“Golf is hard” is probably the most popular phrase among fans of the sport, and even top players are no exception. So it’s no surprise that a star like Rory McIlroy didn’t soften his performance during the first round of the Scottish Open:

“It was a scrappy start,” he summed it up.

It’s fair to say that things improved markedly for the Northern Irishman as the day progressed.

“I definitely finished the round better than I started it,” he said.

“Felt like it was a bit of a slow start…But I felt like as the round went on I was getting a little more comfortable and a little more used to what we’re going to face this week and next week as well.”

In assessing his upward trend during the round, the five-time major winner mentioned the two aspects that marked his luck during the day:

“I was saying to the guys over there, I struggled a bit in left-to-right wind,” he said.

“Right-to-left winds I was okay with. But seemed like the holes I got myself in trouble was when the wind was to the left…”

“Just getting used to the green speeds and the conditions, and it’s a little bit of an adjustment when you’ve played so much golf over in the States when the greens are that much quicker and conditions are just a little bit different,” he added.

McIlroy has not played links golf in Europe in official tournaments since the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October 2024.

Rory McIlroy’s Hard Work Kept Him in Contention

Up until the fifth hole, it seemed Rory McIlroy was headed for a round to forget. He had carded a birdie and two bogeys, and with a score of 1-over, and was hovering at the bottom of the leaderboard.

However, the Northern Irishman showed that he has a Career Grand Slam under his belt for good reason. After birdieing the sixth hole to level his score, he strung together eight consecutive pars, putting the instability of the start of the round behind him.

He bogeyed the 15th after sending his tee shot into a fairway bunker, but responded by birdieing the final three holes consecutively to finish at 2-under.

“All you can do is play the conditions that are there and that are put in front of you,” he said in assessing his performance.

“And if there’s an opportunity this week to be aggressive, you have to be. We’re still trying to win the golf tournament. You’re trying to shoot the lowest score possible.”

McIlroy will start the second round tied for 33rd. His tee time is 3:28 a.m. Eastern Time.

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