Lowry Leads Irish as Rory Recovers

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Shane Lowry leads the Irish challenge at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open after a round three 68 to hold a share of seventh place ahead of the final round, and trailing the leader Justin Rose by five strokes.

Lowry reached the turn in 34 and matched repeated the same on the way home, only dropping three shots all day.

Michael Hoey added a consecutive 74 to drop down the leaderboard after a bright start on Thursday when he carded just two more strokes than McIlroy's record breaking 64.

Rory McIlroy declared himself happy with his Open preparations after rediscovering his form in the third round of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.

McIlroy continued a worrying trend of following a superb opening round with a terrible second one at Royal Aberdeen, shooting a course-record 64 on Thursday and a seven-over-par 78 on Friday.

The 25-year-old responded with a 68 on Saturday to lie seven shots off the lead on three under par, but was happy to take the positives ahead of next week's Open at Hoylake.

"I've shot 64 and a 68 on this golf course, which are two really good scores," said the Northern Irishman. "Yesterday was just one of those days where nothing really went right. I couldn't get any momentum.

"It would be nice to shoot another good one tomorrow, but I feel good with my game and I saw enough positives in there to give me confidence going into the Open.

"I feel much more prepared going into next week. Coming in here I was hitting these shots that I needed into the wind on the range and hitting them perfectly, but today I hit a couple that weren't so good.

"Hitting them in practice and hitting them under the gun are two completely different things and being able to do that over the past three days and tomorrow as well can only help going into next week.

"It's just about getting rid of these bad stretches of holes or these bad second rounds or whatever it is. If I can get rid of that, then there's no reason why I can't go next week and really contend."

Darren Clarke carded a seventy to lie 26th on 1 under par.

Gareth Maybin fired a third round 69 to nudge up to a share of 38th.

Padraig Harrington was 50th with Damien McGrane twenty places further adrift after a round of of 74.

Kevin Phelan's 78 on Saturday placed him 76th.

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McIlroy Hits 78 at Scottish Open

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Rory McIlroy set a new course record of 64 at Royal Aberdeen on Thursday, but as the wind changed direction so did the former world number one, who stumbled to a 78 that had him battling to make the halfway cut.

His first-round scoring average of just under 68 leads the PGA Tour but his second-round average is almost five shots worse, with rounds of 63 and 78 in the Memorial Tournament the worst example of a worrying trend and part of a run of shooting 40 or more for nine holes in four straight events in America.

McIlroy needed another 40 shots to cover the back nine in Aberdeen and had to save par from greenside bunkers on the 17th and 18th to make sure of being around for the weekend.

"It's been the case all year. I've got off to great starts and fell away but I am still in the tournament and I can go out in the morning and try to get some of those shots back," the 25-year-old said.

"You are having to talk about it (his Friday performances) so it's in your mind and I am maybe putting more pressure on myself to shoot a good score. It's another Friday out of the way, thank God, and I can go on to the weekend. I shot 68 on the Friday at the US Open so hopefully next week will be the same."

Asked if he was shell-shocked, McIlroy added: "Yeah, a little bit. I just thought everything today was much tougher. When I woke up this morning and went to the gym the wind didn't seem like it was up as much as it is now, so I wasn't expecting this tough a test.

"The wind direction yesterday was definitely easier but I'm glad that I've seen this wind direction today because I think that's what we're going to get again tomorrow. So at least I've played a round in it and I know what for expect."

McIlroy’s 78 featured six bogeys and a double, which came at the par-five 12th, and leaves him six shots behind leading trio Ricardo Gonzalez (71), Marc Warren (69) and Kristoffer Broberg (71).

It had looked like Gonzalez – who admitted to being boosted by his native Argentina reaching the World Cup final – would end the day with the outright lead, but a double at the 18th in the fading light ensured he dropped back to six-under alongside his co-leaders.

In contrast to Ryder Cup team-mate McIlroy, Justin Rose went from woeful on Wednesday to title contender on Friday, carding a 68 to finish five under par and just one off the pace.

Rose, who won at Congressional a fortnight ago, said: "I came here on Wednesday and felt absolutely horrendous. It was like I had lost my game somewhere over the Atlantic, but the last couple of days I have been finding my feet again and that's part of the reason for playing this week ahead of Hoylake.

"It was great to see the course in a completely opposite wind. The par-fives are playing very easy on the front nine and there are some tough par fours on the back nine. I did well to hang on to my score on the back nine and made a few good six or seven-footers coming in."

Six-time major winner Nick Faldo had threatened to produce something special when he birdied the fourth and fifth and holed from 40 feet for an eagle on the sixth, but the 56-year-old dropped four shots in five holes from the eighth and eventually carded a second consecutive 73 to finish four-over-par.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson and Luke Donald carded rounds of 73 to finish one and two-under respectively, but Ian Poulter ran up a triple-bogey seven on the 18th to miss the cut along with Lee Westwood.

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Rory Strikes Record 64 in Aberdeen

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Rory McIlroy fired a course record 64 in the opening round of the Aberdeen Asset Management  to lead the  Scottish Open on Thursday,

Michael Hoey finished two strokes off the lead after a round of 66. 

Sweden's Kristoffer Broberg had established a new mark of 65 at Royal Aberdeen after going out in the first group at 6:30am, but that lasted a matter of two hours as McIlroy also made light of the windy conditions.

The former World Number One carded eight birdies and one just bogey, even driving the green on the downwind par four 13th - a distance of 436 yards.

"Everything was pretty much on," a delighted McIlroy said. "I controlled my ball flight really well which is the key to me playing well in these conditions and on these courses.

"I've been working the last ten days on keeping the ball down, hitting easy shots and taking spin off it and I went out there today and really trusted what I practiced."

McIlroy revealed he had also driven the 13th in Wednesday's pro-am, although it probably still came as a shock to the group ahead of Ian Poulter, Miguel Angel Jiménez and Jimmy Walker, who were still on the green.

"I'm driving the ball really well and I feel if I can get driver in my hand and have an advantage on the field I should do it," he added.

"Going out this morning in these conditions I thought anything in the 60s would be a good score so to shoot something better than that is pleasing."

The scoring overall was excellent given the wind was gusting up to 20mph, with Luke Donald and Scot Marc Warren shooting rounds of 67.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson also looked set to finish four under par, only to three-putt the 18th for his only bogey of the day.

Broberg won four times on the Challenge Tour in 2012, three of the victories coming in the space of four weeks.

"I played really, really well," he said. "I hit very good shots and a lot of close ones, so this helps a bit. And I kept away from those bunkers and stayed patient.

"I woke up at 4am and saw the wind out there. There was a little less wind to start, but it got more windy after eight holes so it's the same for everybody."

Kevin Phelan and Darren Clarke signed for rounds of 69.

Garethr Maybin and Padraig Harrington carded 71's with Simon Thornton finished Thirsday on 73.

Paul McGinleyended on 74 strokes.

Peter Lawrie was +8 after nine bogeys.

Castle Stuart for McIlroy

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Rory McIlroy has confirmed that he will play in this season's Scottish Open for the first time in five years.

The two-time major champion hopes that competitive golf will be the perfect preparation for the following week's Open Championship at Hoylake.

Phil Mickelson defied history last year when he became the first player to win both the Scottish Open and the Open Championship in the same season.

The American edged out Branden Grace in a play-off at Castle Stuart last July before lifting the Claret Jug for the first time, and McIlroy hopes to emulate Mickelson as the Scottish Open is staged by Royal Aberdeen for the first time.

"It'll be my first time playing Royal Aberdeen," said McIlroy, who played in the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond in 2008 and 2009.

"I believe it's a great links with lots of golfing history. I'm really looking forward to the challenge it will present.

"To play some competitive golf on a links course will be great preparation for The Open Championship the following week.

"I can think of no better preparation for The Open, especially on a respected course like Royal Aberdeen. There will also be so many similarities I can bring to the following week's Open Championship."

Mickelson will defend his title at Royal Aberdeen, and McIlroy is delighted that sponsors Aberdeen Asset Management have again attracted a strong international field.

"The field is going to be very strong," he added. "Aberdeen Asset Management has done a great job in promoting the event and bringing some of the best players in the world there. And Phil will be back, of course, to defend his title.

"Phil winning the double last year made me realise that the Scottish Open is more than good preparation for The Open - he showed it was possible to win both weeks.

"The Scottish Open going back to a traditional links course was something that made a lot of sense.

"Yet you can play as much golf on links courses as you want, but until that's in a competitive environment you can never tell how ready your game will be.

"It really is so important, then, to get some competitive golf on a true, challenging links".

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McDowell Regrets Scottish Open Remarks

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Graeme McDowell has apologised to the sponsors of the Scottish Open for criticising Castle Stuart as the host venue for the tournament.

McDowell believes the event has lost much of its prestige since moving to the course close to Inverness in 2011 after 15 years at Loch Lomond.

Martin Gilbert, chief executive of Scottish Open sponsor Aberdeen Asset Management, announced that McDowell had spoken to him to apologise for his comments.

Gilbert said: "Graeme contacted me to apologise and he's not the first person to say something they regret, so we've got no problems whatsoever with him.

"My hope it that he will play Royal Aberdeen next year after saying what a great golf course it is.

"He took the time to get in touch and I really admire him for that. He said we should catch up at The Open for a chat and I was impressed with how he had handled the situation.

"In fairness, Graeme has a point to a certain extent in terms of old and new links courses.

"But I'm firmly of the view that the Scottish Open should be played on a links course and, for Scottish golf to be trying to sell itself as a global brand, if we don't play this event on links course it would be crazy.

"It's a pity the French and the Irish opens aren't the other way around as you could possibly have three events - the Irish, Scottish and The Open - all being played on links courses."

McDowell had said: "No disrespect to the Scottish Open as I love that event but it has lost its prestige.

"Castle Stuart probably hasn't been a strong enough course the past couple of years.

"Let's get the Scottish Open on a phenomenal links course with a great purse and a world-class field."

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