Rory McIlroy makes honest admission to Amanda Balionis about his new haircut: "It makes me look more gray"

Rory McIlroy put himself in contention for the Scottish Open title with a strong four-under 66 at the Renaissance Club. After his round, he caught up with CBS Sports reporter Amanda Balionis, leading to a light-hearted moment about his new haircut.

The conversation marked their first on-camera exchange since the PGA Championship, where McIlroy skipped media duties and Balionis appeared to throw shade by thanking other players for taking the time to speak. This time, with McIlroy’s solid showing at the Scottish Open, the much-awaited interaction finally happened.

Balionis began by pointing out his new look:

“You seem a little lighter, and it might be because of the haircut. Could you take the hat for us off? What happened there, Rory?”

McIlroy laughed and admitted:

"Um, you know, I'm getting a little gray, as everyone probably knows, and I stupidly thought that by going shorter, it would take the grays out. And if anything, I think it makes me look more gray. So, um, but it'll grow back. That's a good thing. It'll, it'll be in, it'll be perfect length for the Ryder Cup in September."

Balionis replied with a cheerful note:

"It could be the good luck haircut, depending on what happens here tomorrow. "

The World No. 2 carded five birdies and one bogey on Saturday to move to 11-under for the tournament, tied at the top with American Chris Gotterup. England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Marco Penge are two shots back after rounds of 69, sharing third place with Americans Wyndham Clark and Jake Knapp.

Rory McIlroy’s round included birdies at the par-5 3rd, par-4 8th, par-4 10th and par-3 14th. He recovered impressively on the par-5 16th after a poor drive into the rough, hitting a superb approach and sinking a straight uphill birdie putt. A 340-yard tee shot on the final hole gave him another chance, but his birdie putt narrowly missed.

This performance adds to his momentum following rounds of 68 and 65 earlier in the week. Since winning the Masters in April to complete his career Grand Slam, McIlroy has been searching for consistency. A T6 finish at the Travelers Championship was promising, and his form in Scotland looks even stronger with The Open at Royal Portrush coming up next week.

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When will Rory McIlroy tee off in the final round of the Genesis Scottish Open?

Rory McIlroy is set to begin his final round at the Genesis Scottish Open at 8:40 a.m. ET. He will tee off from the 1st hole, playing alongside Chris Gotterup and Wyndham Clark in the final group of the day.

Here’s the full list of 4th round tee times (all in ET):

• 6:30 a.m.: Sebastian Soderberg, Alejandro Del Ray, Yannik Paul (10th tee)
• 6:34 a.m.: Aaron Rai, Adam Scott (1st tee)
• 6:40 a.m.: Keith Mitchell, Alex Smalley, Laurie Canter (10)
• 6:42 a.m.: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Si Woo Kim (1)
• 6:50 a.m.: Matt Wallace, John Parry, Nick Taylor (1)
• 6:50 a.m.: Jhonattan Vegas, Gary Woodland, Jesper Svensson (10)
• 7 a.m.: Grant Forrest, Michael Kim, Justin Rose (1)
• 7 a.m.: Tommy Fleetwood, Nico Echavarria, Brian Harman (10)
• 7:10 a.m.: Jordan Smith, Jorge Campillo, Ugo Coussaud (1)
• 7:10 a.m.: Sami Valimaki, Elvis Smylie, Keita Nakajima (10)
• 7:20 a.m.: Harry Hall, Victor Perez, Xander Schauffele (1)
• 7:20 a.m.: Maverick McNealy, Jacques Kruyswijk, Marcel Siem (10)
• 7:30 a.m.: Matt McCarty, Taylor Pendrith, Bud Cauley (1)
• 7:30 a.m.: Daniel Brown, Richard Mansell, Justin Thomas (10)
• 7:40 a.m.: Viktor Hovland, Romain Langasque, Andy Sullivan (1)
• 7:40 a.m.: Corey Conners, Jacob Bridgeman, Sam Burns (10)
• 7:50 a.m.: Francesco Laporta, Scottie Scheffler, Kristoffer Reitan (1)
• 7:50 a.m.: Ryan Fox, Robert MacIntyre, Padraig Harrington (10)
• 8 a.m.: Nicolai Højgaard, Ludvig Åberg, Matti Schmid (1)
• 8 a.m.: Daniel Berger, Connor Syme, Sam Stevens (10)
• 8:10 a.m.: Sepp Straka, Antoine Rozner, Kevin Yu (1)
• 8:10 a.m.: Thomas Detry, Thorbjørn Olesen, Sam Bairstow (10)
• 8:20 a.m.: Andrew Novak, Tom Kim, Harris English (1)
• 8:20 a.m.: Henrik Norlander, Martin Couvra, Luke Clanton (10)
• 8:30 a.m.: Matt Fitzpatrick, Marco Penge, Jake Knapp (1)
• 8:30 a.m.: Dale Whitnell, Ryan Gerard, Byeong Hun An (10)
• 8:40 a.m.: Wyndham Clark, Chris Gotterup, Rory McIlroy (1)