Rory McIlroy puts LIV Golf rivals on notice with reply to Open question

Rory McIlroy is feeling confident about his chances at the Open Championship at Royal Troon, following his first outing since the disappointment at the U.S. Open last month.

Despite a less-than-stellar performance with the putter that left him tied for fourth at 14-under-par at the Scottish Open, McIlroy is optimistic. Last year, he dazzled fans by winning the title at The Renassaince Club, but this time his putter let him down.

McIlroy is now setting his sights on Royal Troon. He experienced a gut-wrenching close call at the U.S. Open last month, marking a decade since his last major win. McIlroy's last triumph in one of golf's big four events was at the 2014 PGA Championship.

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The four-time major winner seemed poised to break his dry spell at Pinehurst No. 2 until a late-round stumble allowed LIV Golf star Bryson DeChambeau to snatch the trophy. After taking a break from three PGA Tour events, McIlroy returned to form in Scotland, ending up just four strokes behind the winner Bob MacIntyre.

Despite not being able to successfully defend his Scottish Open title, McIlroy remains upbeat about his game as he prepares for the 152nd Open. "I think it's really good," he told Sky Sports. "I haven't played links golf since Hoylake last year so it was good to get back on a links course for the first time.

"I got to play in a little bit of wind today. It still wasn't much but it was a little more than we had. I was getting acclimatized to the shots you need and I don't think the speed of the greens are going to be too dissimilar next week. Overall, I feel my game is in really good shape heading into the final major of the year."

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McIlroy's iron play has been on fire recently, arguably the best of his illustrious career, and he continues to dominate with the driver. But this week, his putting let him down, being the only top 10 finisher with a negative strokes gained putting score.

The 35-year-old didn't make many mistakes on the greens, but frustratingly watched as numerous birdie opportunities just missed throughout the event. If his putting had been up to his usual standard, he might have taken the title again at The Renaissance Club.

As he sets his sights on the upcoming major in Scotland's west coast, starting on Thursday, McIlroy acknowledges the need for improvement in his putting game. "I felt like I was hitting good putts over the weekend and the greens definitely got a lot slower when that rain came in yesterday," he said.

"I couldn't really get a handle on them today, I was leaving a lot of putts short and when they do get that slow, I actually find it a little trickier to read them. I had a lot of chances that I wasn't able to convert and that was kind of the story of the week. I felt the ball striking was there pretty much every day.

"Overall, it was a good week to see where my game is heading into next week, especially coming into it off the back of three weeks off. I'm pleased with the week with an eye on trying to get prepared for Troon."