Rory McIlroy posted a 64 on Sunday and still walked off The Renaissance Club with unfinished business. He already knew the one technical tweak standing between him and a clean week at Royal Birkdale.

McIlroy finished the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club on Sunday, July 12, 2026. He shot a final-round 64 to earn a top-10 finish after a tough third round.

Speaking after his round, he outlined a precise practice plan for the days before The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. The tournament will begin on July 16.

"I just need to hit some balls in a right-to-left wind. That usually helps me," he said after his final round at The Renaissance Club on Sunday, according to a report by HITC. "Again, it's the same thing that I get a lot when I start hitting balls in a left-to-right wind like it has been over the weekend. My path and my face just get too far apart, in terms of like my face is just the further left than my path is and I start hitting these left shots, especially with the irons."

The week at The Renaissance Club told two different stories. McIlroy posted rounds of 65, 66, and 64 across three of his four rounds. The third round was the exception. There was a weather-interrupted 73 that knocked him out of contention after he sat nine under at the halfway stage.

He played just eight holes of that third round before the weather halted play. Those eight holes produced three bogeys. He hit his tee shot on the par-3 fifth fat, leaving himself around 40 yards short. He bogeyed the par-5 seventh after a difficult recovery. Then he made par on the eighth only after holing a 15-foot putt.

The final round gave McIlroy a chance to identify the cause. He worked on the range between completing the third round and teeing off Sunday morning.

"I noticed a few things in my game and my iron shots, especially this morning coming out for the sort of back end on the third round, and I went and tried to work it on the range between rounds," he said after the final round. "At least I know what the problem is and it's just about fixing it."

The fix, in his telling, came down to one thing.

McIlroy on What Changed Between Round Three and Round Four

The difference between the 73 and the 64 was a specific technical adjustment. McIlroy explained it clearly after Sunday's round at The Renaissance Club.

"I managed the clubface better, and I held a lot of putts. I putted really well today. That was the difference between 73 and 64," he said.

He traced the root cause to wind direction affecting his swing pattern at The Renaissance Club. When the wind blows left to right, McIlroy said his clubface drifts further left than his swing path at impact. It produces loose iron shots. Hitting into a right-to-left wind in practice ahead of Birkdale is the specific adjustment he plans to make.

McIlroy is a six-time major champion heading into The Open at Royal Birkdale. It's where he will tee off Thursday seeking his seventh title and second Open Championship.

Rory McIlroy says he knows what went wrong and how to fix it. So, do you think he'll win at Royal Birkdale?

Read more at Club Golf!

Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi