Nicolás Echavarría is ready to debut in the last Major of the year, a British Open in which Rory McIlroy is the favorite.

Colombian Nicolás Echavarría begins his participation this Thursday in the last major of the year, the British Open, in Royal Portrush (Northern Ireland), where American Xander Schauffele will defend the crown he won last year.

In his first season playing all four Grand Slam tournaments, Nico made the cut at the Masters and the PGA Championship and missed the weekend at the US Open. At Augusta, he reached a top-10 finish, but didn't have a strong showing on the final day.

Nico had a strong showing in the Scottish Open pre-tournament, where he was joint leader after the first round, finished in the Top 25, and had his second career hole-in-one on the PGA Tour, on the sixth hole of the final round.

In the 154th edition of the Open, Rory McIlroy, playing at home, is the favorite, motivated by his victory this year at the Masters, followed by world ranking leader Scottie Scheffler, from the United States, and other figures such as Spaniard Jon Rahm.

McIlroy, 36, world number two, already lifted the Claret Jug in 2014 and his consistency, in addition to having the fans on his side, put him in the lead to win his sixth major in a tournament that will bring together golf's greatest figures, with a total of 156 players, of which 19 have won the title.

“Being here in Portrush with the green jacket (as the winner at Augusta), having fulfilled that lifelong dream, I want to do everything I can to enjoy it in front of the fans. And at the same time, I want to win this golf tournament, and I feel I'm very capable of doing so,” said the Northern Irishman in his media appearance last Monday, in which he recalled the course record he set at 16 years old, shooting just 61.

With a 6.7-kilometer course - the fifth longest in the tournament's history - and par 71, Royal Portrush, a links (coastal course) located about 100 kilometers from Belfast, repeats for the third time as the venue for the only major played on European soil and the one with the longest tradition, after being so in 2019, when the Irishman Shane Lowry won, and in 1951.

Despite McIlroy's good form, the odds are still wide open in a tournament where fellow Irishman Padraig Harrington was the last to achieve back-to-back victories (2008 and 2009), proving the uncertainty surrounding the winner.

In addition to the course's peculiarities, with some greens on the edge of cliffs, another factor that could be decisive over the four days of competition is the weather, with rain and instability expected.

Along with McIlroy, the other favorite is Scheffler, a solid world ranking leader for the past two years and winner of last year's PGA Championship, although his less experience on the links is working against him.

Scheffler surprised everyone on Wednesday with statements in which he confessed that golf doesn't fully fulfill him. "Does golf satisfy my deepest desires? Not at all (…) You reach number one in the world and you ask yourself, 'What's the point?'" stressed the 29-year-old from New Jersey, who added that more than being the best golfer, his priority is his family. Scheffler will open the tournament with fellow countryman Collin Morikawa and Lowry.

Another gala trio will be the one composed of the current holder of the Claret Jug, Xander Schauffele, and the winner of the last United States Open, JJ Spaun, both Americans and also well positioned in the betting, along with Jon Rahm.

The Basque player, who arrives in peak form, faces the challenge of making history for Spanish golf. If he reaches the top of the podium at Royal Portrush, he would be the first Spanish player to win three different majors, having already won a US Open (2021) and a Masters at Augusta (2023). He would also be the second to win the British Open, along with Severiano Ballesteros, a three-time winner, most recently 37 years ago.

Another figure making a strong entrance in Northern Ireland is Chilean Joaquín Niemann, leader of LIV Golf, the Saudi-funded circuit, with four tournament wins this season.

The Latin American golfers participating in the tournament organized by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A) are completed by Mexican Carlos Ortiz, Colombian Nico Echavarrá, and Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas.