Rory McIlroy adopts new tactic to Open preparations after "four hours sleep"

Most would have fancied a few beers and a lie in after coming up just short on a searingly-hot day on the golf course.

Most are not Rory McIlroy, obviously. The Northern Irishman finished two shots behind American Chris Gotterup at the Scottish Open on Sunday. But there was no time for sulking. Instead, it was straight to the airport for a flight to his homeland. McIlroy got into his hotel in Portrush at 1am but the alarm clock was set for not long after.

The tee-time was booked for 7am for his first practice round at this week’s venue for The Open on Monday morning. There was a method behind the madness for the Masters champion. The fact practice rounds were halted in the early afternoon briefly due to thunderstorms it made even more sense for the five-time Major winner to not to hit the snooze button.

“I got about four hours of sleep, so I'm looking forward to taking a nap after this,” McIlroy said as he met the media for the first time this week. “The last couple of majors, at the PGA and the U.S. Open, the practice rounds take so long.

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“I feel like there's 50 people inside the ropes all the time. I feel like I just can't get good work done, good preparation.

“I didn't come up here ahead of time to try to get a couple of practice rounds in, so I just wanted to get out early, sort of beat the rush, beat the crowd, and do my work with not a lot of people around. So that was the reason that I did that today.

“It worked out well. Obviously we had that weather delay there, and it was nice to get 18 holes in early and feel like I got a productive day of work in.”

The round was McIlroy’s first since the Friday here in 2019 when he missed the cut. That was a superb 65 but not enough to undo the damage of his opening day 79 and he missed the weekend by a stroke. So there may have also been an itch to get back here.

“I remember I was making a charge and making a run to try to make the cut, and I hit a 6-iron into the 14th, second shot, and I remember the roar from the crowd,” said McIlroy. "It was sort of getting a little dark and it was overcast, and for whatever reason, that's the one thing I remember is that shot and that roar of the crowd, and walking up to that green and getting a standing ovation. It was really special.

“I wish I had have been here for two more days to get a bit more of that and experience it. But hopefully I can change that this week.”

McIlroy arrives looking to right the wrongs of six years ago and get his hands on The Claret Jug for the first time since 2014. The difference this time is he has completed the career Grand Slam having finally won the Masters back in April.

Yet winning a Major on home soil at the place he set the course record as a 16-year-old prodigy would be something special for the iconic sportsman of this part of the world.

"I think it would be just as emotional, if not more emotional than Augusta - and everyone saw the mess I was after that,” he said. "It would be absolutely incredible."