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Scottish Open: Rory McIlroy BEAT Bob MacIntyre With 18th-Hole Birdie to WIN
Scottish Open: Rory McIlroy Edged Bob MacIntyre to WIN Scottish Open With 18th-Hole Birdie
Rory McIlroy edged a topsy-turvy battle in the North Berwick wind to win the Scottish Open despite a stunning final round from home hope Robert MacIntyre.
BBC NEWS 16 JUL 2023
Scottish Open Final-Round Leaderboard
-15 R McIlroy (NI); -14 R MacIntyre (Sco); -10 S Scheffler (US), BH An (Kor), D Lingmerth (Swe); -9 T Fleetwood (Eng), T Hatton (Eng), N Hoejgaard (Den), T Kim (Kor)
Selected others:-8 G Forrest (Sco); -7 E Ferguson (Sco), J Smith (Eng); -5 C Hill (Sco); -3 R Ramsay (Sco), M Wallace (Eng), P Harrington (Ire)
The Northern Irishman clinched his first title in Scotland by a stroke at the Renaissance Club with a brilliant birdie on the 18th for a two-under 68.
MacIntyre had mastered the testing conditions with a 64 to set the target at 14 under.
But McIlroy conjured closing back-to-back birdies to deny the Scot.
McIlroy had taken a one-shot advantage into the final day, but struggled on the front nine and the lead changed hands several times before he roused himself for glory.
As a play-off loomed, the 34-year-old produced a remarkable stinger from 200 yards out on the 18th to tee up a title-clinching putt from eight feet.
"Really proud. That was such a tough day, especially the back nine," said McIlroy, who rises one place to world number two.
"To play that back nine in four four under par to win the tournament, yeah, really proud of how I just stuck in there.
"I hit some amazing shots down the stretch and was able to finish it off with a really nice putt there. It feels incredible.
"It's been along six months I feel since I won in Dubai. I've given myself tonnes of chances and hopefully this win sort of breaks the seal for me, especially going in to [The Open] next week as well."
McIlroy also had words of consolation for MacIntyre and praised his "unbelievable round".
He added: "If he can shoot 64 on a day like today, he can do anything. It's great to see him back on form at an important point of the year when he's trying to make the Ryder Cup team."
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