After his first win in Scotland – a victory he declared as one of his proudest – Rory McIlroy provided himself the ideal preparation and confidence boost ahead of his return to Royal Liverpool for The 151st Open.
In challenging conditions, with winds gusting at 40mph, McIlroy finished with back-to-back birdies to win the Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club on Sunday.
He later described his tee shot with a five iron at the par-three 17th and two iron to set up a closing birdie at the par-four 18th – the toughest hole all week – as among the best shots of his career.
It denied Robert MacIntyre what would have been a brilliant triumph on home soil after he had earlier set the clubhouse target with a spectacular six-under-par 64 in front of enthralled crowds, many of whom were cheering for one of their own.
In claiming his second consecutive Rolex Series title, following on from victory at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January, the Northern Irishman heightened excitement levels around this week’s final major of the season.
Now ranked second on the Official World Golf Ranking, McIlroy will look to carry over his form – that includes top-ten finishes in each of his last six starts – to the scene of his Claret Jug win in 2014.
“I’ve had a few close calls recently so to get over the line and get this bit of confidence going into next week and the rest of the season is huge,” the Race to Dubai Rankings leader said of his 16th DP World Tour victory, which saw him become the first player to win the Scottish Open, Irish Open and Open Championship.
The accolade is his latest in a long line of career accomplishments, which he will hope to add to at a venue which many of golf’s greats have won at.
Back in 2006, when The Open returned to Royal Liverpool for the first time in 39 years, McIlroy was in the midst of a successful amateur career.
Just over a month after Tiger Woods produced an imperious display of links golf to retain his title and in doing so win his third Claret Jug, McIlroy was celebrating success of his own.
The then 17-year-old from Holywood in Northern Ireland had claimed a three-shot victory at the European Individual Championship at Biella Golf Club near Milan in Italy.
The reward was a debut appearance at the following year’s Open at Carnoustie.
"The Open place was on my mind all day,” he said at the time. “I'd be lying if I said it wasn't. I kept thinking about it but I had to snap myself out of it and concentrate on playing one hole at a time."
The 136th Open began with Seve Ballesteros announcing his retirement from the game, but it ended with a new star for the future emerging onto the biggest of stages.
A bogey-free 68 saw McIlroy share third place at the end of the first round – one better than his idol Woods.
Despite, a 76 in the second round, he would safely make the cut by three shots, the only amateur to do so as he secured the silver medal with two days to go.
Two months later, McIlroy turned professional and quickly earned affiliate membership of the DP World Tour, formerly known as the European Tour.
By the time McIlroy finished in a tie for third on his third Open appearance at St Andrews in 2010, he had already won on both sides of the Atlantic.
But it wasn’t long before he was winning majors, capturing the 2011 U.S. Open and 2012 US PGA Championship and he was widely viewed as the favourite when The Open returned to Royal Liverpool in 2014.
In an impressive front-running performance, the then 25-year-old lived up to that billing as he claimed a dominant wire-to-wire victory at Hoylake to clinch the third leg of the career Grand Slam.
McIlory finished two shots clear of Rickie Fowler and Garcia as he became the second Northern Irishman to be crowned Open champion in four years after Darren Clarke’s 2011 success.
“It feels incredible,” McIlroy said after his triumph. “The Open is the one that we all want and strive for and to be able to hold this Claret Jug is an incredible feeling.
The victory for McIlroy, who went on to claim his second US PGA crown a month later, was made all the more meaningful as it was the first time he was able to celebrate a major title in front of both his parents.
After being embraced by his mother, Rosie, after holing the winning putt, McIlroy said: “This is the first major I have won when my mum has been here.
“So mum; this one is for you. It was just great to see her on the back of the 18th there and how much it meant to her.
"I was trying not to cry at the time because she was bawling her eyes out.”
Almost a decade on, McIlroy continues to search for his fifth major victory but recent results suggest he is not far from doing so.
His runner-up finish to Wyndham Clark at last month’s U.S. Open was his sixth top ten at a major in his last seven starts and third second-placed finish since his 2014 US PGA Championship triumph.
"When I do finally win this next Major, it's going to be really, really sweet," the 34-year-old said after his near miss at The Los Angeles Country Club.
With fond memories of his last appearance at Royal Liverpool and with the knowledge and confidence his game is in great shape, could a return to a winning venue be the tonic that leads him to a long-awaited fifth Major win?
