All week, all month, all year, Portrush has talked about only one winner of the Open: Rory McIlroy.
Though it was not to be for McIlroy, who tied for seventh place – the claret jug went to the world number one Scottie Scheffler – in the end, nobody really minded.
As McIlroy walked on to the 18th hole in the Sunday evening sun, he did so to a standing ovation; there were Irish flags, Northern Irish flags, and everywhere, people were on their feet, showing their appreciation for their hero by applauding him home.
“None of us could live with what he [Scheffler] had this week,” McIlroy told the media afterwards, “but for me, to be in front of everyone here at home and to get that reception up the last, absolutely incredible. I’ll remember that for a long time.”
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[ The Open Day Four: Scottie Scheffler cruises to victory at Royal Portrush - as it happened ]
“Rory did win,” said Brian McDermott, from Moville, Co Donegal. “He brought the Open to Portrush. The Open would not be here without him, so that is a win.
“Six years ago, he missed the cut, so to get him, and to watch him, and to see him finish – that is a win.
“Seeing him come into the 18th, and everybody in that grandstand get up and applaud him – that is a win, for Ireland and for Rory McIlroy.”
There have been many winners from this Open; add to that list Royal Portrush Golf Club, the town of Portrush, and Northern Ireland.
Though official figures are yet to follow, the predictions themselves were impressive: an economic boost to Northern Ireland of £213 million just from Open week alone.
Yet this does not include the impact that will continue to be felt for a long after the Open has packed up and left town.
Just one example is the announcement by the Galgorm hotel group that it is to spend more than £30 million creating a new golf course at Bellarena, Co Derry – around half an hour from Royal Portrush – an investment which it said will “help to cement the region’s reputation as a world-class golfing destination”.
At Royal Portrush, “I reckon it’s going to take us into the top 10 in the world now in the rankings,” said the club’s ladies captain, Naoimh Quigg, while there is also the prospect of the first Open ever to be held south of the Border, potentially through the inclusion of Portmarnock in Co Dublin on the Open roster.
“They’re already talking about Portmarnock because we’ve been so successful here, and that conversation down South, moving it out of the UK, that’s positive, and it’s going to be great for the South, for Dublin, for the whole of the country,” she said.
As the spectators drift towards the exits, there is the hope that the Open will also come back to the north coast; in the clubhouse, “we’re looking forward to getting back to what we do best, which is being Royal Portrush Golf Club again, and getting to play our course.
“Personally, I would love to see a world class women’s event here, either the AIG Women’s Open or the Curtis Cup ... to showcase a world class women’s event in this country would be, I think, the next positive move for this club to work towards,” said Quigg.
“For a small country to be able to achieve what we’ve achieved, and as a town, for us to host this and put this on – I was thinking, if this does come back, it’s scary to think how big we could go.”
The anticipation has begun – and maybe, next time, McIlroy might lift that claret jug after all.
