The tiny coastal town of Portrush in Northern Ireland will see its population swell by as much as 30 times this week, as the great and the good from the world of golf descend on its shores for the most prestigious of events.

Around 215,000 golf fans will be making their way to the course at Royal Portrush, with many hoping to see if Rory McIlroy can win in his home country, or if Tiger Woods can capture a fourth Open title to add to his remarkable Masters win earlier this year.

It's a course McIlroy understandably knows well and he still holds the course record there, having posted a low score of 61 in 2005, when he was just 15-years-old.

McIlroy guesses that he has played Portrush between 50 and 100 times but only a handful of occasions since a re-design two years ago that included two new holes, including an intimidating 590-yard par five.

He's also all too aware of the old 14th hole, which has now become the 16th, which still retains the daunting name of "Calamity Corner." The stretched 236-yard par three plays up to an elevated green and promises to provide a stern test toward the end of any round played this week.

"It's just so hard for me to wrap my head around the new layout," said McIlroy via NBC's Golf Channel. "I keep calling them the old hole numbers."