Wednesday 12 July 2017 14:38, UK
Rory McIlroy is confident of benefiting from extra practice time following his early exit at the Irish Open as he completes his preparations for next week's 146th Open at Dundonald Links.
McIlroy has not played in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open since 2014, when he finished in a tie for 14th and went on to lift the Claret Jug for the first time at Hoylake the following week.
A freak ankle injury ruled him out of both tournaments in 2015, and he opted to skip last year's Scottish Open at Castle Stuart and was expected to do the same this season until he announced during the US Open that he would be teeing it up against a high-quality field at Dundonald.
Two spells on the sidelines with a rib injury have limited McIlroy to just nine starts in 2017, and he added this week to his schedule to give himself as much competitive golf as possible ahead of the third major of the year at Royal Birkdale.
McIlroy missed the cut at his home event last week for the fourth time in five years, but he has been working hard to correct faults with his short game and he is looking forward to putting the extra practice to good use over the next fortnight.
"I felt like I learnt a lot over those two days that I played at Portstewart," said Mcilroy, who missed the cut by four shots and then handed over the trophy to runaway champion Jon Rahm on Sunday evening. "I was getting a little steep with my wedges, so I've tried to shallow out my wedge action a little bit.
"Instead of hitting more full shots, trying to sort of hit more knock-down shots that I'll probably need the next couple of weeks. Then I had a bit of time to reflect on things and reflect on what I feel like I need to do to come into this week, and obviously next week with a chance to win and contend and to play well.
"I got to the course here late Monday afternoon and did some putting on my own, just to try and figure out a couple things on my own and try to take ownership of what I'm really working on. Worked a lot on routine. I feel like I've become quite bogged down in technical thoughts a little bit. So I need to focus more on my routine and how I approach a putt.
"I played 18 holes on Tuesday and I feel the wedge play work that I did over the weekend will help here. I think if you drive it well on this golf course, you're going to have a lot of shots from around a hundred yards, 90 yards. So I think wedge play will be important this week."
McIlroy maintains he is "close" to regaining his best form despite missing the cut at both the US Open and the Irish Open, although he admitted he has found it tough to remain patient as he bids to overcome the inconsistency that has blighted his season.
"It's hard to sit up here and stand in front of a camera every single time and say to you guys 'it's close', because I sound a bit like a broken record after a few weeks, but really, it's not far away," he added.
"I'm positive about it. I'm excited about my game. I feel like I'm doing a lot of good things. And again, it's just putting it all together, not just for one day but for four days and to do it week-in and week-out.
"I think it's fair to say I'm trying to stay patient but it's proving difficult, it always has been for me. I feel like I am good enough to win these tournaments, and I've shown that before. And as I keep saying it, I don't feel like my game is that far away, so to stay patient when you feel like that is sometimes quite difficult.
"I feel like all I need is, if I can get a little spark this week and see a few putts go in and shoot a couple of good scores, I feel like that will build a lot of confidence and that will ease that impatience a little bit, I guess.
"Look, I've got a busy summer coming up. I'm potentially playing seven weeks out of eight or seven weeks out of nine. I've got a busy stretch coming up and I'm excited to play."
