No one knows the storylines that will be written into history during The 153rd Open, but one thing is certain.
The people of Portrush will delight in the return of golf’s original Championship.
Six years on from Shane Lowry’s captivating, crowd-pleasing capture of the Claret Jug in County Antrim, Royal Portrush will host The Open for the third time this July.
Lowry’s emphatic triumph in 2019 put the seal on a truly memorable week, as huge numbers of spectators embraced the Championship being held in Northern Ireland for the first time since 1951.
Gary McNeill, the long-serving head professional of Royal Portrush who enjoyed the thrill of playing in The 148th Open as a marker, has no doubt another wonderful atmosphere is in prospect this summer.
"It's fantastic,” McNeill told The R&A. “It took 68 years for The Open to come back here and here we are six years later, getting prepared for it to come again.
“The economy benefits from this greatly - I think it was something like £100m went into the local economy in 2019, so it's marvellous for this part of the world.
“The public really get behind the likes of The Open here and the businesses in this area, they'll all be prepped and ready for it coming.
“It was a great success in 2019 and I suppose it's hard to know what the outcome of the Championship is going to be, but you do know that people are very excited about it again and they're very much looking forward to seeing all these great players and enjoying the occasion.
"I grew up through the Troubles here in Northern Ireland and for many years, nothing came here. Even having pop concerts and things like that, Northern Ireland was not a place a lot of people came to and certainly a lot of sporting occasions and things like that - the stuff that we enjoy now - didn't happen back then.
“So people really get behind anything that comes to these shores now and you could see that and feel that with the build-up to 2019. It was marvellous.
“The anticipation of a big event like this coming here and the greatest players in the game - Tiger Woods, for example - those are really special things for Northern Ireland and the people will support it once again.”
Nobody knows the Dunluce Links better than McNeill, who has now served as Portrush’s head professional for over 25 years.
A truly striking Championship course boasting spectacular dunes and dramatic changes in elevation, this is a venue to stir the emotions of any golfer.
Yet McNeill believes a less eye-catching quality is key to his club’s popularity with the world’s greatest players.
“One of the things about Royal Portrush is how fair it is,” he added.
“The players enjoy the challenge of it and the fairness, and there's nothing hidden, there's nothing blind about it. A player can see where they're going to drive the ball to from the tee and they can see the second shot as well. So it's all there in front of you and no two holes are consecutively running in the same direction, so it's a great challenge.
“It's in great shape as well. [Course manager] Graeme Beatt and his team have got this place in magnificent shape, the standards of the greens and the surrounds and the fairways and the tee boxes. It's going to be presented beautifully.
“It's a marvellous challenge … and we can't wait.”