venue for 68 years.
"My dad brought me here to play on my 10th birthday, it was my present, and I met Darren Clarke that day.
"It's sort of surreal that it's here. Even driving in yesterday and you see someone like Tony Finau on the second tee, it's strange to see them here but it's really cool.
"It shows what we have done in terms of players, with GMac winning the US Open, Darren the Open and then some of the success I've had, and how Northern Ireland has come on as a country that we are able to host such a big event.
“In golfing terms it’s legacy could be young boys and girls picking up clubs and playing. It’ll be a massive thing for the country. Sport has the ability to bring people together."
Having admitted that he sometimes felt under pressure in the lead up to Irish Opens, McIlroy insists he's treating this week's major as any other tournament.
"I'm just treating this like any other Open Championship.
"I have played well the last few years, I've played well on this course, so I just need to hit the shots, stay in the present and put one foot in front of the other.
"I know what I'm doing round here. I got here thinking the course is going to be set up different for the Open but it's still the same course.
"I was making it bigger in my head than it needed to be. I have played this place enough times to know where to hit it, where to miss it."
