Rory McIlroy 'feeling good' after moving into contention at Scottish Open

Rory McIlroy enjoyed a “good day” at the Renaissance Club as he climbed the leaderboard and looked forward to a strong weekend chasing another Scottish Open triumph.

The Masters champion carded a 65 to move to seven under and fifth on the leaderboard at the end of his round.

McIlroy said that he felt he had momentum coming off a strong finish on Thursday, and from two good shots as he started on the tenth, things went well from there.

“The conditions were so good for us this morning,” he said. “It felt like if you didn’t play that first nine in three or four under, you were losing strokes to the field.

“The guys are going to have it a touch tougher this afternoon, so it was nice to get out in the best of the conditions today.”

Assessing a round that saw him find six birdies, he felt he could still improve, but that he was in the right place moving into the decisive end of the tournament.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” he continued. “I did a lot of good things today, still a couple of loose shots here and there, but overall I thought it was a good day. I’m excited for the weekend, right in the thick of things, in contention going into the last two days.

“If there’s anything you need to work on in your game, that’s where it’s going to show, under that sort of pressure, trying to win a golf tournament.

“I’m looking forward to that.”

While he found a lot to like about his game, the Northern Irishman knows from experience that it’s the weekend that counts and says he’s now in a good position.

“When you’re in the thick of things, trying to win a golf tournament, you know, I think that tells you a lot, a lot more about where you are than you know just the first two days of a tournament.

“I think there’s no better way to know exactly where your game is.

It’s one thing getting the card in your hand, but the next thing is getting into contention and playing in the last few groups. So you know, I’m I’m excited for that opportunity this weekend.”