Rory McIlroy admits there are issues in his game he needs to fix heading into The Open, despite finding ‘positive signs’ with a strong finish to the Genesis Scottish Open.
McIlroy held a share of the lead after both the first rounds at the Renaissance Club, following rounds of 65 and 66, only to slip out of contention after a fog-affected third-round 73 that contained just one birdie.
The world No 2 responded by carding eight birdies and two bogeys in a final-round 64, equalling his lowest score of the year, although insists he still has to problems to rectify heading into the final men’s major of the year.
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Rory McIlroy fumed after he found one of his approach shots landed in the rough at the 16th
“I definitely hit it a little better today than I did in round three,” McIlroy said. “I noticed a few things in my game and my iron shots, especially this morning coming out for the back end of the third round.
“I went and tried to work it on the range between rounds. At least I know what the problem is and it’s just about fixing it. It’s been pretty windy this week, and then when the wind on the range is off the left, I just get into that bad habit of hitting it further left than the path at impact.
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Rory McIlroy was left frustrated after he failed to find the green with his tee shot on the fifth hole of his third
“I start hitting left with my iron shots, and I still hit a few out there today but I managed a little bit better and I managed the clubface better and I held a lot of putts. I putted really well today – that was the difference between 73 and 64.
“It’s nice to sign this week off with a good score but I know I need to do a bit of work between now and next Thursday to feel really comfortable with my game. I don’t feel like it’s too far away. There’s definitely some positive signs.”
McIlroy threatened a late victory push when he birdied five of the opening seven holes of his final round, briefly getting within one of the lead, then cancelled out a three-putt bogey at the ninth by posting back-to-back birdies from the 12th.
The Masters champion described himself as ‘so bad at golf’ when a poor approach at the 16th led to another bogey, before a birdie at the next took him back to 12 under for the tournament.
McIlroy was looking to win the Genesis Scottish Open for a second time
“Felt like I was pretty much in control of everything after the first two days and then on the long day yesterday, waiting around, didn’t get off to the best of starts,” McIlroy explained.
“Didn’t finish the third round off today particularly well, sort of pieced it together, realised what I was doing, tried to figure it out a bit on the range before I went out for my final round.
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Highlights from day three of the Genesis Scottish Open, where Rory McIlroy slipped down the leaderboard
“At least I know what I’m doing, its a matter of trying to rectify it. Obviously there was some good in there today but there was some bad as well, so I’m going to need to work a little bit over the next couple of days.
“It was feeling good coming in here (with the irons) and it was good. I hit some really good iron shots over the first couple of days but the more I hit balls in a left to right wind, the more that (issue) starts to show itself and then it’s a bit of a struggle from there.”
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Sir Nick Faldo bumped into Rory McIlroy and asked about his preparation ahead of The Open. X credit @Sir_NickFaldo
When is The Open live on Sky Sports?
Sky Sports is once again the exclusive home of The Open in the UK and Ireland, with over 75 hours of live coverage from across the seven days of tournament week at Royal Birkdale.
Live coverage begins at 9am for each of the three practice days, before wall-to-wall action from the final men’s major of the year gets under way at 6.30am on Thursday July 16 on Sky Sports Golf.
There will be at least 15 hours of action on both the first two rounds, with bonus feeds available on Sky Sports+ or the Sky Sports App, with extended coverage then starting at 9am on Saturday July 18 and 8am on Sunday July 19.
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