​SOUTHPORT, England — First, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler bowed out of the Genesis Scottish Open on Friday, missing his first cut in 78 starts and nearly four years. Then world No. 2 Rory McIlroy muttered on Sunday, “Oh my God, I’m so bad at golf,” after a particularly poor shot at the 16th hole. There may be hope for the rest of the 156-man field to pick off a major this week at the 154th British Open after all. How is McIlroy feeling about his game after a couple of days to work on his game?“Depends what hour of the day you get me, I think,” he said. “It’s funny, I felt really good the first two days in Scotland and then felt like my game just sort of deteriorated as the week went on. Even though I shot a good score on Sunday, it didn’t feel very good.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMcIlroy, 37, rallied to finish T-7 last week, his fourth top-10 finish in 10 starts this season but he was a non-factor last month at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. The 2014 British Open champion at Royal Liverpool has eight top-10 finishes in 16 career starts at the championship and finished T-4 the last time it was contested at Royal Birkdale in 2017. Having repeated as Masters champion in April, McIlroy is looking to nab his seventh career major and join a select group to amass that total that includes the likes of Bobby Jones, Sam Snead and most recently Arnold Palmer. That would also break a tie with Nick Faldo for most majors in the modern era among Europeans and tie him with Harry Vardon.1 / 19A young visitor shelters in the shade, as players practice a few days before the start of the 2026 Open Golf Championship at Royal Birkdale golf course near Southport in north-west England on July 12, 2026.(ANDY BUCHANAN, AFP via Getty Images)“I’ve done a good bit of work the past couple days, again, getting the TrackMan out, seeing what my numbers are, and just trying to match up the feels of my swing with what I’m seeing,” McIlroy said of his recent prep after playing 30 holes on Sunday. “I felt a little bit tired yesterday, so I didn’t make it on the course, but that allowed me a bit more time to hit some balls and dig into the swing a little bit. Felt good on the range. Felt good out on the course today. Definitely trending in the right direction.”McIlroy certainly aims to go down as the greatest European-born player but to hear him tell it, he’s not wasting time contemplating his legacy in the game.“I think it would be a pretty unfulfilling pursuit if you’re just chasing records and chasing results. You have to enjoy the process. You have to enjoy the journey to get there. I’ve learned that the hard way at times by chasing results and chasing records too much,” he said. “You start to focus on your craft and your practice and doing the things you need to do to try to become a better golfer, and then if you do that, the results and the winning almost take care of themselves, or at least you put yourself in position enough to at l