Rory McIlroy had to accept second best in the Genesis Scottish Open – where American Chris Gotterup claimed a second career win on the PGA Tour – but the world number two wasted little time in moving on to home turf, flying over to Northern Ireland for the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush where an early-morning practice round tee time is the first entry on his week’s schedule.
“I’m really happy with where my game is; the way I played over the weekend; the shots that I hit, how I controlled my ball flight. It has been a great week. Missing the trophy, that’s about it,” said McIlroy, who closed with a final round 68 for 13-under-par 267 to finish tied-second with Marco Penge, two shots behind winner Gotterup who also clinched an exemption into the field for the season’s final Major.
McIlroy sharpened up his game ahead of The Open, especially happy with his iron play but also believing that the greens deteriorated at The Renaissance club over the weekend which impacted putting.
“[The greens] just got a little bumpy. I had some putts and some looks that felt like I hit good putts that just didn’t go in, whether they were misreads or poor speed here and there ... I feel like my game got a little better each and every day. I controlled my ball flight, Everything is in a really good spot and I’m happy with how my game progressed as the week went on,” said McIlroy, already a three-time winner on the PGA Tour this season, including at the Masters where he completed the career Grand Slam.
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The final three spots to Portrush available from the Scottish Open went to Gotterup, Nicolai Højgaard and Matti Schmid.
Gotterup – who is due to celebrate his 26th birthday next Sunday, the final day of The Open – cancelled his flight back to California and changed his itinerary to head for the Antrim coast instead.
“I was a one-time champion. Two-time champ sounds a lot better. I know what I’m capable of and I know when I feel the way I did today, I can beat the best. It’s just awesome,” said Gotterup.
