Rory McIlroy -14 finishes tied fourth as Robert MacIntyre wins the Genesis Scottish Open
An unfortunate bad four-hole stretch of +3 from hole seven to 10 was crucial as Rory McIlroy’s challenge of a second Genesis Scottish Open title faded. The Northern Irishman finished strongly with his second birdie in three holes at the reachable par five 16th hole to post -14. “Felt like the ball-striking was there pretty much every day”, said McIlroy. Four rounds in the 60s was significant for McIlroy especially in getting over Pinehurst and will head to Royal Troon in good spirits.
Aberg -17 entered the back nine one ahead of -16 Morikawa. Morikawa’s chances of winning came to an end at 11 with a mystery second shot finding fescue rough resulting in a double bogey and dropping back to -14. 2013 Masters champion kept his winning chances alive with his 25th birdie of the week at 10 to return -16. Aberg received similar faith to Morikawa especially with three bogeys in five holes.
Scott played the final five holes in -1 to shoot 67 and set a clubhouse target of -17. The last Scottish winner of this event was Colin Montgomerie in 1999 and MacIntyre headed to 16th tee -15. 2023 Europe Ryder Cup participant was extremely lucky at 16 to get relief from a sprinkler but incredibly achieved an eagle to draw alongside Scott on -17. MacIntyre who suffered heartbreak in finishing runner-up to McIlroy 12 months ago was given an opportunity at 18 to go one better. MacIntyre found the putting surface in two at 18 and held his birdie putt to give the home crowd a well-deserved win. “Look, I've put a lot of work into this. I've changed a lot within the team and I've just worked hard”, said MacIntyre.
MacIntyre has risen to 16th in World Golf Rankings and received a winner’s check of $1.6 million. Scott’s wait for a first win in four year’s will continue but finished runner-up and earned $985,500. Romain Langasque shot a round of 64 that included an eagle at 16 to finish third on -15. Aberg shot a disappointing +3 round to finish in a big tie for fourth with McIlroy, Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Aaron Rai and Sungjae Im all receiving $318,500. Three Open Championship places were up for grabs at Renaissance and past Scottish Open champions Rai, Alex Noren along with Richard Mansell booked a ticket to Royal Troon.