Irish golfer Shane Lowry won the Open the last time it was held at Royal Portrush in 2019 (pictured above), and this weekend, he’ll be looking to repeat his victory on the course. “I always said for a long time that no matter what I achieve in golf,

A mural of Shane Lowry holding aloft the claret jug adorns the side wall of a house just across the road from Royal Portrush.

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — If anybody stepped to the first tee at Portrush with a powerful memory, it was Shane Lowry. He is, after all, the last player to win a British Open at Portrush, in 2019, and he’d been anticipating the emotions that would engulf him for that first tee shot this week for quite a while.

If we have any quarrel with the mural, it's that Lowry stands alone. Portrush proper is home to barely 6,000 souls, yet the R&A expects over a quarter-million pilgrims this week. The mathematics should spell chaos, but when an entire community vibrates at the same frequency—when everyone wants to be here—logistics become footnotes. It just works.

The jug goes to the winner of the Open Championship, who is otherwise known as the champion golfer of the year. The face belongs to Shane Lowry, who won the Open in 2019, the last time it was played in Portrush, a seaside town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Missing the cut at the past two majors hasn't dimmed Shane Lowry's confidence as the Irishman returns to the scene of his greatest triumph this week.

Golf fans could think of nothing better than playing a round at a major venue – and at Royal Portrush, you can! The picturesque course is hosting the 2025 edition of The Open this week, and

Lowry feels “rejuvenated” and as prepared as he could be in his bid to become the first player to win consecutive British Opens at the same course since Tiger Woods at St. Andrews in 2000 and ’05.