Rory McIlroy carded a final-round 64 to end the Scottish Open tied seventh after he had earlier berated himself for being “so bad at golf”.
The world No 2’s six-under effort at the Renaissance Club, near North Berwick, hauled him 20 places up the leaderboard as he finished 12 under par, five shots off the winner, South Korean Tom Kim.
Despite his booming self-deprecation – which occurred on the 16th after he pulled his second shot into the rough – McIlroy was satisfied with his progress as he prepared for the 154th Open Championship, which starts at Royal Birkdale on Thursday. But he was not overly pleased, despite eight birdies supposedly leaving behind his concerning form in his Saturday 73.
“I definitely hit it a little better today than I did in the third round,” he said. “I noticed a few things with my iron shots and I tried to work it on the range. At least I know what the problem is and it’s just about fixing it.
“It’s a matter of trying to sort of rectify it. Obviously there was some good in there today but there was some bad, as well. So I’m going to need to work a little bit over the next couple days to be ready for Thursday.”
And on his comical cry to the heavens after that pull on the 16th? “In that moment, the shot I hit with that six iron was a very, very poor golf shot,” he said, with a grin. “So in that moment, I was so bad at golf.”
Kim actually has been bad at golf the latest few years, considering the level he attained up until the age of 22. Now, 24, this popular character – whose first name is Joo-hyung but, at the age of five, he renamed himself after Thomas the Tank Engine – has returned to the world’s top 50 after his first victory in three years. His own 64 was wonderfully assured.
“Obviously I’ve had a tough couple years and I got to taste a lot of that humble pie, and I got to really learn about myself,” said Kim, who from a high of 11th fell outside the world’s top 150. “I still got a long way to go, but this one I wanted to dedicate to the people that were in my corner the whole time and struggled with me.”
Australia’s Min Woo Lee claimed second on 15 under par, with England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre in a tie for third. The British pair went out as co-leaders but both could only produce one-under-par 69s to reach 13 under par.
“I’ve got to look at the positives with this third-place finish,” MacIntyre said. “I had chances, but it was a good week. Yeah, good signs for Birkdale.”
It was a memorable day for South Korean golf as Ryu Hae-ran claimed her second major title in the space of three weeks by defeating Brooke Henderson in a play-off at the Evian Championship in France. English pair Lottie Woad and Charley Hull finished in a tie for 16th at the course overlooking Lake Geneva.