Mcilroy confirms he’ll tee up at Scottish Open
• Ulsterman’s presence will be game changer for event’s first visit to The Renaissance
While it had been one of the worst-kept secrets in golf this season, Ror y Mcilroy’s conf i r m e d a p p e a r a n c e i n t h e Ab e r d ee n S t a nd a rd I nve s tments Scottish Open is, nonetheless, a huge boost for the event’s first visit to The Renaissance Club in East Lothian.
Mcilroy may have gone off the boil a bit in terms of gett i n g h i m s e l f i n t h e m i x i n ma j o r s , h av i n g b e e n s t u c k on four wins in those events s i n c e l a n d i n g t h e 2 0 14 U S PGA Championship at Valhalla and, at the same time, seeing Bro oks Ko epka b ecome the man to beat on the game’s main stages.
Howe ve r, t h e 3 0 - ye a r - o l d Northern Irishman remains one of the biggest attractions i n t h e s p o r t a n d h i s p r e s - ence in the ASI Scottish Open o n 1 1-14 J u l y i s , q u i t e s i m - ply, a game changer for the $7 million Rolex Series event.
Mcilroy, after all, didn’t play in either of the Scottish Opens at Gullane in recent years. He was due to tee up in the 2015 event before injuring himself in a fo otball kickabout with some of his mates and missed both that tournament and also an Open Championship title defence at St Andrews the following week.
He then skipped the event’s return to Gullane last year, opting to take the week off, but, as had been expected, it is set to be third time lucky as far as his presence in the tournament on Scotland’s Golf Coast is concerned.
As reported by The Scotsman earlier this month, Mcilroy ended speculation that he was set to snub the European Tour this season when took up his membership before the cutoff at the end of April.
In addition to the S cottish Op en, he will a lso definite - l y b e p l ay i n g in the Omega E u r o p e a n Mas t e r s i n Sw i tzerland in August, while it is believed that both the BMW PGA Championship at Wentwo r t h a n d D P Wo r l d To u r Championship in Dubai are on his schedule as well in the second half of the season.
It will b e his sixth app earance in the Scottish Open and only his third since the tourn a me n t move d away f r o m Loch Lomond. Significantly, one of those appearances – at R o y a l A b e r d e e n i n 2 0 14 – h e l p e d h i m b e c o me o n e o f six of the last nine winners of The Open who prepared for t h a t e ve n t b y g e t t i n g s o me l i n k s a c t i o n i n t h e S c o t t i s h O p e n t h e p r e v i o u s w e e k . A f t e r o p e n i n g wi t h a 6 4 a t B a l g o w n i e L i n k s a n d a l s o signing for scores of 68 and 67 in the final two rounds, Mcilroy finished 14th behind Justin Rose in the Granite City before heading to Merseyside to get his hands on the Claret Jug for the first time.
I n h i s l a s t S c o t t i s h O p e n a p p e a r a n c e , h e mi s s e d t h e cut at Dundonald Links in 2017 at a time when he was struggling with his game, having also made an early exit from the Irish Open, which he was h o s t i n g , a t Po r t s t e war t t h e previous week.
When it emerged earlier this year that Mcilroy was planning to play in t he S cottish Open and not the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open as they once a g a i n f o r m p a r t o f a t h r e e - we e k “L in k s Sw i n g ” o n t h e European Tour in July, he was slaughtered by one columnist in an Irish newspaper.
H i s a b s e n c e a t L a h i n c h i s c e r t a i n l y a b l o w t o P a u l Mcginley as he takes on the role of Irish Open host for the first time and it was probably out of respect to the 2014 Ryder Cup -winning captain that a press release on Mcilroy playing instead at The Renaissance Club didn’t include any quotes from the world No 4.
Mcilroy will be aiming to let his clubs do the talking in the Scottish Open as he uses that event to give himself the best chance possible of achieving arguably his biggest goal in 2019, which would be winning an Op en Championship on home soil as Royal Portrush stages the game’s oldest major for the first time since 1951.
While Mcilroy will be playing in his first event in East Lothian other than an Open Championship app earance a t M u i r f i e l d i n 2 0 1 3 , h e i s no stranger to the area. He opened the Nike Performance Centre at Archerfield Links in 2014 and was back there at the end of last year along with his wife, Erica, as guests at the wedding of fellow European Tour player Oliver Fisher.
M c I l r o y w i l l s p e a r h e a d a s t a r - s t u d d e d f i e l d a t T h e R e n a i s s a n c e C l u b o n 1 1-14 J u l y, w i t h 2 0 16 O p e n c h a mpi o n He n r ik Ste n s o n , American Matt Kuchar, Scott i s h No 1 R u s s e l l Kn ox a n d former world No 1 Lee Westwo o d a l s o c o n f i r m e d a n d o t h e r b i g n a me s s t i l l t o b e announced.
• Tickets – including official Ab e rd e e n S t a n d a rd I n v e s t - ments Scottish Open hospitality packages – are available at www.asiscottishopen.com