Rory McIlroy has surprisingly only played one Open at St Andrews despite it being the most frequent venue.
But he has plenty of history with the tournament here and is focused on writing a successful new chapter after belatedly returning to the Old Course to compete for the Claret Jug.
McIlroy looked on course to triumph in 2010 after firing an opening 63 before he was blown off course in appalling conditions with a second round 80 en-route to third place.
His bid in 2015 was then wrecked by ruptured ankle ligaments sustained playing a costly game of football with mates in his native Northern Ireland, which forced him out.
But 12 years on from being a whisker away on the famous Road Hole from a birdie, which would have set up a potential record-breaking 62, McIlroy has his sights firmly on more heroics at the ‘Home of Golf’.
He arrives for the historic 150th Open after playing tremendous golf at the Major championships this year with three straight top 10s.
And the star has shown in practice he is willing to adapt his game to the links after putting from 60 yards away to a tricky pin on the second in the ‘Celebration of Champions’ event on Monday night.
McIlroy, 33, said: “I'm playing well. I'm in good form. My confidence in my game is as high as it's been in quite a while. But I can't go in here thinking that this might be my time.
“I just have to go out and play a really good tournament. I've got to string four good rounds together and hopefully at the end of the week, that's good enough to win.
“I just can't get ahead of myself and just have to make sure that I prepare well and get myself in the right frame of mind for Thursday. I think the way the golf course is and the way the conditions are, it's going to be a game of chess this week.”
A winner of four majors before the age of 26, including the 2014 Open at Royal Liverpool, McIlroy has not lifted one of golf’s top prizes in eight years now.
But the undeniable evidence suggests he is close to ending his drought after coming 2nd, 8th and tied 5th at the three Majors this year, missing out by three, three, and four shots.
And while he is rightly proud of his achievements to date, he is still targeting at least another 10 years of top level golf to add to his trophy collection.
He added: “This was the first Major championship I ever attended as a kid. It just means a little bit more.
“To hear your name and be winner of the gold medal, Champion Golfer of the Year, it's what dreams are made of, especially being from this part of the world.
“I still remember that pretty vividly. I'd love to replicate that on Sunday evening.
“I'm very proud of my achievements, and I'm proud of what I've achieved in the game, but I know that there's still a lot more that I want to achieve and a lot more that I can achieve.
“I look back fondly on what I've done so far, but I still feel like I've got another decade or more of really good golf left in me.”
McIlroy famously only needs the Masters to complete a career Grand Slam but was unable to choose what he would prefer the most from either winning at Augusta or the Open here at St Andrews.
He smiled: “I'll be greedy and say that I'll take both.”
