What has been known since the start of the year has been nearly confirmed nearly six months on by the European Tour.
Rory McIlroy will contest this year’s Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club to the east of Edinburgh being held from July 1th to 14th, 2019.
The news will now impress Irish Open host Paul McGinley but then McIlroy decision to again compete in Scotland is all about being tournament sharp for the following week’s 148th Open Championship a week later at Royal Portrush.
However, and as pointed out by a colleague, there was no quotes from McIlroy in today’s (Wed) press release from the Tour.
McIlroy is no stranger to the Scottish Open.
Those who attended the 2014 Scottish Open at Royal Aberdeen will recall McIlroy on the first day shooting a new course record 64 before McIlroy then shot a horror second 78 on route to a share of 14th place behind Justin Rose.
But a week later, McIlroy went to Royal Liverpool where he captured a first Open Championship.
While McIlroy will be playing in his first event in East Lothian other than an Open Championship appearance at Muirfield in 2013, he is no stranger to the area. He opened the Nike Performance Centre at Archerfield Links in 2014 and was back there at the end of last year along with his wife, Erica, as guests at the wedding of fellow European Tour player Oliver Fisher.
Now in his 13th consecutive season as a European Tour member, McIlroy is making his sixth appearance at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and his first since 2017 at Dundonald Links.
The three-time Race to Dubai winner will contest the event on the world-famous stretch of East Lothian coastline known as Scotland’s Golf Coast for the first time.
McIlroy will be part of a world-class field, which also includes 2016 Open Champion Stenson, American star Matt Kuchar, defending Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open champion Brandon Stone of South Africa, and his fellow Rolex Series winners – local favourite Russell Knox and former World Number One Lee Westwood, with further star names to be announced.
This year the tournament will be played for the first time at The Renaissance Club – which was founded in 2008 and nestles on 300 picturesque acres along the Firth of Forth – when it takes its place as the third event in the 2019 Rolex Series, the premium category of tournaments on the Race to Dubai, each with a minimum prize fund of US$7million.
It will once again be followed by the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, which will be played over the same course, from August 8-11, 2019.
The Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open is the perfect day out for all the family, with fantastic food and drink outlets in the championship village as well as retail experiences and entertainment for all ages.
