Rory McIlroy was satisfied to walk off the course with a 65 and share the lead at the Scottish Open on Thursday in North Berwick, Scotland, even if there were a few close-range misses.
McIlroy helped set the pace with Tom Kim of South Korea, Bernd Wiesberger of Austria, Rasmus Hojgaard of Denmark and Patrick Cantlay at 5-under par, one shot clear of Brooks Koepka, Min Woo Lee of Australia, and five others tied for sixth.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler made three consecutive birdies to get to 3 under after 10 holes, but gave one back at 11 and finished at 2-under 68, tied for 27th place.
“You know, I did some good stuff,” Scheffler said. “Wish I could have gotten a few more shots out of it but yeah, overall, I think pretty solid. I like to keep a clean card, so two bogeys hurts. But maybe could have played the par 5s a little bit better. I didn’t take advantage of those today.”
An uneven start for McIlroy was erased by consecutive birdies and a sand save for par at the ninth, helping shave off two bogeys on his opening nine — including his first hole of the day at No. 10 — and the 18th. He credited his putting for a brilliant eagle at No. 1, a par-5 playing over 600 yards this week.
“I did that today. I played the par 5s well. I think I hit all three greens in regulation: one putt dropped for eagle and two two-putt birdies always helps the card,” McIlroy said. “Overall, good to get my first round of competitive golf on a links golf course and it’s obviously a great start to the tournament.”
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, who won the event in 2023, played with McIlroy and defending champion Chris Gotterup to large and noisy galleries. MacIntyre sits two shots back of the lead, tied with U.S. Open champ Wyndham Clark and a dozen others after first-round 67s.
“Every time I come back and play in Scotland, it’s unbelievable,” MacIntyre said.
Gotterup took a bogey 4 on his final hole of the day, the ninth, to sit 2 under and in a tie for 27th place. He birdied four of his first eight holes on his back nine.
Kim, who started on the back nine, was 1 under after 11 holes then birdied four of the next five holes to post a 32 on the front side.
“I think you have to be really patient, and it rewards guys who accept results and are mentally tough because it’s not fair all the time,” said Kim about his solid previous finishes in Scotland. “I think I just really love the mindset of going into the week and really having a good game plan sets up. I’ve always loved coming back here and playing links golf.”
–Field Level Media
