GULLANE, Scotland — Rory McIlroy made birdies on the last two holes in whipping wind Sunday for a 2-under-par 68 to win the Scottish Open, his first victory in Scotland, and take a load of confidence into the final major of the year.
McIlroy was one shot behind Robert MacIntyre when he played the slope to near perfection on the par-3 17th for a four-foot birdie putt to tie for the lead. The 34-year-old from Northern Ireland then delivered what he called his best shot of the year, a 2-iron into the wind to 10 feet for a final birdie.
It was a heartbreaker for MacIntyre, who was trying to win his national open and delivered a class shot of his own. MacIntyre hammered a 3-wood from the rough on the 18th hole at the Renaissance Club to four feet, pumping both fists when it dropped for a 64.
It was a remarkable closing round given the wind that was rough and relentless off the Firth of Forth, and it looked for the longest time that it would give the 26-year-old MacIntyre the signature victory of his young career.
Instead it was McIlroy, who played the tough back nine in 31 and capped it off with two clutch birdies for his first win since the Dubai Desert Classic in late January. He finished at 15-under 265, one better than MacIntyre.
The victory came at an ideal time. McIlroy now heads south to Royal Liverpool for the British Open, where starting Thursday he will try to end his nine-year drought in the majors. McIlroy won the claret jug the last time the event was played at Royal Liverpool in 2014.
“That was such a tough day — so tough,” McIlroy said. “To play that back nine in 4 under par to win the tournament, I’m really proud of how I stuck in there. I hit some amazing shots down the stretch. It feels incredible. It’s been a long six months, I feel, since I won in Dubai. I’ve given myself tons of chances, and hopefully this win sort of breaks the seal for me, especially going into next week.”
McIlroy also moved past Jon Rahm to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler closed with a 70 and tied for third with South Korea’s Byeong Hun An (70) and Sweden’s David Lingmerth (68). Scheffler has finished among the top five in his past seven tournaments, two of them majors.
An and Lingmerth received a consolation prize by earning spots in the British Open, awarded to the leading three players not already exempt. The final spot went to Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard (67), who will join twin brother Rasmus at Royal Liverpool.
Baylor School graduate Luke List (73) tied for 35th at 4 under.
The Scottish crowd had been chanting MacIntyre’s name all week around the course, and they roared when he delivered the 3-wood shot and birdie putt to the 18th, one of the toughest closing holes on tour.
MacIntyre was so caught up in the moment he had to hold back tears leaving the green.
“I’ll never forget it. I had to take a minute coming off 18,” he said. “If not (the British Open), the Scottish Open will be up there with the event I want to play for the rest of my life. It’s one I’ve dreamed of winning since I watched at home, and I thought today coming down once I birdied 18, I thought, this might be the one. But it’s not to be just now.
“Rory McIlroy’s potentially the best in the world, and he showed why today.”
PA photo by Jane Barlow via AP / Robert MacIntyre celebrates on the 18th green as he closes out his final round Sunday at the Scottish Open.First on PGA Tour
NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. — Vincent Norrman lipped in an eight-footer for a bogey on the 72nd hole to get into a playoff, then scrambled for a par on the same hole in sudden death to beat Nathan Kimsey and win the Barbasol Championship, his first PGA Tour victory.
The 25-year-old Norrman, a tour rookie who played one year at Florida State after four years at Division II program Georgia Southwestern, won in his 23rd career start. The Swede closed with a 66 at Keene Trace to finish at 22-under 266.
“I don’t think I can process this for a while. I’m lost for words,” he said.
Kimsey, a 30-year-old DP World Tour player from England who made his PGA Tour debut in this event co-sanctioned by the European circuit, shot a 64 to post 22 under and waited to see if it would be good enough. It didn’t look promising with Norrman and Trevor Cone at 23 under.
However, Cone yanked his tee shot into tall grass well left of the green on the par-3 16th, leading to a double bogey. That opened the door for Norrman, who hit a fairway wood off the 18th tee and went well left into an awkward lie. He still had 57 yards for his third shot, missed the green from there and then chipped well past the hole. His bogey putt caught the lip on the right side and dropped.
Cone shot a 68 and finished one shot shy of the playoff alongside France’s Adrien Saddier (66).
It’s Stricker again
AKRON, Ohio — Steve Stricker earned his third PGA Tour Champions major title of the year, capping a dominant weekend at Firestone Country Club with a 4-under 66 for a three-shot victory in the Kaulig Companies Championship.
Stricker was five shots off the lead after a second-round 73, but he closed with rounds of 65-66 for an 11-under 269 total. Runner-up David Toms closed with a 65.
The 56-year-old Stricker won the Regions Tradition in May, then triumphed two weeks later at the Senior PGA Championship. He has five victories this year on the 50-and-older tour and a lead of more than $2 million over second-place Bernhard Langer on the Charles Schwab Cup money list.
The win at Firestone gives Stricker a spot in next year’s Players Championship, which he said was one of his goals. This event was previously known as the Senior Players Championship before Kaulig Companies took over as title sponsor.
“I think I get so emotional because we put so much into it,” said Stricker, who choked up during a greenside television interview.
Stricker has seven career major titles on the PGA Tour Champions, tied with Hale Irwin for fourth.
Harrison Frazar, who was tied with Stricker for the 54-hole lead, shot a 70 and tied for third with K.J. Choi (68) and Ernie Els (68).
Grant holds on
SYLVANIA, Ohio — Linn Grant won her first LPGA Tour title after an outstanding start to her career in Europe, enduring a charge from U.S. Women’s Open champion Allisen Corpuz and closing with a 3-under 68 for a three-shot victory in the Dana Open.
The 24-year-old from Sweden already has five victories on the Ladies European Tour — including a history-making nine-shot victory last year against a field of men and women in the Scandinavian Mixed — and earned LPGA membership starting last season. But she did not play in the United States until this year, when the U.S. dropped its COVID-19 vaccination requirement for foreign travelers. Grant did not disclose her reasons for remaining unvaccinated, calling it a private matter.
Now she’s an LPGA winner and a lock to represent Europe in the Solheim Cup this fall in Spain.
“I think I’ve imagined this day so many times in so many ways in my own mind,” Grant said. “Just being here now, I’m just so speechless, and at the same time I feel familiar with the setting for some reason. But it’s just so fun.”
Grant entered the day with a six-shot lead after a 62 on Saturday. She parred her first seven holes in the final round, chipped in for a birdie from behind the green on the par-3 eighth, and still led by six at the turn. But Corpuz, a week after she won at Pebble Beach Golf Links for her first LPGA title and major championship, made it interesting with birdies on four of the last five holes to shoot a 65 and get within two shots.
Grant saved par on the par-4 16th and finished with a birdie on the par-5 18th, reaching the green in two with a 3-wood that she didn’t think she could get there. Her four-day total at Highland Meadows was 21-under 263.
Lindy Duncan also closed with a 65 and was alone in third, six shots back.
Curry aces test
STATELINE, Nev. — NBA star Stephen Curry made an 18-foot eagle put on the final hole to win the American Century Championship, his first title in the celebrity tournament.
Curry, the Golden State Warriors guard who made a hole-in-one on Saturday on the 152-yard, par-3 seventh hole, topped it with his final stroke on the par-5 18th hole at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course. After the putt dropped, he tossed his hat into the air and ran into the arms of his wife, Ayesha.
“I don’t do this for a living, so it’s something you dream about,” Curry said. “I’ve been playing in this tournament for almost a decade, and now I’ve got some hardware to show for it. It’s pretty special.”
The eagle was good for six points under a version of the modified Stableford scoring system. Players received three points for a birdie, one point for a par and lost two points for a double bogey or worse.
Curry finished with 75 points, two ahead of runner-up Mardy Fish, a former pro tennis player who won this event in 2020. Fish was three points ahead of Curry entering the 18th but had to settle for a closing par.
Under conventional scoring, Curry shot a par round of 72, while Fish had the best round of the day with a 69.