NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — Rory McIlroy took his first step toward moving on from his U.S. Open collapse and felt just as good about the state of his game. He opened with a 5-under 65 on Thursday and was in the mix on a cool, breezy day at the Scottish Open.
Maximilian Kieffer of Germany and Haotong Li of China set the early pace at The Renaissance Club with a 64 on a links-styled course that yielded low scoring with only a moderate wind.
McIlroy took a week away from his golf clubs after the U.S. Open, where he missed two short putts over the final three holes and finished one shot behind Bryson DeChambeau at Pinehurst No. 2.
He is trying to look at the big picture. He says the U.S. Open was a great week except for the closing four holes. McIlroy talked about his victory at the Wells Fargo Championship and good finishes at three other tournaments.
“I’m not going to let three or four holes cloud my judgment in terms of how good I’m playing,” he said. “I knew to play the golf that I did the whole way through June … it wasn’t just the U.S. Open. I played well at the Canadian Open and at Memorial before that even, and PGA and Quail Hollow. My game has been in good shape and it was in good shape coming in here.
“It’s just a matter of going out there and focusing on the task at hand and not letting your mind wander too much,” he said. “I felt like I did a good job of that today.”
It helps to chip in for eagle from behind the green on the par-5 third hole, which eased some of the disappointment of missed birdie chances in the middle of his second nine. McIlroy is the defending champion, with one eye on winning again and another on next week at Royal Troon for the British Open.
Kieffer was flawless and reached 7 under until he found a fairway pot bunker on the closing hole, leading to his only bogey.
“I drove it well, picked smart targets on the greens and holed a lot of putts. Really the momentum was there all day,” Kieffer said. “I had a great start and Haotong was playing well. There was so much momentum in the group all day. Surprisingly golf feels pretty easy.”
Li played alongside and piled up eight birdies, also dropping a shot on the 18th hole when he went from the right rough to the left rough.
Among those playing in the afternoon were Justin Thomas and Thomas Detry, and both already were at 6 under early on the back nine.
It’s a big week for Detry, who is not yet eligible for the British Open even though he has been hovering around the top 50 in the world. He was in the UK last week to try regional qualifying, coming up short. The leading three players from the Scottish Open will get a spot at Royal Troon.
Kieffer and Li currently are not in the Open, either.
One shot behind was a group that included John Deere Classic winner Davis Thompson, along with Tommy Fleetwood, Corey Conners and Alex Noren.
Scoring was so good that the worst score posted from the morning wave was a 74.
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