Rory McIlroy gets a special gift from the Genesis Scottish Open host Renaissance Club members amid tough run of form

Rory McIlroy returned to the Genesis Scottish Open as the defending champion this year and there was a special gift waiting for him on the 18th hole. The Renaissance Club decided to honor the Northern Irishman's final birdie made at last year's Genesis Scottish Open by installing a plaque as tribute to the 202-yard shot being converted into a winning birdie.

The surprise comes after McIlroy's heartbreak at the US Open, where he missed the title by losing closely to Bryson DeChambeau. In round four, both golfers stood at 6-under after 17 holes and the 18th hole was a tie-breaker. While DeChambeau ended up parring the hole, the Irishman made a bogey and lost the Major to the LIV golfer.

Following that, he withdrew from the Travelers Championship and took a hiatus to refocus.

“I’m going to take a few weeks away from the game to process everything and build myself back up for my defense of the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open at Royal Troon. See you in Scotland,” McIlroy said.

Rory McIlroy has been suffering through a Major drought for the last ten years. His last Major wins came in 2014 at the PGA Championship and the Open Championship. The golfer has a total of four Major trophies and eagerly awaits a fifth to add to his cabinet.

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How much did Rory McIlroy and others win at the 2023 Genesis Scottish Open?

Rory McIlroy received around $1.575 million after defeating Robert MacIntyre last year. The runner-up won $985,500. Here's the entire list of what other golfers won:

• 1. Rory McIlroy, 15 under: $1,575,000
• 2. Robert McIntyre, 14 under: $985,500
• T3. David Lingmerth, Byeong Hun An, Scottie Scheffler; 10 under: $468,450
• T6. Nicolai Hojgaard, Tyrrell Hatton, J.T. Poston, Tommy Fleetwood, Tom Kim; 9 under: $261,990
• 11. Grant Forrest, 8 under: $197,100
• T12. Jordan Smith, Ewen Ferguson, Lee Hodges, Ryan Fox, Max Homa, Shane Lowry, Brian Harman; 7 under: $151,007.14
• T19. Sean Crocker, Nick Taylor, Sam Burns, Garrick Higgo, Tom Hoge, Corey Conners; 6 under: $105,750
• T25. Gary Woodland, Ben Griffin, Will Gordon, Yannik Paul, Calum Hill, Wyndham Clark, Romain Langasque, Marcel Schneider, Thorbjorn Olesen, Viktor Hovland; 5 under: $73,597
• T35. Alexander Bjork, Tom McKibbin, Luke List, Min Woo Lee, Davis Riley, Victor Perez, Tapio Pulkkanen; 4 under: $52,810
• T42. Ben Martin, Thomas Detry, Padraig Harrington, Maximilian Kieffer, Richie Ramsay, Rickie Fowler, Matt Wallace, Xander Schauffele, Sebastian Soderberg, Jorge Campillo, Marcel Siem, Andrew Putnam; 3 under: $37,674
• T54. Joost Luiten, Daniel Hillier, Joakim Lagergren, Julien Brun, Kurt Kitayama, Guido Migliozzi; 2 under: $26,190
• T60. Dale Whitnell, Justin Thomas, Harry Hall, Eric Cole, Lucas Herbert; 1 under: $23,220
• T65. Ashun Wu, Billy Horschel, Austin Eckroat; Even: $20,340
• T68. Adri Arnaus, Gavin Kyle Green, Antoine Rozner, Eric Van Rooyen; 1 over: $19,170
• 72. K.H. Lee, 2 over: $18,720
• 73. Ben Taylor, 3 over: $18,540
• 74. Connor Syme, 4 over: $18,360
• 75. Dan Bradbury, 5 over: $18,180
• 76. Sami Valimaki, 6 over: $18,000
• 77. Matthew Jordan, 7 over: $17,820

McIlroy will defend his title at the Renaissance Club where the 2024 Genesis Scottish Open starts on July 11.