McIlroy said he could hear the excitement in the voices of friends talking about his Masters win. And there’s the anticipation of two weeks of a different brand of golf, the Scottish Open that starts Thursday and then the British Open at Royal Portrush in his native Northern Ireland.

The day is wrapping up here in North Berwick, with four players all tied for the clubhouse lead - Nico Echavarria, Jake Knapp, Sepp Straka and Victor Perez - on six under. Of the big names, Wyndham Clark and Viktor Hovland sit on four under while Scottie Scheffler and Ludvig Aberg are one shot behind that.

Knapp is loving links golf so much he'd like to extend his stay another week, and he took a step toward that Thursday with a 6-under 64 that put him in a four-way share of the lead.

Rory McIlroy salvages his opening round with a superb finish as Sepp Straka defies his own "very low expectations" to share the Scottish Open lead.