Dundonald Links, Scotland …
Rory McIlroy and his new wife have embarked on a three week golfing and sight-seeing “road trip” of Scotland and England he’s hoping will see them return to Belfast with a second Claret Jug.
The McIlroy’s clearly caught a good few passengers by surprise when they made their way upstairs to the lounge area on last Monday morning’s Stena Line Belfast to Cairnryan crossing.
Rather than take to the skies, the newly-weds packed-up the car as McIlroy has promised American-born Erica a trip to the Cotswolds in the days after The Open.
It led Graeme McDowell, who had first tweeted McIlroy to congratulate him on hosting the Irish Open, to then cheekily Tweet “I didn’t know NetJets did ferries.”
First stop for McIroy is this week’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Dundonald Links near Irvine in Ayrshire.
Rory McIlroy embarks on a three week road trip and looking to win a second Claret Jug.
It’s the first time McIlroy has contested the event since shooting a new Royal Aberdeen course record 64 on day one of the 2014 Scottish Open and a week later heading south to lift the Claret Jug at Hoylake.
And McIlroy will do the same this week heading next to Royal Birkdale, and where he was last in 2005 for the British Amateur, seeking to capture a second Claret Jug and a fifth Major.
“It is nice to have the car and throw everything in the back so after taking the ferry we’re driving down to Birkdale,” he said.
“So, we’re actually taking a bit of a road trip after Birkdale as Erica already likes the British landscape, so after The Open I have a day in London with Nike so we are going to visit the Cotswolds.”
Among McIlroy’s belongings is also a number of putters including two he worked purposely on his lonesome for some 90-minutes on Monday afternoon on the Dundonald practice putting green.
And it is the shortest club in his bag, as evident in recording 33 putts on each of the two days last week in missing the cut in hosting the Irish Open, that remains his biggest headache.
“Being out on Monday afternoon by myself was about trying to take ownership of it, and that’s why having a little bit of time on my own and try and figure out my own thoughts, I think it definitely will help”, he said.
“So, I need to focus more on my routine and how I approach a putt.
“But I think it’s fair to say I’m trying to stay patient but it’s proving difficult. It always has been for me. It always has been. Because you know, look, I feel like I am good enough to win these tournaments, and I’ve shown that before. And as I keep saying it, I don’t feel like my game is that far away.
“So, to stay patient when you feel like that is sometimes quite difficult. Yeah, I feel like all I need is, if I can get a little spark this week and see a few putts go in and shoot a couple of good scores, I feel like that will build a lot of confidence and that will ease that impatience a little bit.”
And McIlroy showed a re-found patience leading his team, including Aberdeen Asset Management’s CEO Martin Gilbert, to victory in Wednesday’s official pro-am.
