The less-is-more philosophy adopted by Rory McIlroy – playing in only his 13th tournament of the year, and first since last month’s US Open – seemed to be a beneficial one as the Northern Irishman cruised into contention with an opening round of five-under-par 65 in the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick.
McIlroy’s decision to ease back on his scheduling has brought with it a freshness this season. He retained the Masters in April having finished runner-up in the Genesis Invitational the month prior, and his return to Europe for the summer months has added to that sense of him controlling his itinerary to suit himself.
“I feel like even though I have played pretty sparsely over the past few months, the starts of my tournaments have all been really good,” said McIlroy.
“So it’s not like I’m coming in and starting slow, and the little bit of extra practice I think actually helps in some ways. One of the other benefits for me, like I’m nearly 20 years into this, and I need to do everything I can to keep my enthusiasm as high as possible, playing a lighter schedule definitely does that.”
RM Block
A winner of the Scottish Open in 2023, McIlroy started with a bogey but clicked into gear thereafter to post a round that featured an eagle – on the first, his 10th of the day – along with five birdies, including back-to-back on the eighth and ninth to finish. His second bogey of the round came on the 18th, his ninth, as he joined Tom Kim, Patrick Cantlay and Bernd Wiesberger in posting 65s.
“It was good to get my first round of competitive golf on a links,” said McIlroy, who played Royal Birkdale – which will host The 154th Open next week – in recent weeks, along with a first visit to St Enodoc in Cornwall.
“I felt like I drove the ball particularly well. I started to see that at Shinnecock (in the US Open) a couple weeks ago. A continuation of putting the ball in play, and then once I do that, I feel like I can attack courses and I can set-up scoring opportunities.
“I did that today. I played the par 5s well. I think I hit all three greens in regulation, one putt dropped for eagle and two two-putt birdies. That always helps the card.”
There was also a strong start from Tom McKibbin, who shot a bogey-free 67 – his birdies coming on the 12th, having started on the 10th, the first and seventh – to get inside the top-15.
Shane Lowry, who added the Scottish Open to his schedule having slipped to 54th on the FedEx Cup standings, suffered a disappointing bogey-double bogey during his round, signing for an opening one-over 71.
Pádraig Harrington, who successfully defended his US Seniors Open title last week, failed to find a birdie and had four bogeys in opening with a four-over 74.
