Justin Thomas and Ian Poulter also satisfied with performance in North Berwick
Wednesday 7 August 2019 09:09, UK
Rory McIlroy declared himself happy with his week's work at the ASI Scottish Open after signing off with a two-under 69 in the final round.
That followed rounds of 67, 67 and 68 at The Renaissance Club and left him on 13 under for the tournament, nine shots adrift of the winning score.
McIlroy, who mixed six birdies with four bogeys on Sunday, now heads home to Northern Ireland for The 148th Open at Royal Portrush.
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"I think I got what I wanted out of it for the most part," he told Sky Sports. "I would have loved to have been in the thick of things going into today but probably just made a few too many mistakes over the week to do that.
"But I've learnt a lot this week. It's the first time playing links golf in a while - just different turf, [the] ball goes different distances into the wind, little lies around the greens. All that sort of stuff. That just takes you a while to get used to again.
"So I think it has been a productive week. Not the finish I would have wanted but I'm really happy with what I've done this week and happy to be going to Portrush."
When asked what part of his game he needs to improve ahead of The Open, McIlroy added: "I didn't judge the lies around the greens very well this week, that's just getting used to links golf again. So if I can just sharpen that up and sharpen up those little shots around the greens I'll be right there."
McIlroy carded a 61 at Royal Portrush at the age of 16 and there will be a lot of focus on him at The Open, but he insists it will be just like any other tournament for him.
"Honestly, I think it's going to feel normal," he said. "It's going to feel like just another Open Championship. I've played in a few of them now, I know what to expect - it might be a little louder, the atmosphere might be a bit different but the objective is the same.
"It is to go there, play good golf and hopefully give myself a chance to win the Claret Jug."
Justin Thomas and Ian Poulter played together in the final round and both finished well with scores of 65 and 66 respectively to end up on 18 under and 17 under.
World No 9 Thomas said: "I'm very pleased. I felt like I was very close to winning this tournament. I felt like I did everything well enough to at least contend and have a decent finish like I did this week. So it's nice to see some good things pay off with the hard work we've been putting in."
Poulter admitted he was a little frustrated after failing to take a number of chances but he is looking forward to Royal Portrush next week.
He said: "It was good prep for next week, but it's a week that's going to be 'what if?'."
