Despite getting off to an inauspicious start, McIlroy settled the ship after an early bogey. He played the par 5s in 4-under fashion thanks to a ho-hum eagle on the par-5 1st (his 10th hole of the day and the former 10th hole before the re-routing of the golf course this year) and kept his ball in front of him the rest of the way.

“I feel like, even though I have played pretty sparsely over the past few months, the starts of my tournaments have all been really good,” McIlroy stated. “So, it’s not like I’m coming in and starting slow, and the little bit of extra practice I think actually helps in some ways.”

All eyes look up to the five at the top with five-time major champion Brooks Koepka among those lurking one stroke behind. Missing a few short putts to kick off his tournament, Koepka hung tough to sign for a 66 alongside Min Woo Lee, who won this tournament in a playoff over Matt Fitzpatrick and Thomas Detry in 2021.

Speaking of Fitzpatrick, the Englishman was featured in the marquee grouping in the afternoon alongside world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and fellow countryman Tommy Fleetwood. The trio was impressive in its own right as Fitzpatrick and Fleetwood fired matching 67s, while Scheffler did one worse with a 68, no thanks to a couple of squirrely wedge shots.

“I did some good stuff,” Scheffler stated. “Wish I could have gotten a few more shots out of it, but yeah, overall, I think pretty solid. I like to keep a clean card, so two bogeys hurts. But maybe could have played the par 5s a little bit better. I didn’t take advantage of those today. But overall, nothing crazy. Just a decent day.”

Leaders

T1. Tom Kim, Bernd Wiesberger, Patrick Cantlay, Rory McIlroy, Rasmus Højgaard (-5): McIlroy is certainly the name among the leaders, but it is good to see Kim continue his run of form. Among those attempting to chase down Wyndham Clark on Sunday at the U.S. Open, the 24-year-old had the ball on a string on Thursday. He gained more than five strokes to the field with his ball striking while connecting on 10 fairways and 15 greens in regulation. Kim penciled six circles onto his scorecard despite bleeding strokes to the field with the putter as he missed four putts from inside 8 feet on the round, highlighting the impressiveness of his ball-striking effort.

“I think you have to be really patient, and it rewards guys who accept results and are mentally tough because it’s not fair all the time,” Kim stated. “I think I just really love the mindset of going into the week and really having a good game plan sets up. I’ve always loved coming back here and playing links golf.”

Contenders

T6. Andrew Novak, Brooks Koepka, Min Woo Lee, Michael Thorbjornsen, Kurt Kitayama, Angel Ayora, Oliver Lindell (-4)
T13. Michael Brennan, Danny Willett, Tom McKibbin, Corey Conners, Calum Hill, Joost Luiten, Matt Fitzpatrick, Matt McCarty, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Wyndham Clark, Keita Nakajima, Kevin Roy (-3)

It is one big ol’ party behind the leaders with major champions like Koepka, Fitzpatrick and Clark all right in the thick of it. Koepka is of particular note as he missed putts from 4 feet, 5 feet and 7 feet immediately out of the blocks only to play his remaining 15 holes in 6-under par. 

After garnering some momentum to kick off the summer, Koepka was stopped in his tracks when he was forced to withdraw from the Canadian Open. He missed the cut at the U.S. Open the following week, but on Thursday, he looked a lot more like the player who was just a solid putting performance away from seriously threatening to win a tournament.

“I felt like there was some things I was working on kind of before the last few days,” Koepka stated. “And I finally felt comfortable kind of maybe 5th or 6th hole in, it started to click as far as ball-striking, controlling flight, spin, all that stuff. Just pleased to build some confidence off that. Missed four short ones inside, like 5 feet, but putting good from 15 feet.”

Rowing in the wrong direction

There was a point late in the first round where two players — two players! — stood between Jon Rahm and the bottom of the leaderboard. The Spaniard was able to salvage some sort of a score late, thanks to a couple of birdies coming in to sign for a 73, but it marked another disappointing effort in a big-time tournament. Rahm missed his first five greens in regulation and hit only eight for the day, coupled with just six fairways. He stands tied for 138th place at 3 over and will once again battle the cutline on Friday as he aims to make the weekend in his last start before The Open.

2026 Scottish Open updated odds, picks

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

• Rory McIlroy: 4-1
• Scottie Scheffler: 7-1
• Patrick Cantlay: 11-1
• Tommy Fleetwood: 15-1
• Matt Fitzpatrick: 16-1
• Tom Kim: 19-1
• Min Woo Lee: 21-1
• Kurt Kitayama: 21-1

McIlroy is among the early pace setters, but they are well within reach of the chasing pack. Fitzpatrick did nothing on Thursday to sway us off the initial read as the Englishman put four birdies against just one bogey on his scorecard while taking advantage of just one of the par 5s. He hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation in the process as well.