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Golf

McIlroy feels game in 'good shape' ahead of The Open

Rory McIlroy says he's happy with his week so far at the Scottish Open and feels his game is in '...



McIlroy feels game in 'good sh...
Golf

McIlroy feels game in 'good shape' ahead of The Open

Rory McIlroy says he's happy with his week so far at the Scottish Open and feels his game is in 'good shape' for next week's Open at Royal Portrush.

The world number three begins his third round at the Scottish Open today from eight-under par, and six-shots adrift of leading trio Lee Slattery, Erik van Rooyen and Bernd Wiesberger.

McIlroy feels he'll need to be aggressive this weekend to close that gap.

"I think you play the par 5s well. I only played them today in 2-under I think.

"That's four birdies right there, and then with the other 14 holes, you're bound to give yourself at least eight or 10 looks at birdies and just try and convert a few and hopefully creep up on them over the weekend.

"I thought I played pretty well. I've driven the ball well for two days. I feel like my wedge play has been good and my iron play, for the most part, has been good.

"I've played well. Yes, I've maybe missed some opportunities, but obviously, guys are finding the course quite easy. Obviously, it's benign conditions. It's still a one or two-club wind out there. It's not very easy, but it is soft. So it is scorable.

"I feel like I've done what I wanted to do this week. I've driven the ball well. The things I've been seeing in practice I've been able to put out there on to the course, and I just might need to do a bit more over the weekend.

"Obviously, I've won my home Open in Ireland. It's a cool thing to do. A lot of these Opens, Scottish Open, whatever, they are over a hundred years old, so to put your name on trophies like that is a pretty cool thing."

The Northern Irishman aims to win his first major in five years when Royal Portrush plays host to the Open next week and McIlroy is happy with his season to date.

"I think I've handled it well. It's been successful so far, a couple of wins, and I've given myself a lot of opportunities to win some more. I think I started the year around 10th in the world and I'm up to third. I'm slowly getting back to where I want to be. Yeah, I'm very pleased with my year and there's still a little bit left to go, but I feel like my game's in good shape to finish the season off the right way."

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