PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Graeme McDowell on Saturday finally exacted some revenge for his countrymen on Royal Portrush’s 18th hole — which had sabotaged him and his fellow Northern Irishmen Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke this week — with a birdie to cap off a 3-under 68.

McDowell tripled No. 18 in the first round, tarnishing what otherwise had been a stellar round. McIlroy tripled it in his opening round. And, worst of all, Clarke, who was one shot inside the cut line on the 18th tee, took triple on Friday and missed the cut.

“Number 18 has been pretty cruel to all three Northern Irish lads this week,’’ McDowell said. “It was really nice to make birdie there [Saturday]. It was obviously nice to get one back there on 18. It hurt the boys badly, hurt us all badly, myself and Rory on Thursday, and I can’t imagine how Darren felt yesterday. I was sick for him.’’

Defending British Open champion Francesco Molinari, who’s out of contention to repeat after shooting 72 Saturday to stand at 2-over par, was asked what his emotions will be like Sunday.

“Definitely it will be a sense of closure,’’ he said. “Yeah, I guess bittersweet. Obviously, I would have liked to have a better defense of my title, but at the same time you realize that you don’t have the trophy, but your name is still going to be on it.’’Molinari said he’s rooting for his Ryder Cup playing partner, Tommy Fleetwood, to win. Fleetwood is four shots off Shane Lowry’s lead entering the final round.

“He’s a friend and I’ll cheer him on and hopefully he can get it done,’’ Molinari said. “There’s still a long way. But he’s there with a chance. If it’s not this week, I think it’s coming pretty soon. He’s a very talented player. He’s still very young.

“The way he plays and the way he handles himself, it’s just a matter of time. I hope for him it would be this week. It would be great to have his name next to mine on the Claret Jug and we can have a big party next week.’’

Danny Willett, the 2016 Masters champion who’s been trying to find his game since, shot a 6-under 65, the low round of the day, to stand at 7-under for the tournament.

“It was a good day’s work,’’ he said. “I’ve said it for the best part of 12 months now: The results aren’t always as you want them to be, but the work I’m putting in is good. Things are inevitable as to when you’re going to win again.

“It might be this week, next week, six months down, we don’t know. But there’s enough good in there to do it again, which is a nice feeling. It gives you that little bit of sunlight at the end of it. We just have to wait and see.’

’

From the Open oddities department: The last fully bearded British Open winner was Bob Ferguson in 1882. Ferguson also won in 1880 and 1881. If either Lowry or J.B. Holmes were to hoist the Claret Jug, they’d end the 137-year drought for bearded players.

Gary McNeill, the head pro at Royal Portrush of more than 20 years, played alongside Paul Waring as a marker with an odd numbers of players having made the cut.

“I’ve kind of been preparing for it in the back of my mind for a long time,’’ he said. “But when you get the call up, it’s nuts.’’

He called the walk to the 18th green “amazing,’’ adding, “I’ve sat up in grandstands and watched players do that. Over the years, I’ve been to a lot of Opens. But to actually experience it, it was unbelievable, it really was. It was quite a moment.’’