Rory McIlroy takes lead into final round at Genesis Scottish Open

GULLANE, Scotland – The worst thing you can do in this game, Rory McIlroy said earlier this week, is get ahead of yourself.

Nevertheless, McIlroy, who has not won anywhere since a victory in Dubai in January, likes his position at the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, where final-round tee times were moved up in anticipation of high winds. He shot a third-round 67 and is 13-under par, one ahead of Tom Kim (67), Tommy Fleetwood (63) and Brian Harman (67) going into Sunday.

“It was another really good round of golf,” McIlroy said. “Very solid. I feel like I've left a few out there over the last couple of days, but at the same time, at least the last few holes, it was quite tricky conditions.

“I played well,” he added. “It's been a good three days and looking forward to obviously being in the final group tomorrow and seeing how my game holds up under that sort of pressure.”

McIlroy is 10-of-18 when leading or co-leading through 54 holes on the PGA TOUR, most recently capturing THE CJ CUP in South Carolina last fall.

If he feels like he’s “left a few shots out there” at The Renaissance Club, it’s for good reason. Although he made 125 feet of putts in a first-round 64, he’s made only a combined 92 feet, 4 inches of putts since then, ranking -3.29 in Strokes Gained: Putting the last two rounds. He could be winning by a lot more than one shot.

Rust could be a factor. Before teeing it up here, McIlroy hadn’t played since a T7 at the Travelers Championship on June 25. Although he didn’t play the Scottish Open last year, its co-sanctioned status (PGA TOUR, DP World Tour) brought him back. Last year he became just the second to win the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai and the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup in the same season.

Now he’s again leading the Race to Dubai after capturing the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January and finishing second at the U.S. Open last month. He’s also seventh in the FedExCup with eight top-10 PGA TOUR finishes, including that U.S. Open runner-up and his CJ CUP win last fall. He’s the only three-time FedExCup winner. Dare he win it a fourth time?

“It’s … an opportunity to gain some points on both sides of the pond,” he said. “Looking towards the end of the year and trying to win the season-long titles on both sides again. I feel like I'm sort of killing a few birds with one stone this week.”

Having three weeks off, he added, wouldn’t be the best prep for The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake) next week. By then his dry spell in the majors will reach exactly nine years, since he won the ’14 Open at Hoylake. He nearly broke it at The Open Championship at St. Andrews last summer, but with 16 final-round pars he shot 70 to finish second. At the U.S. Open at L.A. Country Club last month it was déjà vu in the final round: putting woes, 16 pars, 70, second place.

Although McIlroy won four majors by age 25, inspiring predictions of a Tiger-like run, he hasn’t won one since.

“Yeah, I'm as close as I've ever been, really,” he said. “My consistency in the performances, especially in the majors over the last couple years is way better than it has been over the last few years. So, I'm really pleased at that but at the same time, having had a really good chance at St Andrews; having a really good chance in L.A. a few weeks ago...”

In both cases, he could not overcome a cold putter. With tee times at the Scottish moved up – the leaders will go off at 9 a.m. local time – and heavy wind in the forecast, players may find themselves scrambling to save par more than usual Sunday. That will require every club in the bag, but especially the putter. For McIlroy, it’s the only question mark remaining.

“No, not really,” he said, when asked if he regrets not leading by more. “I'm still in a really good position. As I said, I feel like I've left a few out there but I mean, it's hard to be disappointed when you're in the lead going into the final day. I'll certainly take it.”