Rory McIlroy was determined to soak it all in this time.
Six years ago, when the Open Championship returned to Royal Portrush for the first time in 68 years, the star attraction chose isolation. He tried to live out the week in his own world and let everything else happen around him.
This week, he has embraced home comforts and accepted the adulation, from his red-eye Monday practice round through to being roared on by thousands on the 72nd hole.
He has given people his time, signed countless autographs, acknowledged adoring fans in between shots.
He even gave everyone a bonus look at the Green Jacket.
The result has been a week that, in his words, had everything but his second Claret Jug. His consolation was one of the most emotional receptions he has ever experienced on a golf course.
As he strode towards the final green on Sunday, McIlroy admirably held it together. Clearly, it wasn’t easy.
“I tried as best as I could to keep my emotions in check, especially walking up the last there and that reception,” said McIlroy, who closed with a two-under 69 to finish seven adrift of Scottie Scheffler.
“It’s been an awesome week. I’ve gotten everything I wanted out of this week apart from a Claret Jug, and that’s just because one person was just a little bit better than the rest of us.
“I feel so thankful and just so lucky that I get to do this, I get to do this in front of this crowd. Hopefully I’ll have one or two Opens left here, if the R&A decide to keep coming back, probably one while I’m still competitive and another one while I’m more grey than I already am.”
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