McIlroy ready to rumble at The Open despite Scottish Open near miss

Rory McIlroy jetted home for The Open with everything but the Genesis Scottish Open trophy in his carry-on and declared his game ready for Royal Portrush.

The world number two went into the final four tied for the lead with Chris Gotterup, but while the American (25) won their duel, carding a four-under 66 to McIlroy’s 68 to clinch one of three spots in the field this week, McIlroy could only see the positives.

“Chris played a great round of golf,” McIlroy said after finishing with ten straight pars to tie for second with England’s Marco Penge, two shots behind Gotterup on 13 under.

“He was so solid. Made the bogey on 15 but bounced back with a really nice birdie on 16. After he got a couple ahead, I just couldn't claw back.”

McIlroy might not have holed the putts coming down the stretch, but he headed for The Open believing his game was right where he wanted it to be.

“It's been a great week,” he said. “I'm really happy with where my game is; the way I played over the weekend; the shots that I hit, how I controlled my ball flight.

“It has been a great week. Missing the trophy, that's about it.”

He added: “No frustration, really. I'm really happy with where everything is. I'm looking forward to getting to Portrush tonight, getting out onto the golf course early tomorrow, and just turning my attention to that.

“But I feel like I've gotten out of this week everything, really, that I wanted. .. Everything is in a really good spot and I'm happy with how my game progressed as the week went on.”

Gotterup, who will be joined in The Open by Nicolai Hojgaard (fourth) and Germany’s Matti Schmid (tied sixth), was emotional after claiming his second PGA Tour win.

“Amazing,” he said. “It's all hitting me. It's just so cool. I played really well this week, and I knew today was going to be tough. I hung in there like a champ and finished it off in style.”

Padraig Harrington would have hoped for better than the 73 that left him joint 71st on three over.

But Tom McKibbin headed for Royal Portrush with high hopes and an extra $750,000 in the bank after finishing tied fourth in LIV Golf Andalucía at Valderrama.

The Netwownabbey star (22) closed with a five-under 66 to finish four shots behind Talor Gooch and help Legion XIII win the $3 million team prize, which will be ploughed back into their budget.

“It gives me a lot of confidence,” McKibbin said. “My game has felt good for the last couple of weeks, and to finish off well here today, around a very difficult golf course and going into another difficult golf course next week gives me a lot of confidence going there.”

Gooch, who is not in the 19-strong LIV Golf contingent heading for The Open, shot a one-under 70 to win his fourth LIV Golf event and the $4m individual prize by a shot from Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm on eight-under.

Leona Maguire is also gathering momentum for the AIG Women’s Open in three weeks and confessed she was "proud" to notch her first top-10 in a major since 2022 after she closed with a four-under 67 to finish tied for seventh in a thrilling Amundi Evian Championship.

A week after winning the Women’s Irish Open by six shots, amateur Lottie Woad closed with a seven-under 64 to miss out on a playoff by a shot but still earned the points she needed to secure her LPGA card.

Australia’s Grace Kim eagled the last from 18 inches and then went-birdie-eagle on the 18th in sudden-death to deny Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul and claim her maiden major title after they’d shot 67s to tie on 14-under.

Maguire is now looking forward to the final women’s major at Royal Porthcawl after making seven birdies, including three in her last four holes.

"I knew things were close, and so it's nice because this week is a really good test," she said. “Feel like I executed a lot of great shots, especially coming down the stretch today, so very proud of my week.

“It's probably the best golf I've played in quite a while. It's nice. I knew my game was trending nicely coming into this week. I had a lot of control over my irons and gave myself a lot of chances.”

It was also a good day for Max Kennedy in the HotelPlanner Tour’s D+D REAL Czech Challenge, where he closed with a five-under 65 to finish tied for joint 12th on 17 under.

The Royal Dublin man (23) finished five shots behind Scotland’s David Law and jumped to 22nd in the race for 20 DP World Tour cards.

In the ISCO Championship in Kentucky, Conor Purcell finished tied 45th on two over after a closing two-over 72.

William Mouw shot a nine under 61 to win by a shot on 10-under from Paul Peterson.