RORY GETS HEAD OUT OF THE SAND

RUSTY Rory Mcllroy survived a sand storm to rescue his Scottish Open bid.

- BY CRAIG SWAN

And the Northern Irish superstar admits the best is yet to come after charging into the title hunt with a fabulous first-day finale.

Mcllroy (top) suffered bunker bother when leaving one in the trap at the 15th of his opening round.

However, the career Grand Slam star holed a putt from off the green to rescue a bogey and that salvage act kick-started a storming end.

McIlroy birdied the last three holes to move to within four shots of jointleaders Sepp Straka, Nico Echavarria, Jake Knapp and Victor Perez (below) heading into today's second round.