The theme of Rory McIlroy bouncing back from major setbacks continued as he opening his Genesis Scottish Open campaign with a five-under 65 on his first competitive outing since falling agonisingly short at last month’s US Open.
A blistering run of birdie, par, chip in eagle, birdie briefly catapulted McIlroy to the summit at the Renaissance Club and he trails early leaders Max Kieffer and Li Haotong by a shot.
“Sort of missed it in a good spot on 3 but sort of the nice thing about this course is even when you miss it on the short-side, it seems like you always have some sort of shot to get it close. And there I just needed to hit a little bump and let it pitch on the fringe and run down to the hole, and judged it nicely,” said McIlroy.
McIlroy ensured his return to competitive golf was worth the wait when he got up and down from the back of his opening hole, the par-5 10th for a birdie. Although he dropped a shot on the 11th he recovered with birdies on the 14th and 16th either side of a bogey on 15.
The Holywood man did pass up birdie opportunities inside ten feet on the fifth, sixth and ninth but it was a welcome return to form for the 35-year-old who will bid to put his Pinehurst demons behind him at Royal Troon’s 152nd Open Championship next week.
Despite the bitter disappointment of Pinehurst last month, McIlroy feels he picked up where he left off in terms of his overall performance.
“So my game has been feeling pretty good in practise over the last ten or so days since I picked the club back up. Obviously the last time I played, I played well. I didn’t get the result I wanted but I’ve still got a lot of confidence in my game.
“I went time-out there today, shot a solid score. A couple I would have liked to hole coming in and be a few shots lower but overall great start to the tournament. Yeah, I sort of picked up where I left off.”
Meanwhile, Seamus Power’s chances of qualifying for next week’s Claret Jug date remain in the balance after he opened with a one-under 69.
Pádraig Harrington is level-par after a round of 70 with Tom McKibbin under par early in his round.