If this does not persuade Rory McIlroy he can finish a nine-year look forward to main championship No 5, beginning on Thursday at Royal Liverpool, not anything will.
The Northern Irishman crosses the border for the Open Championship and the scene of his sole lifting of the Claret Jug up to now with cheers nonetheless reverberating round his head. One of essentially the most surprising finishes of McIlroy’s profession broke the guts of Robert MacIntyre, the house favorite, and earned him the Scottish Open name on the Renaissance Club. It used to be unattainable, regardless that, to forget about the larger image. Hoylake is asking.
“It feels incredible,” mentioned McIlroy. “It’s been a sort of long six months, I feel, since I won in Dubai. I’ve given myself tons of chances and hopefully this win sort of breaks the seal for me, especially going into next week.
“I don’t feel like it really proves anything. I don’t feel like I need to prove anything in my career but it’s satisfying to know that for me that I can still do it. It’s nice to have the validation. It’s great racking up top fives, top 10s, but it’s much nicer heading away with a trophy on Sunday afternoon. It’s a great shot of confidence.”
McIlroy’s first professional victory in Scotland means he is the first player in history to have won an Open, Irish Open and Scottish Open. Phil Mickelson, in 2013, is the only man to have triumphed in the Scottish Open and the Open on back-to-back Sundays.
“The national titles I feel are pretty big deals, especially when you look at the trophy and see the list of winners that have gotten their names on them,” mentioned McIlroy, who has additionally gained the Canadian, US and Australian Opens. “So it is great so as to add my identify to this one now.”
The conclusion in East Lothian involved the classic McIlroy theatre. Having held a one-stroke lead over Tom Kim at the start of round four and in blustery conditions, the world No 3 could only reach the turn in a two-over-par 37. MacIntyre charged through the pack, his 64 and 14-under -par overall notable for an outrageous three-wood approach to the last which finished within 4ft of the cup from 213 yards.
McIlroy, who had steadied himself with birdies at the 11th and 14th, now needed to play his closing three in one under to force a playoff. When the 34-year-old failed to take advantage of the par-five 16th, it was a clear advantage to MacIntyre. McIlroy duly hit his second to the penultimate hole to within 5ft, from where he converted for a birdie.
At the last, a beautifully flighted two-iron – he later heralded it as his shot of the year – left McIlroy with 10ft for victory; he roared with delight having found the bottom of the cup. A further element of drama had been added by McIlroy having to wait what felt like an age to putt as Kim required a ruling over wind moving his ball on the putting surface. How the R&A must be praying for a denouement even approaching this at Hoylake.
McIlroy clearly felt for MacIntyre, to whom he apologized after the dust had settled. “If he can shoot 64 in an afternoon like as of late, he can do the rest,” said McIlroy, who earned $1.57m (£1.2m). How the 26-year-old left-hander from Oban would have cherished success in his national open. To his credit, MacIntyre refused to be responsive in a narrow defeat. His consolation will involve a leap into the automatic qualifying places for the Ryder Cup when the latest rankings are published on Monday.
“I’m in reality happy with myself,” said the world No 104. “That’s why I play this sport. The Scottish Open will be up there with the event I want to play for the rest of my life. It’s the one I’ve dreamed of winning since I watched at home. I thought today, once I birdied 18, this might be the one. It’s not to be just now but I have plenty of years ahead.
“At the beginning of the day, I was nowhere near it. I wasn’t even within touching distance of the trophy and went out there and put in a performance. Rory McIlroy is potentially the best in the world and he showed why today. I take my hat off to him.
An Byeong-hun, David Lingmerth and Nicolai Højgaard earned past due open berths because of their finishes at Renaissance. Højgaard’s dual brother, Rasmus, used to be already within the box.