'Excited' McIlroy takes Portrush crowd on Open thrill ride

The emotional rollercoaster Rory McIlroy took the vast, sun-beaten Royal Portrush crowd on during the third round of the Open Championship is best encapsulated by one particularly madcap 30-minute spell early in his back nine.

By then, McIlroy's patience had already been stretched by a sequence of six successive pars after a hot start.

Then, on the 11th, he encountered the "most weird, ridiculous thing I've ever seen". Having flailed his drive way right on 11, McIlroy was left utterly bewildered when an embedded ball popped up when he struck his own ball.

"It's never happened to me before," said McIlroy, whose captivating five-under 66 leaves him six adrift of the relentless Scottie Scheffler.

"It could never happen on any other course but a links course as well. When the rough is all matted down and the balls get... it was very strange."

It didn't produce a disastrous outcome for his own ball, but it evidently left him discombobulated. He left his pitch woefully short, prompting him to furiously slam his club into the turf, and then made bogey.

Rory McIlroy said the enormous crowd following him on Saturday produced some of the "loudest roars" he has ever heard on a golf course

Despite a spirited second-round charge, McIlroy did not make the weekend at 2019 Open at Portrush. He has been stewing on it for six years. This was never going to be dull.

The fans knew it, too. On every hole, the crowds that packed into the various grandstands and lined the fairways were indefatigable in their attempts to invigorate their hero.

With overnight leader and world number one Scheffler gradually pulling further clear at the top, the thousands following McIlroy needed another little injection of excitement.

To their relief, the Masters champion delivered with a spectacular, suspense-filled piece of showmanship on the 12th.

After two fine blows to the back of the green, McIlroy trickled a devilishly quick putt down the slope. It took 11 seconds to reach its destination and when it dropped into the cup, the ground shook.

"Yeah, this could be one of the coolest moments I've ever had on the golf course," added the 36-year-old.

"The roar when the ball went in was insane. It was insane all day, but the noise after that putt went in was incredible."

Having watched Oppenheimer (the first hour of it, anyway) and a couple of rugby games between his second and third rounds, McIlroy was primed for whatever the Dunluce Links hurled at him on Saturday.

Donning a Tiger Woods-esque red shirt, he flew out of the traps with three birdies in his first four, sending early shockwaves through the County Antrim property when he poured in a 36-footer for an opening three.

After further gains at two and four, he stalled. He failed to birdie five and seven - two of the four easiest holes on the course - and let another chance slip through his grasp on 10 before the whirlwind of 11 and 12.

He raised the decibels one more time when he hit the top of the pin on 15 and rolled in the resultant three-footer.

While he was unable to conjure a grandstand finish at 18, McIlroy gave the Portrush faithful an afternoon they - or he - won't soon forget.

Half a dozen strokes in arrears to Scheffler - who carded a bogey-free 67 to open up a four-shot cushion over Li Haotong - McIlroy is unlikely to win.

Hoisting the Claret Jug on home turf was, of course, his target, but he seems willing to treat this week as his soul-stirring post-Masters homecoming.

McIlroy is 36. It is unclear when Portrush will next host the Open, but there is no guarantee the five-time major winner will still be one of the game's superstars when it does.

With that, both player and fans have been keen to savour every moment this week after McIlroy admitted to not holding up his end of the bargain in 2019.

The fans certainly have all week. From getting out of their beds for his early-Monday morning practice round to gathering in astonishing numbers on Saturday, they have energised and lifted him at every turn.

On Saturday, in particular, the chants of "Rory, Rory, Rory" against the backdrop of roars from other parts of the course gave the afternoon a Ryder Cup Sunday-feel.

"I've come here really just trying to embrace it," he said.

"If I hadn't have won a major this year, if I hadn't have won the Masters, I might have felt differently.

"It's almost a celebration of what I've been able to accomplish. I want to celebrate with them too. I've just really tried to embrace everything this week.

"I'm having an incredible time. I'm really enjoying myself, and I feel like I've given myself half a chance now, and I'm excited for tomorrow."

McIlroy delivered the moment of the day with an eagle three on 12