An official announcement on the fate of the tournament, scheduled for June 10-13 at St George’s Golf & Country Club in Toronto, is expected within weeks.
It will be McDowell's first Open Championship start since 2016, He should have a home course advantage, as he's played Portrush "between 300 and 500 times".
As his final tune-up before next week’s US Open at Pebble Beach, McIlroy had to be heartened by the fact each aspect of his game was clicking in Canada.
An iron player of Keegan Bradley's calibre should be able to compete every week on the PGA Tour, but as many pros will tell you, it all comes down to putting.
