Sunday 14 July 2019 16:43, UK
Rory McIlroy had aimed to mount a weekend charge at the ASI Scottish Open, but he was left a little frustrated after only carding a three-under 68 in the third round.
That left the Northern Irishman on 11 under for the tournament and nine shots adrift of leader Bernd Wiesberger at The Renaissance Club.
McIlroy's stop-start round saw him fail to birdie the par-five opening hole on the North Berwick layout and he then dropped a shot at the second before recovering with four birdies in five holes from the fifth.
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Back-to-back bogeys followed at the 11th and 12th but a strong finish saw him birdie both the 16th and 18th.
"I feel like I played better than the score suggests and that's been the story of the week," said McIlroy.
"I heard a camera click over my second shot on 11 but I was more frustrated that I didn't back off, missed the green and made bogey and I let that bother me on 12 as well.
"The game is right there, I just need to go out tomorrow and shoot a good score and finish on a positive note."
McIlroy had not played since the US Open after swerving last week's Irish Open and he will continue to fine-tune his game in the final round on Sunday as he prepares for next week's Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
"All I wanted to do was get a scorecard in my hand," the 30-year-old added. "It didn't matter if the winning score was 20 under or 10 under, I just wanted to play four rounds of competitive golf and I'm going to do that.
"I'll at least have a better idea of where my game is at going into next week, instead of having a week or a few weeks off and trying to figure it out once I get there.
"Maybe I would have wanted to have been a little bit sharper around the greens and do a little more practice, but overall I feel like my game is in really good shape."
One consolation, at least, for McIlroy being off the pace, is that he should be able to return home to Northern Ireland on Sunday evening due to his earlier tee-off time.
"The thing I'm happy about is that Belfast City [Airport] closes at 9pm tomorrow night so I should get in before they close," he joked.
Watch the final round of the Scottish Open live on Sky Sports Golf from 3pm on Sunday.
