Rory McIlroy was denied a second Genesis Scottish Open title by an inspired Chris Gotterup in the final round at the Renaissance Club, losing out to the American by two strokes.

Tied for the lead overnight at 11 under, McIlroy edged clear with back-to-back birdies at four and five after having dropped a shot at the third, but Gotterup – after an opening bogey – kept pace with birdies at three, seven and eight – the last of which, alongside one too for McIlroy, pushed the pair two clear of the chasing pack.

McIlroy’s title push then stalled with a stretch of 10-straight pars to close out his round, while Gotterup seized the initiative down the back nine and nudged two ahead with further strokes gained at 10 and 12.

A bogey at 15 threatened a late wobble from the world No 158, only for him to respond with a birdie at the par-five next as he closed out a stunning victory, while McIlroy finished tied-second with Marco Penge.

English hopefuls Penge and Matt Fitzpatrick both briefly held shares of the lead but ultimately couldn’t keep pace with the charging Gotterup, while countryman Justin Rose carded the round of the day, his seven-under 63 taking him to 11 under and a sixth-placed finish.

Nicolai Højgaard, along with Gotterup, earned one of the final spots for next week’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush with a closing 64 that secured him a share of fourth, alongside Fitzpatrick, at 12 under.

Matthias Schmid, tied-17th at six under, claimed the third and final spot after Jake Knapp – who held a share of the lead through five holes – carded a double-bogey at the ninth and continued to spiral down the back nine to close with a 74 and lose his chance to play at Portrush.

Rounding off the top 10, Sepp Straka finished seventh on 10 under, while Ryder Cup team-mate from Rome two years ago, Ludvig Åberg, carded two eagles in a mixed final round of 68.

The Swede finished tied-eighth at nine under alongside defending Open champion Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler, whose putter continued to desert him in his final round of 67 that promised more.

Viktor Hovland double-bogeyed the 17th to drop out of the top 10 and into a tie for 11th on eight under with Wyndham Clark who, in the final grouping alongside Gotterup and McIlroy, returned a disappointing one-over 71.

Elsewhere, Nicolas Echavarria, who won the Masters’ Par-3 contest earlier this year, dazzled spectators at the par-three sixth with a hole in one.

How did final round unforld?

McIlroy had set off in unpromising fashion, dropping a shot at the par-five third, but followed with back-to-back birdies to move 12 under, and then holed a fine par putt from distance to stay there after finding the bunker at seven.

Gotterup had a similarly up and down start, bogeying the opening hole before picking up birdies at the third and the seventh to keep pace with the Masters champion.

Both men picked up further shots at the next hole and parred the ninth to head round the turn in 33 and stay locked together.

Fitzpatrick closed to within a shot of the leaders with an eagle three at the 10th, before Gotterup drained a birdie at 12 to take the solso lead, and though Fitzpatrick pulled to within one again at 13 under, he’d drop a shot at 12 to fall off the pace – Gotterup going two clear of McIlroy with birdie at 12.

A dropped shot on 15 left him just one to the good with three to play, and although he pushed his tee shot into the rough at the par-five 16th, he emerged with a four to McIlroy’s five to go back to 15 under, and with two putts to win on 18, he made no mistake.

Gotterup: I hung in there like a champ

Chris Gotterup, speaking to Sky Sports:

“Amazing. It’s all hitting me. It’s just so cool.

“I played really well this week. I knew today was going to be tough and I hung in there like a champ and finished it off in style.

“I felt pretty good, shockingly, on the first tee today, I felt comfortable. I knew I was playing well this week and I felt like I was ready for the challenge.

“That’s why I practise and that’s why I play, to play against the best. It was a pleasure to be out there with [McIlroy] and obviously all the support that he gets is amazing, but it was nice to kind of ruin that a little bit.”

McIlroy ‘really happy’ ahead of Portrush

Rory McIlroy, after his tied-second finish:

“It’s been a great week. I’m really happy with where my game is; the way I played over the weekend; the shots that I hit, how I controlled my ball flight.

“It has been a great week. Missing the trophy, that’s about it.

“No frustration. I’m really happy with where everything is. Looking forward to getting to Portrush tonight and getting out on to the golf course early tomorrow and just turning my attention to that.

“But I feel like I’ve gotten out of this week everything that I wanted.

“I feel like my game got a little better each and every day. Everything is in a really good spot.”

What’s next?

Sky Sports is once again the exclusive home of The Open, with live coverage from all seven days of tournament week from July 14-20 and round-the-clock coverage of the final men’s major of the year.

There are seven hours of live coverage on the Monday and Tuesday practice days at Royal Portrush before a bumper nine hours of live programming on Wednesday, starting at 9am each morning.

Wall-to-wall coverage of The Open then begins at 6.30am on Thursday July 17 on Sky Sports Golf, with live action available for all four tournament days and a host of extra feeds also available on Sky Sports+. Not got Sky? Stream The Open and more with no contract

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