Leader Rory McIlroy bracing for brutal conditions at Scottish Open

Scotland will forever be the home of golf, but it is also the home of unpredictable and often nasty weather.

So when the weather turned for the worse Friday at the Scottish Open, many players struggled in the difficult conditions.

But not Rory McIlroy.

The Northern Irishman battled beautifully through the elements as his 4-under 66 vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard at 10-under for the championship.

“I hit the ball really well tee-to-green,” McIlroy said after the round. “I gave myself a ton of looks. Honestly, it felt like 4-under was probably the worst I could have shot out there.”

He ranks first in strokes gained: tee-to-green and first in average driving distance at 331.9 yards.

McIlroy missed a few makable birdie putts down the stretch but did not let those affect his mindset.

Instead, he put his head down and grinded through the rain.

McIlroy made a huge par save at the 15th and then again at the 18th to give himself the solo lead heading into the weekend.

“I just have to embrace the conditions and sort of make the best of them,” McIlroy added. “I know I’m playing well enough tee-to-green to give myself some looks and hang in there, so I’m pretty confident going into the next two days no matter what the weather throws at us.”

Late Friday, the PGA and DP World Tour announced that they had moved up tee times for Saturday’s third round due to a bad weather forecast later in the day.

Groups will go off split tees in threesomes beginning at 7 a.m. British Standard Time.

That means the third round of the Genesis Scottish Open will begin at 2 a.m. ET, with live coverage starting on Golf Channel at 4 a.m.

CBSSports.com will then air live third-round coverage at 6 a.m., with CBS airing a tape delay at Noon ET.

The weather issues will not stop on Saturday, however, as windy conditions will blow onto the east coast of Scotland on Sunday.

Gusts up to 50 miles per hour, with sustained winds anywhere between 25 to 35 miles per hour, will torture players during the final round of the Scottish Open.

It will also be cloudy throughout the weekend, meaning The Renaissance Club will play long, soft, and brutally tough.

That does not bother McIlroy, though, as he grew up playing links golf in unpleasant weather all the time.

Hence his brilliant mentality of playing through difficult conditions.

“I don’t really have any expectations,” McIlroy said. “It would be silly of me to try to pick a potential target score to get to.”

Nobody can expect what the weather will truly bring. But the 2014 Open Champion knows to level his expectations and take things one step at a time.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.