Knapp shares Scottish Open lead with 64, McIlroy salvages 68

NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — Jake Knapp is loving links golf so much he’d like to extend his stay another week, and he took a step toward that Thursday with a 6-under 64 that put him in a four-way share of the lead after the opening round of the Scottish Open.

The blustery conditions at The Renaissance Club were not enough to keep more than half of the 156-man field at par or better, although Rory McIlroy had to birdie his last three holes – and make a 25-foot bogey putt on the 15th hole – for a 68.

Sepp Straka had eight birdies in his round of 64, also joined by Nico Echavarria and Victor Perez atop the leaderboard alongside Knapp. Four other players were one shot behind, while Scottie Scheffler had to settle for a 67 and was three back.

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Knapp is among those who have not qualified for the British Open next week at Royal Portrush. The Open is offering spots to the leading three players at The Renaissance Club who are not already in the field.

His current itinerary is to leave Monday for Boston and then to home in California.

“As of right now,” he said. “Hopefully, I can change that.”

Perez isn’t set for Portrush, either. He birdied three of his last four holes, finishing with a birdie putt from 25 feet on the 18th hole that played into the wind.

Scheffler, who missed the Scottish Open last year to spend more time at home with his newborn son, played in the morning and started with a 30-foot eagle putt. He gave himself plenty of chances the rest of the way, but failed to hole enough birdie putts inside 10 feet.

There were a few mistakes, but otherwise very little stress.

“I feel like I could have gotten a little bit more out of my round,” Scheffler said. “I felt like I did some good things that I didn’t quite get rewarded for after my start. But 3 under, I wish I could have had a couple of bogeys back, but overall not too bad.”

McIlroy figured he was about 80% of where he wanted to be ahead of his return home to Northern Ireland next week. He struggled with the wind, particularly off the tee, hitting only four of 13 fairways.

One tee shot landed just short of a wall on No. 5, forcing him to play out sideways to the fairway. Another found a bunker on the 15th. McIlroy tried 9-iron to clear a steep lip and failed, the ball roll back into a depression caused by the swing. He got the next one out, hit wedge that rolled over the back of the green and holed a 25-foot bogey putt to limit the damage.

He birdied the last three holes – a two-putt on the par-5 16th, a 25-footer on the 17th and a final birdie from 20 feet – to salvage a reasonable score. Also at 68 was Xander Schauffele, the defending British Open champion, who played alongside him.

“It was a great finish,” McIlroy said. “Felt like the rough was a bit stop-start, a little bit of rust in there taking a couple of weeks off. But I found my rhythm and started hitting better shots on the way in. It’s the sort of golf course and the sort of conditions where I feel like the field is going to be pretty bunched.

“So to only be four behind after the first day, feeling like I’ve still got my best stuff ahead of me, that feels good.”

Knapp skipped the Scottish Open last year as a rookie. He won the Mexico Open in February and played more golf than usual, leading to fatigue and a body that needed a rest. So this is his first trip to Scotland, and he began having a blast from the time he arrived.

“I haven’t played a ton of links golf but I feel like it fits my game pretty well,” Knapp said. “I like to be creative and hit different shots and it just fits my eye.”

On the advice of Rickie Fowler, he landed Monday and headed to North Berwick, a course just down the Firth of Fourth that has been around nearly two centuries. He played with his father and his caddie, with his mother and girlfriend walking along.

“It was awesome,” he said.

Scheffler had a large gallery, not all for him. He played alongside Robert MacIntyre, who last year became the first Scot in 25 years to win his national open. He had quite the opposite start to Scheffler, failing to birdie the par-5 10th at the start and then hitting a shot on the 12th that he feared was out-of-bounds.

“Thankfully, I didn’t listen to the marshals,” he said. “Managed to find it a yard-and-a-half inbounds, got the drop and made bogey. From there on, it was back to the basics.”

He wound up with a 68, right in the thick of it along with most everyone else.