Rory McIlroy erupts at himself before recovering for top-10 finish at the Genesis Scottish Open: ‘I’m so bad at golf!’

Rory McIlroy is not bad at golf. Far from it. 

But the career grand slam winner provided us with one of the most relatable moments of the entire season on Sunday at The Renaissance Club. McIlroy, during the final day of play at the Genesis Scottish Open, erupted at himself after hitting an errant approach at the 16th.

“Oh my god! I’m so bad at golf!” he yelled before throwing his hands on his head. 

We’ve all been there. 

“In that moment, the shot I hit with that 6-iron was a very, very poor golf shot,” McIlroy said after his round. “So in that moment, I was so bad at golf.”

While that was a tough moment, McIlroy actually had a very solid final round. He posted a 6-under 64, his best outing of the week in Scotland, and finished T7 at 12-under. He was five shots back of winner Tom Kim, who picked up his first victory on the PGA Tour since 2023. It came on the heels of a 3-over 73 in the third round, too, which he had to finish on Sunday morning.

The issues he was having on Saturday, apart from the slow going with the delays, didn’t necessarily resolve themselves. But McIlroy at least identified the problem.

“[I] sort of realized what I was doing [wrong],” he said. “Tried to figure it out a bit on the range before I went out to my final round. At least I know what I’m doing. It’s a matter of trying to sort of rectify it. 

“Obviously there was some good in there today, but there was some bad as well.”

McIlroy has now finished inside the top-10 four times in his 10 starts this season, which includes his second straight win at Augusta National back in April. He’ll now head to Royal Birkdale for the British Open next week, where a win would mark just the second time in his career in which he’s won multiple major championships in the same season. He did that back in 2014, when the British Open was held at Royal Liverpool. 

Even though it’s not perfect — that moment in the 16th fairway was a great example — McIlroy feels like he’s in a good spot entering the last major championship of the season. He just needs to tweak a few things between now and the opening round.

“It’s nice to sign this week off with a good score, but I know I need to do a bit of work between now and next Thursday to really feel comfortable with my game,” he said. “But I don’t feel like it’s too far away.

“But yeah, there’s definitely some positive signs.”