Off the greens, the entire town of Portrush put on its best front and laid on a great welcome that has done Northern Ireland proud. Here's the best images from the final day.

While Rory McIlroy’s Northern Ireland homecoming didn’t have the fairytale finish of winning a second Claret Jug at Royal Portrush, the atmosphere surrounding his return was still the highlight of an unforgettable Open Championship.

Rain showers can be expected at times for the 153rd Open Championship, which is being hosted on the coast of Northern Ireland.

Scottie Scheffler has a one-shot lead over Matt Fitzpatrick going into the third round of the British Open. Saturday is known as moving day in golf.

Erskine, the club’s then-secretary of 35 years—who many credit with bringing the Open to Portrush—was waiting for a defining moment. Some visual cue from the universe to signify the accomplishment that Portrush, after decades of political turmoil on the island of Ireland before a peace in 1998, had enticed the R&A back to this part of the world.

Finau fired a 1-over-par 72 in the third round to go with his rounds of 70-68 and that effort left him watching the contenders pull away. Most of the movers and shakers fired rounds of four to five under par as Scottie Scheffler rocketed to a huge lead heading into Sunday.

This is about the Open, a championship in its 153rd year. And it’s about Portrush, a seasonal town of 6,000 or so, one with a Ferris wheel and a long swath of beach, and dogs off leashes, and a gem of a links course that’s carved its place in the Open rota. And it’s about Irish golf.

Rory McIlroy shot 1-under 70 in the first round of the British Open at Royal Portrush that is also serving as a homecoming for the Northern Irish star.

Scottie Scheffler took home a joint-record winner’s cheque after sealing his first Open at Royal Portrush on Sunday evening, but Rory McIlroy also secured another healthy payout following a tied seventh-placed finish.