Rory McIlroy has been open and honest about having difficulty finding motivation after capturing the final piece of the career Grand Slam in April at the Masters.
Well, he shot a third-round 66 Saturday at the Genesis Scottish Open and is tied for the lead with only 18 holes remaining and his beloved British Open on deck next week at Royal Portrush in his native Northern Ireland.
McIlroy has found motivation.
Chris Gotterup understandably had difficulty following a second-round 61 and shot even-par 70 at the Renaissance Club. He and McIlroy are tied at 11-under-par total, two shots ahead of four others, including major winners Wyndham Clark and Matt Fitzpatrick.
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“It’s my first realistic chance to win after the Masters, and I’ve had a great season,” McIlroy said. “I won at Pebble. I won Players. I said this, when you do something that you’ve been dreaming your whole life to do, it was a huge moment in my life, my career. I think I just needed that little bit of time. And to be back here for last couple weeks and feel like I could actually digest all of it, I feel like I came to this tournament with renewed enthusiasm and excitement for the rest of the year.”
The Masters victory was McIlroy’s third of the season but undeniably put the final touches on the biggest professional career achievement of his life, joining only five others in golf history to win the Grand Slam. Since that magical Sunday in Georgia, he’s tied for seventh place, tied for 47th, missed a cut, tied for 19th and tied for sixth place in his last start at the Travelers Championship.
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On Saturday, coming off a second-round 65 that put him squarely into contention, McIlroy was only even par after seven holes, but made four birdies over the next nine holes to get within a shot of Gotterup. When Gotterup bogeyed the 14th hole, he and McIlroy were tied, which is where it ended after Gotterup parred his final four holes.
The two men will be grouped with Clark in a final round in Scotland, which altered tee times because of “dense sea fog” expected in the morning. They’ll be playing in threesomes going off the first and 10th tees.
Gotterup, a 25-year-old who played college golf at Oklahoma, won in Myrtle Beach last year and is looking for his second PGA Tour victory. McIlroy is hoping to win his 30th PGA Tour title and fourth this season. Only Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Scottie Scheffler have collected multiple four-win seasons since 2000. Scheffler shot 69 Saturday and is tied for 15th place.
“I’m pleased but definitely feel like I left one or two out there that would have been important,” Gotterup said. “After 61, it doesn’t feel as easy. I hung in there tough and put myself in a good spot going into tomorrow.”
Said McIlroy: “I’m excited to get out there. The atmosphere has been great all week. Obviously, the weather helps that. Tee times are pushed up a little bit, so hopefully get the business done early-ish and I can watch make sure the last two or three sets of the Wimbledon final.”
Whether McIlroy gets the job done on Sunday—he’s certainly the heavy favorite—he will still quickly turn his focus to the British Open next week at Royal Portrush. He shot 79-65 there in 2019 and missed the cut by one and was devastated not playing the weekend in front of his compatriots. He’s determined to have a better effort during this, a career-defining PGA Tour season.
“I think I’m pretty close to being back to the level I was at going into the Masters,” he said. “I think I’ve had a little bit of a lull, which I feel is understandable. So I’m just getting back to the level that I know that I can play at.”
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
