Rory McIlroy hopes Genesis Scottish Open success 'breaks the seal' for major mission

“Yeah, it is,” said the four-time major winner of landing a timely triumph with his second success in a Rolex Series event. “It's nice to have the validation. It's great racking up top fives, top tens, but it's much nicer heading away with a trophy on Sunday afternoon. It's a great shot of confidence. If I hopefully find myself in a similar position next week where I've got a chance to win with nine holes to go, I can certainly draw on what I did here today; that I can get myself in the mix again.”

Worth $1.2 million, the victory lifted McIlroy to second in the world rankings, moved him to third in the FedEx Cup and cemented his lead in the Race to Dubai. “Yeah, it feels great,” he said of all of that. “I came here this week, we are obviously on the eve of The Open Championship and you're thinking about trying to prepare for that.

“But then you think about the weight that this tournament carries, being co-sanctioned for Race to Dubai, FedExCup, all the stuff at the end of the year as well, so I feel like I sort of killed two birds with one stone this week and gave myself an even bigger lead in The Race to Dubai, got myself up there in FedExCup, and obviously a huge confidence boost going into The Open next week.

“I've had my chances over the last couple of months and been knocking on the door. Just haven't quite been able to get it done so hopefully this breaks the seal and we can go on from here.”

McIlroy created history at The Renaissance Club as he became the first player to win the Scottish Open, the Irish Open and The Open. “Yeah,” he said of that being a nice addition to his glittering CV. “Obviously me being a player from this part of the world, to win those three titles throughout my career, it's a nice thing to have. National Opens are usually the oldest titles in our game, and I've won a few, the two on the other side of the Atlantic, the three over here, and I've won the Australian Open as well. The national titles I feel are pretty big deals, especially when you look at the trophy and see the list of winners that have gotten their name on them. So it's nice to add my name to this one now.”

Bob MacIntyre was hoping his name would be going on the trophy after he’d birdied the last to set the clubhouse target only to be denied by McIlroy’s brilliant finish. “If he can shoot 64 in a day like today, he can do anything,” said McIlroy in reply to being asked what message he’d have for the Oban man, having played with him for the first time in this event four years ago. I mean, that was an unbelievable round of golf. And it's great to see him back in form, as well. Obviously he had the win in Rome last year, and then he sort of went off a little bit but it's nice to see him hitting some form again, especially at an important point of the year when he's looking to try to make that Ryder Cup.”