Rory McIlroy faces six big-name players in golf comeback after US Open defeat

Rory McIlroy’s attention will turn back to competing this week as he defends his Scottish Open title, but he will have to do so against some of the best players in the world ahead of next week’s Open Championship.

McIlroy has been absent from the PGA Tour across the last three events, after the Northern Irishman’s heartbreaking loss at last month’s US Open. McIlroy was on the cusp of becoming a major champion for the first time in 10 years at Pinehurst No. 2, holding a two-shot lead with five holes to play in the US Open.

He went on to play his final four holes in three-over-par though, ensuring he missed out in agonising fashion as his LIV Golf rival Bryson DeChambeau prevailed in North Carolina by a single shot.

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Shattered by his near-miss, McIlroy skipped his post-tournament media duties and made a sharp exit from the Pinehurst site just minutes after DeChambeau’s win was confirmed. A day later he finally broke his silence, announcing he would be taking a break until the trip to the Scottish Open.

Having congratulated DeChambeau on his victory, McIlroy went on to write in a statement: “I feel closer to winning my next major championship than I ever have. The one word that I would describe my career as is resilient. I’ve shown my resilience over and over again in the last 17 years and I will again.

“I’m going to take a few weeks away from the game to process everything and build myself back up for my defence of the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open at Royal Troon. See you in Scotland.” Almost a month on, the trip to Scotland is finally here as he returns to The Renaissance Club to defend the title he won a year earlier.

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McIlroy was crowned the champion of Scotland in dramatic fashion, pipping his Ryder Cup teammate Robert MacIntyre on the final hole after firing in a superb 2-iron from 205 yards before rolling in the putt from 11-feet. His title defence will come against a strong field though, with the world’s best players looking to get in some much-needed links golf preparation before The Open at Royal Troon a week later.

The man who won the title a year prior to McIlroy in Xander Schauffele will return to Scotland for this week’s event. Schauffele got his hands on the title at The Renaissance after seeing off fellow American Kurt Kitayama by a single shot. This time around, he heads into the tournament as one of the most in-form players on the planet, becoming a major champion for the first time after winning the PGA Championship in May.

McIlroy will also have to deal with the ever-growing talent of Ludvig Aberg, whose remarkable rise over the past 12 months sees him sit one spot behind Schauffele in the world rankings in fourth. Another major champion teeing it up in North Berwick is Wyndham Clark. The former US Open champion is one of four players inside the top-five competing alongside McIlroy, Schauffele and Aberg.

His Ryder Cup teammate and world No. 6 Collin Morikawa will also be in action. The American knows exactly what it takes to take on the links golf challenge, having been crowned Open champion at Royal St. George’s back in 2021. He will be looking to find a similar performance in North Berwick to set him perfectly for Open victory No. 2 at Royal Troon.

Continuing the top-10 trend, world No. 7 Viktor Hovland is one of the other star-studded names in the field. Whilst he has not played his best golf so far in 2024, he will be looking to kick-start his season at the perfect time during the Scottish swing. Hovland will be joined by fellow European Tommy Fleetwood too, who has a strong record at the Scottish Open, having finished tied-fourth and tied-sixth in the last two editions.