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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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.

Scottish Open for Clarke and Westwood

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Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood have confirmed they will join one of the strongest fields in the history of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club from July 10-13.

Two of the most decorated players in European golf, Clarke and Westwood are also close friends and have formed one of most formidable Ryder Cup partnerships of recent times, winning six points out of a possible eight when paired together in golf’s greatest team event.

Clarke, in particular, will be hoping his return to the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open will conjure memories of one of the greatest moments of his career, when he claimed his first Major at The 2011 Open Championship a week after playing in Scotland’s national open.

Clarke, who finished runner up to Edoardo Molinari in 2010, is hoping that he can add a 15th title to his European Tour trophy haul on Scotland’s stunning North East coastline.

“It is no secret that I love links golf,” said the Northern Irishman. “So to have a new links course on The European Tour’s International Schedule is very exciting for me, and especially at an event with which I feel I have a real affinity.

“The Scottish golf fans are some of the most knowledgeable in the world so it is always a pleasure to return to this event and I hope that I can give them something to shout about.”

Last year, American Phil Mickelson became the latest player to benefit from the experience of the Scottish links in his quest for Open glory, defeating Branden Grace in a play-off to claim his first Scottish Open title before going on to earn his fifth Major title and first Claret Jug at Muirfield a week later.

Westwood, the former World Number One and the first winner of The Race to Dubai back in 2009, returns to this event - which he won in 1998 - for the first time in three years. The Englishman also has a proven track record in Scotland, having also captured the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at the Home of Golf in 2003.

“I am really looking forward to returning to the Scottish Open,” said Westwood. “It is a course I have never played in competition so it is going to be a new challenge, and I have heard great things about it.

“I think it will also be the perfect place to prepare for The Open Championship and that is one of the reasons why I have made the decision to return this year.

“Of course, being a former winner of this event makes it extra special for me and hopefully I can feed off the positivity that brings and challenge for the title.”

Defending champion Mickelson, two-time Major winner Rory McIlroy and Jimmy Walker, three-time winner this year on the US PGA Tour, have all confirmed their attendance at what is one of the Tour’s most prestigious events, in which Aberdeen Asset Management and the Scottish Government are key partners.

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Hoey Drives NI Open Challenge

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Michael Hoey will make his first appearance in a regular Challenge Tour event for five years when he competes in this week’s inaugural Northern Ireland Open Challenge Presented by Clannah and XJET, a tournament he has helped to promote in his role as ambassador.

The five-time European Tour champion is one of 24 Irishmen, drawn evenly from the North and Republic of Ireland, who will tee up at Galgorm Castle Golf Club and Estates in Ballymena, Country Antrim.

Hoey’s most recent victory came in the M2M Russian Open at the end of July, and he comes into the event on the back of another solid performance in last week’s Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, where he finished in joint 28th place.

Whilst Hoey would dearly love to his tally of three Challenge Tour titles, much of the Ulsterman’s focus this week will be on his ambassadorial role for the €170,000 event.

He said: “I was more than happy to be the face of the tournament, and it’s a real honour and privilege to be able to help out the government and the Challenge Tour. I played on the Challenge Tour for a few years so I know how tough the competition is, and I’ll have to play very well just to contend.

“Some of the winning scores on the Challenge Tour this year and last have been unbelievable, so I’m under no illusions as to how difficult it’s going to be to get in contention, let alone win. There’s a huge difference in the standard from when I was playing five years ago to now.

“But my main aim this week isn’t necessarily to win the tournament – the main goal is to be an ambassador for the tournament. Hopefully everyone likes the venue, and we can have a great week. I’ve played the course three times on sponsors’ days this year, so I know it well. It’s a good parkland course and it’s in a beautiful location, so I’m sure the guys will enjoy playing there.

“The success of the Irish Open in Portrush showed what an appetite there is amongst the public for professional golf tournaments in Northern Ireland, so hopefully we can get some good crowds and keep the feel-good factor high.”

Calgorm Castle Golf Club’s touring professional Gareth Shaw will hope to build on some noteworthy results this season, with the highlight a top five finish in The Irish Open in June.

Shaw will be joined in County Antrim by his compatriots Paul Cutler and Alan Dunbar, the latter of whom won the 2012 Amateur Championship at Royal Troon. 

The duo formed a dynamic pairing in the 2011 Walker Cup, winning both their foursome matches as Great Britain & Ireland defeated their American counterparts 14-12 at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club.

Other notable names in the field include in-form Portuguese José-Filipe Lima, currently second in the Challenge Tour Rankings thanks to a series of eye-catching performances which includes a tied third place finish at last week’s Rolex Trophy; and Frenchman François Calmels, bidding to gain instant promotion to The European Tour with a third victory of the season. 

This week’s tournament will mark the first Irish Challenge Tour event since the 2009 Challenge of Ireland while the last time Northern Ireland hosted a Challenge Tour event was in 2003, when Darren Clarke won the Benmore Developments Northern Ireland Masters.

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