Rory McIlroy is deliberately trying to keep his Open Championship campaign low key as expectations rocket about the possibility of him securing a home win in Northern Ireland.

MARTIN SAMUEL - CHIEF SPORTS WRITER AT ROYAL PORTRUSH: To be on the coastline of County Antrim this week is to see a country beaming its most toothsome smile.

Golf's biggest names, including Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Brooks Koepka, have now finalised their preparations for what should be a fascinating four days at The Open.

DEREK LAWRENSON AT ROYAL PORTRUSH: McIlroy said he wanted to punch himself after a nightmare start at The Open on Thursday, shooting an eight-over-par round of 79.

MARTIN SAMUEL AT ROYAL PORTRUSH: Rory McIlroy was far from being stirred by Northern Ireland's first Open since 1951 - it was as if he momentarily forgot how to play or what it all meant.

DEREK LAWRENSON AT ROYAL PORTRUSH: What a weird and wonderful first round at the 148th Open. One where the Masters champion barely broke 80.

Sportsmail's IAN LADYMAN was at Royal Portrush on Thursday and has provided six pieces of insight after round one of the 2019 Open Championship.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI AT ROYAL PORTRUSH: After the choke came the roar. Unfortunately for Rory McIlroy, it wasn't quite loud enough to change the outcome of this sorry and soggy trip home.

An emotional Rory McIlroy was left holding back tears after missing the cut in The Open at Royal Portrush by a shot following a valiant six-under par second round of 65. 

MIKE DICKSON AT PORTRUSH: Rory McIlroy would have needed to be a robot not to feel the pressure of playing in the Open on its return to Portrush, according to Graeme McDowell.

DEREK LAWRENSON AT PORTRUSH: Paul McGinley compares Rory McIlroy to the brightest schoolboy in the classroom who has a tendency to daydream every now and then. 

DEREK LAWRENSON AT PORTRUSH: Shane Lowry became The Open champion on Sunday, Sportsmail's golf correspondent gives his highs and lows of the tournament.

Lowry stormed to his very first major win on Sunday, cruising home by six shots at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. By contrast McIlroy missed Friday's cut by one shot.

The 32-year-old won The Open Championship at Royal Portrush on Sunday, becoming the fifth Irish player to lift the Claret Jug after Fred Daly, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy.

McIlroy has won two tournaments this season and is the No 1 on the PGA Tour when it comes to the two most important categories concerning play from tee to green but he struggled at The Open.

Miley Cyrus and Cody Simpson packed on the PDA and the comedy when they spent the day with the pop superstar's family in Los Angeles on Friday.

A student from Milpitas High School in California said former American History educator, David Carter, was imitating the musician Common in his artificial intelligence ad for Microsoft last Thursday.

Creekside Elementary School principal, Dana Rhinehart, and a teacher were suspended with pay after video of the boy's outfit circulated on social media Friday - prompting with it a swell of backlash.

Starbucks, Costa, Pret, Starbucks and Greggs have unveiled Christmas menus, but while prices appear more expensive, it's cheaper than buying a regular coffee and adding flavours and creams.

EXCLUSIVE: It was Halloween at the player-manager's house and Anderlecht's Kemar Roofe discovered it was not enough to simply turn up to the party with his children in fancy dress.

Ticket sales for the Rugby World Cup are close to hitting the 2million mark with 130 days remaining before England kick off against Fiji.. Sportsmail understands 1.9m out of 2.3m have been sold.

Australia will play Italy, Fiji and Scotland in Group B while New Zealand face Lebanon, Jamaica and Ireland in Group C. Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Wales and Cook Islands make up Group D.

EXCLUSIVE BY MIKE KEEGAN: The Rugby Football League (RFL) is set to ask the government for funding to ensure clubs do not go out of business after the season was suspended.

The 41-year-old Pacquiao says that he will start training next month for his first fight since last July, when he defeated Keith Thurman for the WBA title in Las Vegas.

The Edward Scissorhands actor, 56, and Vanessa, 47, split in 2012 following a 14-year relationship.

Amber Heard wore a Fendi butterfly suit to the Film Independent Spirit Awards. She was featured on recordings from her marriage to Johnny Depp as she admitted to hitting him.

Penelope Cruz (left), 45, wrote that she has known Johnny Depp for years and that he has never been violent toward her in any setting. Amber Heard (inset), Depp's ex-wife, alleged Depp struck her.

Peter Dinklage and wife Erica Schmidt oozed laid back cool on the red carpet for opening night of Medea in New York City on Thursday.

Sophie Turner is reportedly expecting her first child with her husband Joe Jonas this summer. But the 23-year-old is still supporting Joe and the Jonas Brothers while they are on their world tour.

The Game Of Thrones star, 38, wore a three-piece skirt suit with a white blouse and a pair of ill-fitting tan tights with heeled brogues as she headed towards the set.

The actress looked gorgeous in the earthy toned stylish ensemble when she arrived at the BBC Radio 2 studios on Tuesday morning. 

The first Penny Dreadful series was a supernatural horror on Showtime that aired from 2014 to 2016, but this new show is actually not connected to it at all.

The Republican senator boasted about getting his hair cut at Salon A la Mode as he vocalized his staunch support of owner Shelley Luther and others wanting to make a living during the pandemic.

The 80-year-old pensioner contacted solicitors when she realised the destructive weed was in her garden, as it is illegal to let it grow in the wild. Preston City Council have paid her for damages.

Experts at the CDC spent weeks working on a report titled 'Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework', but it was blocked by The White House.

The majority of Americans appear to still be adhering to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders even though lockdown measures have been lifted in most US states, new cell phone data shows.

The tech giant, which shuttered almost all of its outlets across the globe in response to the coronavirus pandemic two months ago, announced the news on Friday.

Government sources have indicated Boris Johnson wants schools to begin to reopen on June 1, although unions have expressed concern about safety. TUC's Frances O'Grady is pictured.

The Juventus striker, 32, garnered heavy criticism for his performance on football's biggest stage as the Argentine missed huge chances as Germany ran out 1-0 winners in the 2014 World Cup final.

Italian PM Giuseppe Conte bemoaned the 'rashness' of local politicians who opened up bars and pizzerias at a 'delicate stage' of the coronavirus crisis, four days before the lockdown is due to end.

Las Vegas is set to change their advertising slogan, 'What happens here, stays here,' to 'What happens here, only happens here.' The new slogan will be unveiled in ad during the Grammy Awards

WILL KELLEHER IN TOKYO: Reece Hodge has been banned for all of Australia's remaining pool matches at the World Cup after a disciplinary panel agreed he should have been sent off against Fiji.

Meghan Markle, 38, opted for a low-key wardrobe for her royal tour of South Africa - and spent a modest £4,100 on new wardrobe items for the 10-day visit.

WILL KELLEHER: Ken Owens might have avoided a suspension thanks to his wife, joked Warren Gatland. The Wales hooker was yellow-carded for a tip-tackle of Fiji No 8 Viliame Mata.

The  44-year-old Maleficent star was casually dressed for her dinner date with the teen who is one of the six children she shares with her ex-husband, actor Brad Pitt, 55,

Her oldest child just left for college. And now Angelina Jolie is opening up about she is 'rediscovering' herself as her children get older and how she is getting back to acting.

Val Kilmer has opened up about his battle with throat cancer and even admitted that he's shy despite all of his famous girlfriends of the past.

People in Sheffield spend the least when they're out on a date - paying a measly £29 for dinner and drinks for two, a UK-wide study has found but in Cardiff they splash out a generous £79.

STEPHEN MCGOWAN AT CELTIC PARK: By the end of a calamitous Europa League exit even the intervention of a VAR couldn't prevent Celtic taking a gun and firing three bullets into their feet.

The SNP have been ramping up calls for independence. But with their ex-leader (pictured with Nicola Sturgeon) on trial for attempted rape, their record in power is shameful, the Mail reports.