Rory McIlroy entered the weekend at the Scottish Open tied atop the leaderboard. He plays well at this event year in and year out. He won it in 2023 and admitted earlier this week that his relationship with the course has changed over the years.
“Definitely this course has grown on me as the years have went by,” McIlroy said. “When I first came here, I think just because you come to Scotland and you play so many great golf courses, there are so many great golf courses in this area, I think we sometimes jump to maybe not liking a course because of how new it is or maybe some greens are a bit too slopey or whatever. But I must say, over the years, it has grown on me a lot, and I think it’s sort of become a really good venue for this tournament.”
McIlroy opened the tournament with rounds of 65 and 66 to share the 36-hole lead. Then came a long Saturday wait. Due to a lengthy fog delay, McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick didn’t tee off until well into the evening. When he finally pegged it, the six-time major champion ran into some trouble, including a fatted tee shot on the par-3 fifth.
McIlroy opened his third round with three bogeys in seven holes before the horn blew to suspend play for the day. When he came back Saturday, he pieced it together and signed for a three-over 73 that seemingly took him out of the running for the title.
But McIlroy went to the range in between his rounds, found a quick fix and immediately started racing up the leaderboard in the final round. He went out in four-under 31 and then birdied 12 and 13 to get within one of the lead. Pars at 14 and 15 saw him reach the 16th tee two shots back and needing to hit the gas to have any hope of winning the title. McIlroy split the fairway with his tee shot, but then hit a massive pull with a 6-iron, prompting five very relatable words from the two-time defending Masters champion.
“Oh my God, I’m so bad at golf,” McIlroy exclaimed as the ball sailed well left into the heather.
McIlroy eventually bogeyed the 16th and finished at 12 under for the tournament, five shots back of winner Tom Kim.
Afterward, McIlroy joked that, while he is a six-time major champion with 45 professional wins, when the ball left the face of his 6-iron, he believed what he said.
“In that moment, the shot I hit with that 6-iron was a very, very poor golf shot, so in that moment, I was so bad at golf,” McIlroy said with a laugh.
McIlroy explained that his weekend troubles at The Renaissance Club were due to hitting balls in a left-to-right wind on the driving range. That’s a problem he ran into earlier this year at the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow Club.
“I just need to hit some balls in a right-to-left wind,” McIlroy said after his final round. “That usually helps me. Again, it’s the same thing that I get a lot when I start hitting balls in a left-to-right wind like it has been over the weekend. My path and my face just get too far apart, in terms of like my face is just the further left than my path is and I start hitting these left shots, especially with the irons.
“When the wind on the range is off the left, I just get into that bad habit of hitting it further left than the path at impact, and I start hitting left with my iron shots.”
McIlroy managed his left miss better in the final round and made a lot of putts, which helped him card another top-10 finish at the Scottish Open. While his Sunday charge at East Lothian came up short, thanks to the wayward iron on the 16th hole, a three-putt par on the 14th and an overall poor third round, McIlroy is confident as he heads to Royal Birkdale for next week’s Open Championship.
Confident but with edges to smooth out if he wants to win his seventh major championship and second Claret Jug.
“I am, of course. It’s nice to sign this week off with a good score but I know I need to do a bit of work between now and next Thursday to feel really comfortable with my game,” McIlroy said. “But I don’t feel like it’s too far away. There’s definitely some positive signs.”
Positive signs and hopefully a right-to-left wind on the range at Royal Birkdale.
