Rory McIlroy spent the majority of the past seven weeks in Europe, heading "home" for a combination of rest and prep for the links golf double that begins Thursday at the Scottish Open.
McIlroy didn't exactly keep a low profile during the break in tournament golf. He wore his Masters champion green jacket to the Royal Box at Wimbledon alongside Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald and played a round at Royal Birkdale, where next week's Open Championship will be staged.
"Birkdale was definitely just a scouting
trip for The Open for sure. I would have liked to have not have it known that I was there but (Nick) Faldo couldn't put his phone away, so," McIlroy said with a chuckle. "I love Nick. In fairness, he's great. I had a good time with him. He walked a few holes with me."
McIlroy said he's warming up to Renaissance Club in North Berwick, his home base this week at the Scottish Open. It helped to sweep the national opens in 2023, when he followed up the Scottish title with a victory in the Open Championship.
He settled in Monday at the same house he's used the past several years, with Tommy Fleetwood and family next door, in a rapid shift out of holiday mode.
"When I first came here, I wasn't enamored with the course or the place. But as time has went on and I've played it more, I've started to like it more and appreciate the golf course a little bit more," McIlroy said. "It's definitely become a great venue for this tournament."
The links will be loaded with the top-ranked golfers in the world this week, where the weather forecast for the first round -- 71 degrees, no precipitation -- is anything but Open-like.
World No. 3 Cameron Young, who has played the Scottish Open only once, in 2022, when he missed the cut, and No. 6 Collin Morikawa are exceptions among top-ranked players entering the event. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy (second), No. 4 Matt Fitzpatrick (England) and No. 5 Russell Henley bring plenty of star power to Scotland. In 2025, Morikawa missed the cut after rounds of 68 and 76 and finished 123rd overall at 4-over.
McIlroy and Scotland's Robert MacIntyre, who won the tournament in 2024, are paired with 2025 champion Chris Gotterup on Thursday. Gotterup held off McIlroy -- who tied for second with Marco Penge at 13-under -- last July. The trio of past champions go off around 3:30 a.m. ET on Thursday. They'll start on No. 10 one group behind Shane Lowry, a local favorite who was on a four-day junket with McIlroy and Donald last week.
They should be in the clubhouse by the time Spain's Jon Rahm -- ranked No. 11 in the OWGR -- hits the track. Rahm, a two-time major winner, is back at the Scottish Open for the first time since 2022 and is one of seven LIV golfers in the field. That's a topic McIlroy hasn't backed away from in recent years.
"I've talked about wanting to have just all of the best players in the world play together," McIlroy said Wednesday. "Yeah, I guess this is a good -- and it's not as if this hasn't been open to them before. It's just because Valderrama (on the LIV Golf circuit) was always this week. Having Jon in this event is better for the event than him not being here, and obviously everyone else that's here, as well. That's a good thing."
--Field Level Media
