Rory McIlroy treated the Genesis Scottish Open as more than a tune-up this year. It’s the event he has leaned on before, a major to sharpen his form on true links’ turf. By his own admission, he arrived at the Renaissance Club specifically building toward the Royal Birkdale. He left after recording one of the worst approach-play rounds of his entire PGA Tour career, rather than the smooth warm-up he had hoped for.

Golf journalist Jamie Kennedy laid out the numbers in an analysis on X. McIlroy lost 2.61 strokes on approach shots in the third round at the Scottish Open, the second-worst SG approach among his 1067 rounds on the Tour. He recorded a -2.62 outing at last year’s Canadian Open, which remains at the top of his worst scores. Strokes Gained: Approach measures how a player’s iron and wedge shots into the green compare to the field. A number that deep in red indicates that McIlroy was not finding greens or leaving himself makeable putts throughout the day, regardless of how well he was driving the ball.

Asked about his week afterwards, McIlroy didn’t shy away from what happened.

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Which Pro Was Nearly Hit by His Own Ball at Scottish Open?

Rory McIlroyJordan SmithJordan SpiethRobert MacIntyre

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“Yeah, I think so. I just need to hit some balls in a right-to-left wind. That usually helps me. Again, it’s the same thing that I get a lot when I start hitting balls in a left-to-right wind, as it has been over the weekend. My path and my face just get too far apart in terms of, like, my face is just further left than my path is, and I start hitting these left shots, especially with the irons. So it was feeling good coming in here, and it was GOOD. I hit some really good iron shots over the first couple of days, but the more I hit balls in a left-to-right wind, the more that starts to sort of show itself, and then it’s a bit of a struggle,” he said.

If we look at the numbers in Round three at the Scottish Open, the numbers were messy from the start. McIlroy had shared the outright lead at nine under through 36 holes. However, he ran into a three-over start in round three that dropped his progress all the way to a tie for 25th, before the weather delay and choppy conditions further disrupted his rhythm. He made progress in round four with eight birdies, but the damage was already done.

Kennedy further pointed out that this isn’t a lone bad round. He pointed out that this wasn’t a new trend, referencing a similar third-round collapse at this year’s Masters. McIlroy’s season-by-season stroke approach rank on the Tour has deteriorated over the years. He ranked eighth in 2023, moving to 52nd in 2024, and that fell to 68th in 2025.

Moreover, had his iron play in the round been simply average rather than one of the worst rounds of his career, he would have had a real chance at winning the Genesis Scottish Open.

Despite that, the two-time Masters champion is convinced the mistake will just help me get better as he gears for the final major of the year.

“Yeah, I felt like I was pretty much in control of everything after the first two days. And then the long day yesterday, waiting-ish, didn’t get off to the best of starts. And then didn’t finish the third round off today particularly well. Sort of pieced it together.”

“Sort of realized what I was doing. Tried to figure it out a bit on the range before I went out to my final round. At least I know what I’m doing. It’s a matter of trying to sort of rectify it. Obviously there was some good in there today, but there was some bad, as well. So I’m going to need to work a little bit over the next couple of days to be ready for Thursday,” he said.

Moreover, Birkdale isn’t an unfamiliar ground for working through it. McIlroy finished fourth last time the Open was staged there in 2017, giving him a track record on the course to lean on. There is also a recent precedent worth weighing rather than any guarantee. Last year, McIlroy was a runner-up at the Scottish Open, again without a win. Still, he went on to finish tied for seventh at Royal Portrush the following week. A strong but winless Scottish Open hasn’t stopped him from contending at the Open before, and this is the closest thing to the real signal of what Birkdale might hold. But this time, the Grand Slam winner is sure that he might lift the trophy.