PORTRUSH • There is no shortage of local interest in the return of the Open Championship to Northern Ireland today after 68 years.

Rory McIlroy is desperate to end his five-year Major drought on home soil, Graeme McDowell is back in his home town and Darren Clarke is taking the opening shot on the course overlooked by his house.

Rarely is a Major infused by such a distinctive local flavour.

But if Royal Portrush does not look kindly on one of these home favourites this week, the crowds can claim a legitimate interest in the fortunes of the world No. 1, a player in the midst of an astonishing run in which he has finished in the top two in five of the past six Majors, winning three of them.

Brooks Koepka is visiting Northern Ireland for the first time, but his bag will be carried by Ricky Elliott, a Portrush native, who brings an intimate local knowledge granted to few players this week.

"Every hole I just step up and say, 'You tell me what to do, you've played it more than anybody', Koepka, who won the PGA Championship and finished second at the Masters and US Open this season, said on Tuesday.

"He knows the spots to come in from, with different hole locations and different winds. It will definitely give me more confidence having him on the bag this week."

Another Major victory would be a fifth for Koepka, elevating him above McIlroy in the list of Major winners. And for Elliott?

"He'd be a legend, wouldn't he?" Koepka said. "I don't think when he grew up he ever thought there'd be an Open Championship here."

During practice on Tuesday, playing alongside world No. 2 Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler, Koepka found much of the attention directed towards his caddie instead.

Elliott remains a well-known figure in Portrush and while he has been travelling the world on Koepka's bag, his parents still live in the town and his brother is the owner of a golf shop nearby.

The 41-year-old has not come into his post purely for his knowledge of Royal Portrush. He has been working with Koepka, 29, for six years now and has been integral to the player's rise to the summit.

Elliott was a promising young player but he never quite made the transition to the professional ranks and was recommended when Koepka was looking for a caddie before the 2013 PGA Championship.

"The confidence behind what he thought the club might be, the wind direction or the yardage, he was dead sure in it," Koepka said.

Elliott's role gradually grew into so much more than an assessor of conditions or selector of clubs.

He also became an emotional crutch, helping Koepka to retain his composure when the golfing gods were conspiring against him.

"He knows if I'm getting a little bit tense, upset, angry, he can tell just by my walk," Koepka said.

"A lot of times, he'll tell me to slow down, slow my walk. He can tell, just by body language, and that's what makes a great caddie."

The final day of practice yesterday was hit by steady rain, and forecasts are for showers on the first two days of competition.

The golfing world waits, now, to see whether Koepka can take Portrush by storm.

THE TIMES, LONDON, REUTERS

BRITISH OPEN DAY 1

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