NORTH BERWICK, Scotland – There’s something about returning to this part of the world that has cleared up Rory McIlroy’s post-Masters haze.

The Northern Irishman, who has spent the last few months struggling for motivation after his crowning achievement in Augusta, spoke of his renewed energy and focus now back in Europe ahead of this week’s Genesis Scottish Open.

It’s bearing out through two rounds, just in time for an important and sentimental stretch of McIlroy’s season. After opening in 2-under 68, McIlroy shot 5-under on Friday to vault into contention at The Renaissance Club. He trails Chris Gotterup by four strokes.

Is all the rust gone?

“Most,” McIlroy said.

That’s a promising admission from McIlroy as he keeps one eye on winning his second Genesis Scottish Open in three years, and the other on next week’s The Open Championship in his native Northern Ireland. The game McIlroy deployed over his last six starts in the States would not be up to snuff if he hoped to rise to the occasion in these two weeks in Europe.

Of particular importance to McIlroy this week was making the proper adjustments to links conditions after a full six months stateside. On Thursday, he struggled with his speed on the greens and with certain crosswind shots. But without a breath of wind during the outward nine on Friday morning, McIlroy charged with five birdies to turn in 5-under 30. He made three birdie putts outside 10 feet in that stretch, doing well to lessen any concern about the green speeds.

The wind kicked up on the back nine, offering McIlroy a chance to test himself in the crosswinds. The birdie barrage stopped, but McIlroy managed to play the inward nine in even par. His birdie at the fifth balanced out by his lone three-putt of the day at the eighth.

“Similar to yesterday in the left-to-right wind, I struggled a touch with it, but overall it was a little bit better, which was good to see,” McIlroy said.

That’s an area of McIlroy’s game to watch. Next week’s major championship at Royal Portrush is expected to be played in heavy crosswinds. If played under the prevailing wind, 15 of the 18 holes are expected to play into a crosswind, with two holes playing downwind and one playing into the wind.

Incremental improvement is fine by McIlroy, for now. His game holding up over the first two days in rather benign conditions at North Berwick is worthwhile, but only if it continues as the intensity ramps up. By putting himself in contention, he’s given himself the chance to test out his game under pressure before heading to a pressure-packed week at Royal Portrush.

“If there is anything you need to work on in your game, that's where it's going to show when you're under that sort of pressure,” McIlroy said.

With the Masters weight of McIlroy’s shoulders, it’s hard to imagine a tournament and venue that should elicit more nerves than an Open Championship at Royal Portrush, which McIlroy grew up some 60 miles from and once shot 61 as a teenager. Those nerves got to him when The Open returned to Portrush in 2019, shooting 79 in the first round to sink his chances of contention.

How McIlroy will handle that pressure won’t be known until the time arrives, but this weekend in Scotland is now set up as a great litmus test of McIlroy’s game – both physical and mental.