McIlroy buries US Open misery with impressive Scotland start

Rory McIlroy put his US Open heartbreak behind him when he made an impressive start to the defence of his Scottish Open title on Thursday.

The Northern Irishman carded a five-under-par 65.

"I'm not going to let three or four holes cloud my judgement in terms of how good I'm playing," 35-year-old McIlroy said.

McIlroy is competing for the first time since agonisingly missing out on a fifth major title at the US Open.

He held a two-shot lead with five holes to play at Pinehurst but bogeyed three of the last four before finishing a shot behind Bryson DeChambeau.

The devastating loss left McIlroy still looking to add to his last major which he won in 2014.

However, the 35-year-old insisted his game is in good shape ahead of the British Open at Royal Troon next week.

"I played well at the Canadian Open and at Memorial and the US PGA and Quail Hollow. My game has been in good shape and it was in good shape coming in here," said McIlroy.

"It's just a matter of going out there and focusing on the task at hand and not letting your mind wander too much. I felt like I did a good job of that today."

World No 2 McIlroy chipped in for an eagle on the third hole, his 12th of the day, and also recorded five birdies, but missed good chances on three of his last five holes.

"I hit a couple of shots over the first few holes that I haven't seen in practice over the last 10 days so it was a bit of a reminder that golf isn't as easy as sometimes I think it is," McIlroy said.

"But then I really started to feel good. Especially on the front nine, our back nine, I started to hit some good drives, some good iron shots."