The emotional rollercoaster Rory McIlroy took the vast, sun-beaten Royal Portrush crowd on during the third round of the Open Championship is best encapsulated by one particularly madcap 30-minute spell early in his back nine. By then, McIlroy's patience had already been stretched by a sequence of six successive pars after a hot start.

Rory McIlroy and his family stayed at the plush Dunluce Lodge during this year's Open Championship at Royal Portrush