A birdie at the last hole ended a 16-year Home of Golf nation victory drought with Rory McIlroy winning the Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club.
McIlroy denied crowd favourite Robert MacIntyre who was on the practice range expecting a play-off against the current World No. 3 but with McIlroy holing a tesing 11-foot birdie putt at the last in a round of 68 for an 18-under victory tally after the Scot finished at 17-under.
MacIntyre set the cluhouse winning target at 17-under thanks a stunning closing round 64 that including a brilliant eagle ‘3’ at the par-5 10th hole and also five birdies.
However, it was McIlroy’s day capturing a second DP World Tour title this year and also a second on the 2022/23 PGA Tour schedule. As well, it is McIlroy’s 37th worldwide pro career success.
McIlroy now heads into the 151st Open Championship, and returning to Royal Liverpool and where in won in 2014, in the best of form.
“Yeah, it’s amazing, for The Race to Dubai, for the FedExCup, for my confidence in general, but for all those things that I talked about at the start of the week and trying to win the title on both sides of the Atlantic again this year, you know this, will go a long way,” he said.
Rory McIlroy with his sixth national open title
“So, this is right up there with the best of them, especially after missing the short birdie putt on 16. I thought if I can birdie one of the last two and get into a playoff, that would be a bonus.
“To finish 2, 3 in these conditions, the two iron shots that I hit, the 5-iron into 17 and the 2-iron into the last are probably two of the best shots I’ve hit all year, and then to finish them off with the putts as well.
“Yeah, it feels absolutely amazing. I’ve had a few close calls recently so to get over the line and get this bit of confidence going into next week and the rest of the season is huge”.
McIlroy headed into a bright but very windy final round leading by a shot but was soon struggling under the weight of playing the outward nine in two-over that included two birdies but twice as many bogeys.
However, in turning for home McIlroy stamped his class birdieing the 10th, 14th and closing two holes, including the testing 11-footer at the last to secure the win.
Victory is also McIlroy’s sixth national open title – 2011 US Open, 2011 Hong Kong Open, 2013 Australian Open, 2014 Open Championship and 2016 Irish Open – and with McIlroy particularly singling out the his victory 10-years at the Royal Sydney club in Australia.
“For whatever reason, walking on to the 17th tee, the 2013 Australian Open popped into my head,” he said. “I was one behind Adam Scott with two holes to play. We were playing in the same group as each other. I held a great putt on 17 for par to stay one behind playing the last, and then he made a bogey and I made a birdie and I was able to clip him by a shot.
“For whatever reason, I think all the experience that you gain — I mean, I haven’t thought about that tournament in probably years but when I got myself into this position today, that’s the first thing that popped into my head.
“So all those memories and those experiences, they stand by you, and that just give me a good feeling going into those last couple holes to try to do something special.
“Now in heading to Royal Liverpool, it’s nice to have the validation. The validation; it’s great racking up top 5s, top 10s, but it’s much nicer heading away with a trophy on Sunday afternoon.
“It’s a great shot of confidence. Again, going back to that little nugget about the Australian Open in 2013, having something fresh in my memory if I hopefully find myself in a similar position next week where I’ve got a chance to win with nine holes to go, I can certainly draw on what I did here today; that I can get myself in the mix again”.
Bitter disappointment for MacIntyre seeking to win on home soil for a first time on the DP World Tour while the win would have delivered the Oban lefty the bigger prize of a PGA Tour card to the end of 2025 season.
