Robert MacIntyre tastes home glory as Rory McIlroy rues putting form at Scottish Open

Trailing Adam Scott by two shots with three holes to go, the man from Oban got a fortunate drop away from a sprinkler head in the rough at the 16th and took advantage, slashing his approach to six feet before making the putt to draw level.

In a fairytale finish, 12 months after McIlroy finished birdie-birdie to pip him at the post, the left-hander rolled in a 22-footer at the 18th for a 67 and unleashed a mighty roar as he triumphed by a shot from Scott on 18-under to become the first home winner of the title since Colin Montgomerie in 1999.

“I think I lost my voice after the scream on that hole,” a delighted MacIntyre said. “I thought I was short.

“Look, I’ve put a lot of work into this. I’ve changed a lot within the team and I’ve just worked hard. I wanted The Scottish Open. The crowd has been unbelievable. Look, I got a bit of luck on 16 that you need to win golf tournaments.

“I couldn’t believe when I heard a sprinkler under my foot where my spike is at and I’m like, ’no way’. It was covered, and I thought, I got lucky; it was meant to be.”

It was a thrilling win for MacIntyre (27), who claimed his second PGA Tour win this season having memorably won the Canadian Open with his father on his bag five weeks ago.

Scott, who turns 44 tomorrow, shot 67 to finish second with France’s Romain Langesue third after a 64.

Overnight leader Ludvig Aberg did little right and shot a three-over 73 to finish in a six-way tie for fourth on 14-under alongside the likes of McIlroy and Aaron Rai, who shot 63 to claim one of three spots in The Open alongside Alex Noren and Richard Mansell

For McIlroy – who shot ascending rounds of 65, 66, 67 and 68 – it was a case of what might have been as he struck the ball well but finished the week tied 63rd for strokes gained putting.

“I felt like I left a lot of shots out there over the course of four days but off the back of three weeks off, I guess it’s to be expected,” McIlroy said before lamenting his failure to get the pace of the greens.

“I felt like I was hitting good putts over the weekend, and definitely the greens got a lot slower when that rain came in yesterday, and then 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. So I had a lot of chances that I wasn’t able to convert, and that was sort of the story of the week.”

Putting cost McIlroy the US Open on his last Major appearance a month ago but he believes he can contend at Troon, where he also struggled with the putter in 2016, if he can dial in his feel.

“If I can get the putter to co-operate and get the speed of the greens down, more so than hitting my lines… I feel like I’ll be in a really good spot,” he said.

Meanwhile, there was also a dramatic finish to the Amundi Evian Championship in France where Japan’s Ayaka Furue (24) made a 15-footer for eagle at the 18th to win her first Major title.

The five-foot dynamo from Kobe closed with a six-under 65 to win by a shot from Australia’s Stephanie Kyriacou on 19-under-par, pocketing a cool $1.2m as she became the fourth Japanese player to win a Major.

“I recently became a Star Wars fan and I love the saying, ‘May the force be with you’,” said Furue, who birdied the 14th, 15th and 16th and headed to the 18th tied with clubhouse leader Patty Tavatanakit and Kyriacou before hitting a six-iron to 15 feet.

“I believe that sentence. That sentence came into my mind on the 15th hole and I just kept going with that in my mind.”