McIlroy shows Open form as he claims share of Scottish Open lead
Rory McIlroy in action at the Renaissance Club. Picture: Getty Images
Rory McIlroy looked like a man on a mission ahead of The Open after he raced into a share of the halfway lead at the Genesis Scottish Open.
The world number two hardly put a foot wrong at the Renaissance Club, dropping just one stroke in a four-under 66 to share the lead with Jordan Smith (63) and Tom Kim (66) on nine-under, one clear of England’s Matt Fitzpatrick (65) and Australian Min Woo Lee (66).
“I thought I played well again,” said McIlroy, who raced to the turn in four under 31 before following his lone bogey at the 13th with a two-putt birdie at the 349-yard 14th.
“The wind definitely got up for us in the afternoon. It would have been nice to be a couple better. But it's obviously another good day and in good position.”
McIlroy is hoping to win his second Claret Jug and seventh Major at Royal Birkdale next week and this week's test is just what he needs.
"It's great,” he said. “It's the way you want to play links golf. You can be creative the way you play your second shots into greens and how you run into the fairway. It's a fun way to play.”
Tom McKibbin shot 71 to make the cut on the two-under par mark, but while Jon Rahm shot 65 to squeak in, Shane Lowry and Pádraig Harrington joined world number one Scottie Scheffler in missing out.
It was Scheffler’s first missed cut in 78 PGA Tour starts — a near four-year run dating to the 2022 FedEx St Jude Championship.
“I didn’t really feel like I played that bad,” Scheffler said after following a 68 with a 72.
He had finished outside the top 20 just twice this season and wasn’t panicking about his game before his Open Championship defence at Royal Birkdale.
“I’m definitely proud of the consistency, and wish I had a couple of days over the weekend to make up some ground,” Scheffler said. “But overall, get down to Birkdale a little earlier than expected and get used to a new course.”
Lowry made a valiant effort to make the weekend, but a 69 left him alongside Scheffler on level par as Harrington shot 70 to finish on four-over.
At the Amundi Evian Championship, England’s Lottie Woad fired a seven-under 64 to lead by a shot from Japan’s Aki Iwai on 12-under as she chases her maiden Major win.
But there was disappointment for Leona Maguire and Lauren Walsh as they missed the level-par cut.
Maguire shot a three-over 74 to finish three-over, three-putting the 16th and dropping another shot at the par-five 18th.
Walsh also had her struggles on the greens, racking up four three-putts in her brace of 73s to finish on four-over.
On the HotelPlanner Tour, Mark Power shot a four-under 68 and Ronan Mullarney a 69 to make the cut with a shot to spare in the German Challenge powered by VcG.
They go into the weekend tied for 40th on three under in Bavaria, albeit 12 strokes behind the Netherlands’ Lars van der Vight.
He shot a sensational 59 to lead by six shots on 15-under from compatriot Wouter de Vries and Czech Filip Mruzek.
Van der Vight raced to the turn in eight under 28 then picked up an eagle and three birdies on the back nine to get to 13 under for the day before finishing with a par-five.
Gary Hurley shot 76 to miss the two-under-par cut by four strokes, with Conor Purcell a shot further back after a 72.
In the OFX Irish Legends on the Montgomerie Course at Carton House, Italy’s Emanuele Canonica shot an eight-under 64 to lead by a shot from Robert Coles.
Northern Ireland’s Cameron Clark (69) is tied 11th while Paul McGinley (73) is 37th, Peter Lawrie (74) 40th and Gary Murphy (77) 57th.
