Rory McIlroy adds Tiger Woods weapon to his armoury ahead of the Open

Rory McIlroy has been backed to banish his post-Augusta blues when he plays his 'home' Open this week. The Northern Irishman admits he has struggled for motivation since completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters in April. But former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley believes the familiar air of Portrush, where McIlroy shot a course record 61 as a 16-year-old, will inspire him to rediscover his best golf.

"There's always next level for Rory," said McGinley. "He has talked about his motivation but what can be more motivating than playing an Open Championship a few miles up the road from where you are brought up on a golf course you are very familiar with in front of your home crowd? He'll certainly be energised around that.

"He will have huge support behind him and it looks like there are a couple of green shoots in terms of his form."

Last time the Open was staged on the Antrim links in 2019, McIlroy missed the cut after starting with a disastrous quadruple-bogey eight at the opening hole but McGinley feels he is a more complete golfer now.

"In my view he's a better player now than he has been at any time in his career. He has more variety of shots," he said.

"One of the things he has added to his armoury is what Tiger called the stinger shot. He's very good at that now. He hits the ball 35 feet off the ground when he plays it where his normal height is about 120 feet. It gives him a safety shot that he wouldn't have had last time he played the Open at Portrush.

"He's a much better wedge player now as well and there's going to be a lot of holes for him at Portrush where he will have a wedge in his hands.

"The third part of it is his putting. He is putting more consistently now than I've ever seen him in his career. Brad Foxon (putting coach) has been a hugely important addition to his team. He looks like he is going to hole the putt now. It's not wishy-washy. When the ball leaves the putter head it looks like it has got a place to go.

"All in all I think he's in a better place to put up a really good show."

McGinley feels this year's championship is one of the most wide-open races for the Claret Jug in years because the course is relatively generous.

"It's my favourite course in Ireland," he said. "It's not the best course, it's not the most difficult but it's fun to play and it does give you an opportunity to score.

"Shane Lowry won last time on 15 under in terrible weather. With the forecast next week looking good, it will be interesting to see what the scoring is like this time.

"If it is going to be a week of low scoring, that brings two-thirds of the field into it who are well capable of winning. And all it needs is one week of inspiration."

It will be just the third Open to be staged at Portrush and McGinley cannot wait.

"I just think the Irish people are slightly different to the people from the mainland. We're a little bit noisier, we're a little bit more rowdy, we like the craic - that fun-loving Irishness is probably the separator," he said.

"You saw that last time. It was tipping down with rain but we still had a party.

"I'm Ryder Cup-biased but when I sat down at my calendar at the start of the year this week and the Ryder Cup at Bethpage were the two events I was looking forward to the most."

Watch live coverage of The 153rd Open from Royal Portrush exclusively on Sky Sports and NOW from this Thursday with wall-to-wall preview coverage available from tomorrow (Monday) on Sky Sports Golf.