Rory McIlroy hopes improved form with the putter can help him mount a serious challenge for the Open Championship at Royal Troon this week.

McIlroy’s consistent ball-striking put him on the fringes of contention throughout the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, but failure to make the most of his chances on the greens proved his downfall as he fell short in his defence of the title he won last year.

Ascending rounds of 65, 66, 67 and 68 left the world number two in a tie for fourth on 14 under par, four shots behind winner Robert MacIntyre.

“The reason that I like to play the week before the majors is to knock a little bit of rust off and try to get sharp, and I feel like I’ve done that this week,” McIlroy told the PGA Tour website, external after his final round in Scotland.

“If I can get the putter to cooperate and get the speed of the greens down…I feel like I’ll be in a really good spot [for the Open].”

McIlroy’s solitary Open Championship success to date came at Royal Liverpool in 2014, a victory which was followed one month later by his most recent major win at the US PGA Championship at Valhalla.

The 35-year-old, from Holywood in Northern Ireland, almost ended his 10-year major drought at the recent US Open at Pinehurst, but his putting also crucially let him down on that occasion.

Two missed putts from inside four feet on his last three holes saw McIlroy finish one behind winner Bryson DeChambeau.