McIlroy Shares Genesis Scottish Open Lead While Revealing Delight For Unknown Wales Links Gem.

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Former champion Rory McIlroy produced a rock solid five-under 67 to be among five players sharing the lead on the opening day of the Genesis Scottish Open and on a day his delight for a Wales links gem came to light.

The double Masters champion shares the lead in the co-sanctioned DP World and PGA Tour sanctioned event with four others including Patrick Cantlay, Tom Kim, Bernd Weisberger and Rasmas Hojgaard.

Seven others including Brooks Koepka and Aussie-born former Scottish Open champ Min Woo Lee share sixth place on four-under.

McIlroy, and also a former Scottish Open champ, commenced his round with a bogey but superbly capped his round with a 10th hole eagle ‘3’ at the first or the 10th hole of his round.

“I’m pretty happy with how I’ve played out there,” McIlroy said.

“I drove the ball well, which has been something that, you know, wasn’t there at the start of the year. I feel like my iron play was pretty good for the most part. Putted the ball nicely. I didn’t put myself out of position too much.”

McIlroy’s opening day effort is a 13th straight Scottish Open round in the 60s.

The World No. 2 has been back in the UK since his tied-32nd finish at the US Open, where he showed signs of brilliance around Shinnecock Hills, but was ultimately unable to pull all aspects of his game together.

Of course, he was spotted at Wimbledon but it’s also come to light McIlroy’s plans ahead of next week’s 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale including bumping into fellow six-time major champ Nick Faldo.

“Birkdale was definitely just a scouting trip for The Open for sure. I would have liked to have not have it known that I was there but Faldo couldn’t put his phone away,” McIlroy smiled at the Genesis Scottish Open.

“I love Nick. In fairness, he’s great. I had a good time with him. He walked a few holes with me.”

Faldo accompanied McIlroy for several holes before McIlroy headed off to play at St. Enodoc last Friday, enjoying several days in Cornwall with Luke Donald and Paul Lawrie.

“I had never, like I had never heard of it before, and it’s I guess a top hundred course in the world,” McIlroy said, referring to St. Enodoc. “It’s really cool golf course. But that was more just for enjoyment.

“You’re going out to play, but yeah, it’s nice, you start hitting the ball off links turf again and start to play in a little bit more wind. Your links instincts come back, even if it is for fun. The stuff that you’ve grown up with starts to come back to you.”

“It’s good,” McIlroy told Faldo, referring to Royal Birkdale.

“A little bit different from 2017, the last time we played an Open here. Some different green complexes, different holes. The fifth hole I just played is completely different.”

When asked about Birkdale’s remodelked fifth hole, McIlroy added: “I do like it, yeah. It’s 300 to the front and it’s a good drivable par four. It’s a bit of a penalty if you go for it and you miss, I don’t know if the water’s quite in play on the right but there’s a lot of big deep bunkers guarding the green.”

McIlroy shared fourth-place at the 146th Open Championship in 2017 and is relishing his return to Royal Birkdale “I’ve always thought Birkdale is one of the best on The Open rota so I’m excited to be back,” he said.



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