Rory McIlroy gets boost ahead of return to golf after US Open collapse

As Rory McIlroy returns to action for the first time since his heartbreaking runner-up finish at the US Open last month at Pinehurst, he’ll receive a touching boost as he steps onto the links at The Scottish Open. 

At the Renaissance Club, a plaque has been assembled to honor McIlroy’s penultimate shot of last year’s tournament, which helped clinch him the victory. 

McIlroy’s approach to the green was from over 200 yards out and landed 11 feet from the pin while playing into 40-mile-per-hour winds. 

Video of the shot shows the obvious topspin on the ball, as well as the windy conditions with pin’s flag blistering from side to side. McIlroy showed rare on-course emotion in the middle of the round after the shot, cracking a smile at how well he placed the ball knowing the difficulty of the stroke. 

McIlroy would secure the victory with a birdie putt on his next shot. 

McIlroy’s last few months have been a whirlwind, mentally and physically. 

The golf world was blindsided by the news that McIlroy had filed for divorce from wife Erica Stoll on May 13, days before the beginning of one of the biggest tournaments of the year, the PGA Championship. 

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The event was play at Valhalla in Kentucky, with McIlroy winning the last time a major tournament was held at the course. 

The Northern Irishman fell short of expectations that day, but got a chance at redemption at the US Open. 

Days before the beginning of that major tournament, McIlroy announced he was calling off his spilt from Stoll, with the pair and their daughter Poppy, 3, being spotted in public together since.  

That professional bounce-back ended up plunging McIlroy further into on-course despair however. 

McIlroy missed two putts from under six feet to cost himself a major-tournament title, which would have been his first in over a decade. 

McIlroy quickly left the North Carolina course after the one-stroke loss to Bryson DeChambeau and has not played in a tournament since. 

Now, in his home territory, and his personal life quieted, McIlroy will look to get back to his winning ways on the links.