Scottie Scheffler opens up on day three performance at Scottish Open and his chances of victory

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Scottie Scheffler may have left himself too much to do at the Scottish Open, but with The Open on the horizon, the world number one is still feeling good about where his game is heading.

Scheffler carded a 68 in round three to sit five shots off the lead, with Rory McIlroy among those ahead of him. He’ll need something special on Sunday if he’s going to close that gap.

Even so, there’s been plenty to like about his week in Scotland. While there are a few areas he wants to sharpen up, it’s easy to see why he sits at the top of the rankings.

Looking ahead to Royal Portrush, Scheffler has reasons to be optimistic. After another steady round under par, he gave his thoughts on how things are shaping up.

Scottie Scheffler shares thoughts on his form after third round of the Scottish Open

It might be a sunny week in Scotland, but the usual links winds haven’t made things easy for anyone, even at this level.

Scheffler was asked if those winds had got into his head.

“I don’t know if messes with my head is the right way to describe it. But I think I felt like I hit a lot of good putts out there and the ball was just dodging the hole today. Sometimes that happens. I made a few coming down the stretch that makes it feel a little bit better,” Scheffler admitted.

“Overall I feel like I was swinging it nice. Sometimes on links you get the bounces and sometimes you don’t. Today definitely felt like one of those days where it was not bouncing where I was hoping it would.”

Ahead of Royal Portrush, Scheffler said he would need an outstanding performance to win in Scotland, but added that he was pleased with the way he’s striking the ball.

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“Yeah, I’ll need something pretty special tomorrow. But like you said, not out of it. Today I really do, I felt a lot better about how I played today than I did the last couple days. The last couple days I felt like I was scraping it around a little bit and I would say my swing didn’t feel as sharp.

“It felt a lot sharper today. That was positive. Hitting the ball a lot more solid, so that’s pretty encouraging.”

If anyone can catch Rory McIlroy, it’s Scottie Scheffler

Scottie Scheffler may be five shots off the pace in Scotland, but if anyone is going to close that gap right now, it’s him.

If Scheffler gets off to a fast start while McIlroy and Chris Gotterup are still getting settled into their rounds, things could shift quickly.

The pressure isn’t on Scheffler either – unlike Rory McIlroy, who will be expected to keep hold of his lead come Sunday evening.