Rory McIlroy says that he is planning to hit shots into a right to left wind over the coming days to prepare for The Open Championship after finishing inside the top 10 at the Scottish Open.
It could have so easily been a second victory for McIlroy at The Renaissance Club. The champion of 2023 put himself in a fantastic position at the halfway stage in North Berwick.
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The 37-year-old only played eight holes on Saturday due to the weather. However, those were the eight holes that put paid to his hopes of winning the Scottish Open as he made three bogeys.
In fact, there were a handful of uncharacteristic mistakes from the six-time major champion over the last couple of days. It is perhaps a sign that McIlroy will battle rust more often while playing a limited schedule.
Rory McIlroy says what he plans to practice before The Open Championship
He hit his tee shot on the par three fifth fat on Saturday and ended up coming 40 yards short. Meanwhile, he produced a massive hook on the 16th hole in his final round on his way to making a bogey.
But it seems that McIlroy is not too concerned about the handful of loose shots he hit at The Renaissance Club.
After his round, he was asked about whether he feels that he can get himself ready in time for the final major of the year next week.
“I just need to hit some balls in a right-to-left wind. That usually helps me,” he said.
“Again, it’s the same thing that I get a lot when I start hitting balls in a left-to-right wind like it has been over the weekend. My path and my face just get too far apart, in terms of like my face is just the further left than my path is and I start hitting these left shots, especially with the irons.
“So it was feeling good coming in here, and it was good. I hit some really good iron shots over the first couple days but the more I hit balls in a left-to-right wind, the more that starts to sort of show itself, and then it’s a bit of a struggle.”
Rory McIlroy explains the improvement after his nightmare third round
Anyone who only watched Rory McIlroy over the first, second, and fourth rounds at the Scottish Open would have been forgiven for assuming that he ran away with the title.
He posted scores of 65, 66, and 64 respectively. Unfortunately, a 73 during the third round proved to be extremely costly.
It was impressive how McIlroy was able to bounce back when he returned to the first tee for Sunday’s final round. And he explained how he made the most of the time he had after completing his third round.
“Yeah, look, I definitely hit it a little better today than I did in round three. I noticed a few things in my game and my iron shots, especially this morning coming out for the sort of back end on the third round, and I went and tried to work it on the range between rounds,” he said.
“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, and 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.”
A slight wake-up call just before The Open Championship may not be a bad thing for McIlroy, particularly at this stage of his career when the majors mean so much more to him.
If he can keep all the good things about his excellent week and sharpen up in a couple of areas, he is going to be extremely difficult to beat at Birkdale.
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