Royal Portrush delivered plenty of obstacles for the best golfers in the world as The Open Championship commenced, and there should be no doubt the difficult lies and strong winds

Adding to the many cool sights at Royal Portrush's historic links this week was the British Open leaderboard showing Danish twins Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard in the top 10.

At the time, they could not have known, but they were about to create what would become the only golf course outside Great Britain to host The Open Championship not once, but three times. As we approach the 153rd Open Championship,

A thrilling 2025 golf season has reached its final major as The Open Championship continues its 153rd playing on Friday at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. The oldest golf tournament in the world is back in Portrush for the first time in six years with the Claret Jug set to be awarded on site Sunday for just the third time in event history.

In 2019, it was the first-ever sold-out Open. It was a hugely significant moment for Northern Ireland after a troubled past.

In 2019, which was the last time Royal Portrush hosted the event, The Open experienced severe rain and wind throughout the weekend, making it difficult for the field. This year, the forecast calls for a chance to repeat, as rain and wind could impact the final major of the year.

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Northern Irishman Darren Clarke, the 2012 Open champion who is a longtime Portrush member, was speaking generally of the course but he might as well have been speaking specifically of Calamity Corner when he said, “There’s no place like it. It’s brutal and beautiful – often at the same time.”