Rory McIlroy could give himself the perfect hair of the dog with a victory at the Genesis Scottish Open as he looks to shake off his Masters hangover ahead of next week’s Open Championship.
McIlroy carded a four-under 66 on Saturday at the Renaissance Club to share the 54-hole lead on eleven-under with unheralded American Chris Gotterup.
After taking a couple of weeks off before returning to action in Scotland, a refreshed McIlroy feels he is trending close to where he was when he won the Masters.
It’s my first realistic chance to win after the Masters,” McIlroy said who has a chance to add another big title to his season CV after other wins at Pebble Beach and TPC Sawgrass before the Masters.
“I’ve had a great season. I won at Pebble, I won The Players. But look, I’ve said this when you do something that you’ve been dreaming of your whole life, to do something that was a huge moment in my life and my career, I think I just needed that little bit of time.
“And to be back here for the last couple of weeks, I feel like I could actually digest all of it. I feel like I came to this tournament with sort of renewed enthusiasm and excitement for the rest of the year.
“I think I’m pretty close to being back to the level I was at going into the Masters,” he said.
“I think I’ve had a little bit of a lull, which I feel is understandable. So I’m just getting back to the level that I know that I can play at.”
Royal Portrush will descend into Rory Mania from Monday morning, but this will be far from a post grand slam winning homecoming as the Holywood man fired a word of warning to his major competitors.
“I’m pretty much there,” said McIlroy who feels he has adjusted well to a penal left to right wind, further bolstering his ammunition for next week.
“One of the things I was wanting to work on was my ball flight in that left-to-right wind.
“I don’t know if it’s luck or whatever, but you know, the wind on the range now is straight off the left. It has been for the last day and a half.
“It’s been nice to hit some balls in that wind direction and get a feel for that. I feel like I controlled my ball flight well today in the little bit of wind that was out there and my game is pretty good on the greens.
“My lag putting has been good. All the things you need to do well on links golf to succeed.”
McIlroy and Gotterup hold a two-shot lead over English duo Matt Fitzpatrick and Marco Penge and American pair Jake Knapp and Wyndham Clark.
Pádraig Harrington will also get another round of links golf under his belt on Sunday as he looks to finish his week on a high after carding a third round of 72 to share 66th place on plus one.
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