Will Rory McIlroy end major drought in The Open at Royal Liverpool after ‘immense’ Scottish Open win? | Golf News

Andrew Coltart

Golf Expert & Columnist

Rory McIlroy birdied his final two holes to claim a one-shot victory over Robert MacIntyre at the Scottish Open; McIlroy will be chasing a first major title since 2014 at The Open this week – watch live on Thursday from 6.30am on Sky Sports Golf

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Highlights from a dramatic final round as Rory McIlroy secured a dramatic victory over Robert MacIntyre at the Scottish Open

Will Rory McIlroy follow Genesis Scottish Open victory with major success at The Open? Andrew Coltart looks back at his impressive win and his hopes for Royal Liverpool….

That performance from McIlroy was special to say the least and it will mean a lot to him to finally get over the line and win in Scotland, meaning he has 16 victories on the DP World Tour and 24 on the PGA Tour now.

McIlroy has won bigger tournaments in his career, although he has not won a tournament better than he has played those final few holes. He played the back nine superbly and then finished two, three on two of the toughest holes on the golf course to seal the deal in style.

McIlroy celebrated a one-shot victory at the Genesis Scottish Open

He got his card in Scotland in 2007, he has special memories playing here, but now has another after that unbelievable finish to get the job done.

There have been terrific signs in recent weeks and, instead of little creaks and cracks starting to appear near the end, he held strong until the end and delivered a fantastic victory.

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Despite challenging conditions in the final round, McIlroy was thrilled with the resilience he showed to prevail at the Scottish Open

I think has been frustrated with how everything turned out with the PIF, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. He had been the spokesman for a plethora of players out there and decided to be the representative, so was understandably a little bit angry about how it all panned out.

He has let his golf do the talking and he will be proud as punch with that performance. He has proven with his performance that there’s a little bit more in that golf game than perhaps we gave him credit for.

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McIlroy hit an incredible tee shot at the seventh hole during his final round of the Scottish Open, blasting his drive over 400 yards!

He has gone on record before saying he doesn’t want to change his ball flight for one or two weeks of the year, but we saw him use it superbly at times during that final round to get the job done.

He will be proud as punch with that win and it will give him added confidence going into next week. We’ve waited nine years to see McIlroy win another major championship and I don’t think we’re going to be waiting 10!

Magic from MacIntyre

It was a door almost opening to the closet of the Ryder Cup for Bob MacIntyre. He has been known to put himself under too much pressure a little, but this has almost sealed the deal for his place in Team Europe later this year.

The initial hurt and sadness of missing out on victory will be tough to take, especially after the way he bravely went out there to try and claim it, although he can take an awful lot of confidence from his performance.

To hit that quality of shot on the final hole in front of his home fans, when all the eyes and hopes of your nation are on your shoulders, was outstanding. When he knocks in that birdie, I think most of us thought he had done enough.

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MacIntyre hit the shot of the tournament as he birdied the 18th in the final round

At 14 under you couldn’t see anyone else beating him at the time, as nobody would have predicted that finish from McIlroy. There were tears of elation and it just showed you what it meant to him and what he thought he had achieved.

When he sits back and thinks about this, he is going to take an immense amount of pride. He has done Scotland proud and himself proud, so he can now go forward to next week and hopefully try and contend at The Open.

Who will win the final men’s major of the year? Watch The 151st Open live on Thursday from 6.30am on Sky Sports Golf.