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Despite ‘positive signs’ with a strong finish at the Genesis Scottish Open, Rory McIlroy admits there are issues in his game he needs to fix heading into The Open.
McIlroy held a share of the lead after both first-round 65s and 66s at the Renaissance Club, only to fall back from contention after a fog-affected third-round 73 that featured just one birdie.
The world No. 2 responded by carding eight birdies and two bogeys in a final-round 64, equaling his lowest score of the year, although he insisted he still needs to be in trouble heading into the final men’s major of the year.
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Rory McIlroy was furious when he found one of his approach shots landed in the rough on the 16th.
“I definitely hit it a little better today than I did in the third round,” McIlroy said. “I noticed a few things in my game and my iron shots, especially coming off the back end of the third round this morning.
“I went and tried to work it out on the range between rounds. At least I know what the problem is and fix it. It’s been pretty windy this week, and then when the wind on the range goes left, I get into that bad habit of hitting more left than the hitting path.
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Rory McIlroy was frustrated when he missed the green with his tee shot on the par-three fifth hole.
“I started hitting left with my iron shots, and I still hit a few there today but I managed a little better and I managed the clubface better and I hit a lot of putts. I putt really well today – that was the difference between 73 and 64.
“It’s nice to sign off with a good score this week but I know I need to work on a bit between now and next Thursday to really feel comfortable with my game. I don’t think it’s too far away. There are definitely some positive signs.”
McIlroy threatened a late victory when he birdied five of the first seven holes of his final round, briefly got into a lead, then canceled a three-putt bogey at the ninth by posting back-to-back birdies at the 12th.
The Masters champion described himself as ‘very bad at golf’ after a poor approach on 16 led to another bogey, before a birdie at the next took him to 12 under for the tournament.
McIlroy was looking to win the Genesis Scottish Open for the second time
“After the first two days and then the long day yesterday I felt like I was in control, waiting around, not getting off to the best start,” McIlroy explained.
“Didn’t finish the third round particularly well today, put it together, figured out what I was doing, tried to get a bit out of the range before going into my final round.
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Highlights from Day 3 of the Genesis Scottish Open, where Rory McIlroy tumbled down the leaderboard
“At least I know what I’m doing, it’s a matter of trying to correct it. Obviously there were some good things today but also some bad things, so I’ll have to work a little bit in the next few days.
“Coming in here (with the irons) it felt good and was good. I hit some really good iron shots the first few days but the more I hit the ball in the wind from left to right, the more (issues) started to show and then it was a bit of a struggle from there.”
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Sir Nick Faldo bumps into Rory McIlroy and asks about his preparations ahead of The Open. X credits @Sir_NickFaldo
When is the Open live on Sky Sports?
Sky Sports is once again the exclusive home of The Open in the UK and Ireland, with over 75 hours of live coverage across seven days of tournament week at Royal Birkdale.
Live coverage for each of the three practice days begins on Sky Sports Golf before wall-to-wall action kicks off from the final men’s major of the year at 6.30am on Thursday 16 July.
Sky Sports+ or The Sky Sports appWith extended coverage then starting at 9am on Saturday 18 July and 8am on Sunday 19 July
