The Open Championship got underway at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Co. Antrim on Thursday and Rory McIlroy has been welcomed back in classic Paddy Power style. The Irish bookmaker, notorious for displaying gag signs at major sporting events,

It was the moment the majority of Royal Portrush fans on opening day of the Open Championship had been waiting to see – as Masters champion and Northern Ireland hero Rory McIlroy stepped up to end the anticipation and tee off around 3pm on Thursday.

PADDY Power have made a ballsy move by erecting a giant pair of underpants outside Royal Portrush as The Open tees off. The sign salutes local lad Rory McIlroy’s testicular fortitude when

Yes. McIlroy debuted at the 2007 British Open as a low amateur. Since then, he has managed one win at the final golf major of the year. McIlroy finally completed the feat at the 2014 British Open, when the tournament was held at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Holylake, England.

Six years ago at Royal Portrush, McIlroy, who grew up less than an hour away, hit his opening shot out of bounds on the par-4 first on his way to a quadruple-bogey 8 and a 79. He pulled his tee shot again, this time around, but it settled safely in the left rough.

The last time the British Open came to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, Rory McIlroy missed the cut. Will he claim his second major of the year this time around?

In 2005, when he was 16 years old and playing in the North of Ireland Championship, Rory McIlroy set the course record at Royal Portrush by shooting a bogey-free 61 in the second round of the qualifiers. McIlroy shot a 71 at the Valley course in the first round before setting the record at the Dunluce course, the more famous and tougher of the two.