Rory McIlroy happy to shake off 'little bit of rust' as Masters champion hits his stride at Scottish Open
Rory McIlroy overcame “a little bit of rust” to finish his first Scottish Open round with a flurry, recording three consecutive birdies – and continued that form into Friday with a sensational start at the Renaissance Club.
McIlroy is returning to action for the first time since finishing tied-sixth at last month’s Travelers Championship and bogeyed his opening hole before responding with a birdie on the par-five fifth.
After trading shots across the front-nine, heading into the second-half of his round on even-par, McIlroy recovered superbly from a bogey on 15 to pick up three straight birdies, leaving him two-under for the day.
The 36-year-old picked up from where he left off on Friday morning, collecting five birdies in his opening seven holes at time of writing to surge up the leaderboard.
McIlroy is using the Scottish Open as preparation for next week’s Open Championship on home soil at Royal Portrush, where he is bidding to win a second competition title after success in 2014, and was glad to hit his stride.
"It was a great finish,” he said. “Felt like the round was a bit stop start, a little bit of rust in there, taking a couple of weeks off but found like I found my rhythm and started hitting better shots on the way in.
“It was a good opening round. It's the sort of golf course and the sort of conditions where I feel like the field is going to be pretty bunched.
"So to only be four behind after the first day, you know, feeling like I've still got my pest stuff ahead of me, that feels good.
"A good 6-iron into 17 and then had probably 25 feet up the hill, probably about two feet of break from right-to-left. And you know, I struggled with the speed of the greens at the start, obviously coming over here, they are a lot slower than what we are used to.
“But could be nice and aggressive with that one. On 18, complete opposite. It was uphill, 20, 25 feet but it was probably two feet of break left-to-right. So yeah, two really good putts to finish and gives me some momentum heading into the round tomorrow.”