Rory McIlroy says he is feeling more confident than at any time since 2016 as he bids to end his wretched run at the US Open.

DEREK LAWRENSON AT PEBBLE BEACH: One month to go until the biggest sporting event the province has seen, and the boys from Northern Ireland are building up a head of steam.

MARTIN SAMUEL - CHIEF SPORTS WRITER AT PEBBLE BEACH: Is it possible to win a major golf tournament without actually playing well? Justin Rose appears determined to find out.

Rory McIlroy could hardly ask for a more opportune moment than this to play an Open at home. It means the feelgood narrative is all about Rory's return rather than McIlroy misfiring.

Rory McIlroy admits it would 'mean the world' to win an Open Championship on home soil after completing the ASI Scottish Open with an error-strewn final round.

IAN LADYMAN AT ROYAL PORTRUSH: Few will find their return to this wonderful stretch of links more poignant than Bezuidenhout. It was here that the 25-year-old was banned for two years.

BETTING GUIDE: The 2019 Open Championship. Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka are heavily fancied. But who else is worth a punt? CHRIS CUTMORE makes his picks here.

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.

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.

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.

DEREK LAWRENSON AT PORTRUSH: On Sunday evening at Royal Portrush, they drank a marquee dry. Then they moved on to Dublin town. The Claret Jug has embraced the party animal.

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.

DEREK LAWRENSON - WORLD OF GOLF: Are we about to see a genuine rivalry break out in golf? Goodness knows, there have been enough false dawns.

He's less than two months away from celebrating seven years of marriage to Jessica Biel, with whom he raises four-year-old son Silas.

The feat placed him above celebrity competitors Michael Pena, Dennis Quaid, Anthony Mackie, professional golfer Rory McIlroy and One Direction star Niall.

Rory McIlroy picked up five shots in his last five holes to fly up the leaderboard and sit just one shot off the lead heading into the weekend at the Omega European Masters.

Andres Romero opened up a one-shot lead heading into the final round of the Omega European Masters but Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy were well in contention in Switzerland.

It's not only the Masters at Augusta that continues to be an elusive target for Rory McIlroy. The European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre keeps slipping from his grasp as well.

The singer indulged in one of his other passions as he played golf on the Old Course at St Andrews at the preview for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Tuesday.

It's Hot or Not time again as Sportsmail's Riath Al-Samarrai reveals what's been making him feel warm and what's been leaving him cold this week.

Every was suspended from the PGA Tour for violating its drug policy, even though he said that the ban was for cannabis, for which he claims to have a prescription on medical grounds.

The end of the year is a time for reflection, looking back at the great and the good of the sporting world and those moments that have shown the best of 2019. We don't care about that, though, do we?

BY RIATH-AL-SAMARRAI: Brooks Koepka said in October that theirs wasn't much of a rivalry and he was right. Then. But now? In four tournaments since, McIlroy has gone 3-1-4-3.

The PGA Tour have confirmed that $7.5million - half of the Players Championship prize money - will be equally distributed among every player in the field.

Rory McIlroy would rather postpone the Ryder Cup until 2021 than play it this year without fans. The first two major championships of the year - the Masters and the US PGA - have already been postponed.

The star's boyfriend, who celebrated his birthday one day prior, also took to social media to show off his pretty lady and his growing baby.

Maroon 5 hosted their 15th annual Halloween bash at Rolling Greens in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday night. This year's theme was Area 51, featuring aliens, army trucks, and flying saucers.

Chrissy Teigen was a bit worse for the wear in the aftermath of her Halloween night and vowed to her fans that she was never going out ever again in hysterical video on Friday.

The himaker, 36, showed the two boys she shares with husband Mike Fisher, 39, Isaiah, four, dressed as The Grinch and nine-months-old baby Jacob dressed as a Cheer Bear in a snap on Thursday

Heidi Klum's Halloween costume was inspired by her husband's belief in aliens. The 46-year-old model decided to dress as a gory part-robot and part-alien, which featured a set of intestines and muscles.

The 34-year-old reality star and her producer husband, 42, really got into the spirit of Halloween when they were spotted in their fun outfits on Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles.

Britney Spears waited until the day after Halloween to show off-to 23 million Instagram followers-her Alice in Wonderland costume. She wasn't the only Britney Spears out in Hollywood this year.

San Diego police said that a man, dressed in a white robe and red sash as shown, walked up to a police officer who was trying to arrest someone else and then punched the cop in the face.

Luann De Lesseps mingled with her fellow Real Housewives Of New York City at a Halloween party this week.

The Bodak Yellow artist performed to a packed house at KAOS Nightclub. She also opted for Poison Ivy as her Halloween inspiration for another costume she posted to Instagram.

Emily Ratajkowski flaunted her lean curves in a pink crop top and underwear as she and husband Sebastian Bear-McClard dressed up as Carmela and Tony Soprano for Halloween.

She blew threw a cavalcade of Halloween costumes this week. And on Friday Kylie Jenner treated her 150 million Instagram followers to a glimpse at yet another one of her glamorous getups.

Move over Halloween, it's Christmas season now. And the stars of Netflix's upcoming Christmas themed romcom, Let It Snow, are ushering in the holiday season as they ready for their premiere.

Jenner certainly had a busy Halloween season, as she stepped out in several epic costumes. But it was her recent viral 'rise and shine' video that inspired several Kylie costumes.

His appearance is his first public outing in 17 months, with his first Halloween trip being to Drake's bash earlier in the evening,

Demi Rose, 24, continued the sizzling display on her Instagram as she slipped into a tiny yellow bikini which put focus on her ample assets.

Khloe Kardashian and Malika Haqq have been joined at the hip lately, since the latter announced her pregnancy earlier this month. The duo were out together on Friday to run errands in LA.

Gigi and Bella Hadid were spotted in high spirits and makeup free on Friday evening ahead of their flight from LA back home to NYC.

The singer, 45, showed off his toned physique in the snap, which was shared by his wife Ayda Field, and bizarrely held a packet of crisps upside down.

Padma Lakshmi revealed she's struggling to balance work and mom life at the moment in a touching Instagram post where she said she cried twice on Halloween as it's a sacred day for her.

She's got two beautiful children with her singer/songwriter husband Rob Giles.

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.