Watch: Rory McIlroy has an excellent start at the Scottish Open 2023

Rory McIlroy made a birdie on the first hole of the 2023 Genesis Scottish Open. He recently teed off for the inaugural round at The Renaissance Club alongside the defending Champion Xander Schauffele on the 10th hole.

The game has begun in Scotland, with Mcllroy taking the lead after seven holes. He has made five birdies so far and is one stroke ahead of Thomas Detry in the competition.

The PGA Tour shared a small clip of Rory McIlroy hitting a birdie. Watch the video below:

One user commented that Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund CEO Yasir-Al-Rumayyan would love to watch McIlroy's impressive performance.

"Yasir loves it. His new Captain! Remember when you sold Rory out?" he wrote.

During a recent Senate hearing on the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger, the Saudi circuit offered Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods ownership in its teams in exchange for agreeing to compete in ten LIV events. However, neither golfer has provided an update on the deal.

McIlroy, incidentally, has struggled with his game in the last few months. He also failed to make the cut at The Players Championship in March. So far in 2023, the Northern Irish golfer has won only one event, the Dubai Desert Classic, which was contested at Majilis from January 26 to January 30.

The Genesis Scottish Open is the only event before the commencement of the 2023 Open Championship, and it will serve as a warm-up tournament for the golfers before the major.

McIlroy is trying to add another major title to his resume and will be hoping to win the second event of the year this week.

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Rory McIlroy's odds to win the 2023 Genesis Scottish Open

According to SportsLine, with odds points of +850, Rory McIlroy is the second-best bet to win the 2023 Genesis Scottish Open. The 2022 Masters winner Scottie Scheffler tops the charts with odds points of +700.

Scheffler has been in good form and can win the title this week. He was recently awarded the ESPYS Best Golfer of the Year award for his remarkable performance this season.

Here are the 2023 Genesis Scottish Open odds points:

• Scottie Scheffler +700
• Rory McIlroy +850
• Patrick Cantlay +1400
• Xander Schauffele +1400
• Rickie Fowler +1600
• Viktor Hovland +1800
• Tyrrell Hatton +2000
• Tommy Fleetwood +2100
• Jordan Spieth +2100
• Matthew Fitzpatrick +2200
• Shane Lowry +3400
• Justin Rose +3400
• Min Woo Lee +3400
• Max Homa +4200
• Justin Thomas +4500
• Sungjae Im +4800
• Wyndham Clark +4800
• Adam Scott +5000
• Ludvig Aberg +5000
• Sam Burns +5000
• Tom Kim +5000
• Rasmus Hojgaard +5500
• Adrian Meronk +5500
• Corey Conners +5500
• Aaron Rai +6000
• Alex Smalley +6000
• Robert Macintyre +6500
• Nicolai Hojgaard +6500
• Lucas Herbert +6500
• Brian Harman +7500
• Ryan Fox +8000
• Kurt Kitayama +8000
• Sahith Theegala +8500
• Alex Noren +9500
• Gary Woodland +9500
• Eric Cole +10000
• Alexander Bjork +12000
• Cameron Davis +12000
• Andrew Putnam +12000
• Jordan Smith +12000
• Seamus Power +12000
• Thorbjorn Olesen +12000
• Victor Perez +12000
• Yannik Paul +12000
• Daniel Hillier +12000
• Thomas Detry +13000
• Joost Luiten +14000
• Pablo Larrazabal +14000
• Matthieu Pavon +14000
• Calum Hill +15000
• Byeong Hun An +16000
• Christiaan Bezuidenhout +16000
• Keith Mitchell +16000
• Richie Ramsay +16000
• Maximilian Kieffer +17000
• Antoine Rozner +17000
• Matthew Jordan +17000
• Billy Horschel +17000
• C.T. Pan +19000
• Padraig Harrington +19000
• Austin Eckroat +19000
• Brandon Wu +19000
• Nick Taylor +19000
• Adrian Otaegui +21000
• J. T. Poston +21000
• Garrick Higgo +21000
• Guido Migliozzi +21000
• Tom Hoge +21000
• Ewen Ferguson +21000

The tournament will wrap up the finale on Sunday, July 16.