Christiaan Bezuidenhout may have finished in a share of 13th on Sunday in the Genesis Scottish Open, but he will have been pleased with his scoring trajectory during the week that saw him close with a four-under-par 66.

Ater opening the tournament with a level-par 70, Bezuidenhout sharpened his links game ahead of the Open Championship next week at Royal Portrush in Ireland, and his 66 was the joint fourth-best round of the day.

It took him to seven-under-par for the tournament, which was eight strokes behind the winner, Chris Gotterup of the United States. Gotterup held firm in the face of pressure from Rory McIlroy, and overcame an opening bogey as well as a dropped shot on the 15th to keep the latest career grand slam winner at bay. His 15-under was two better than McIlroy could manage, and the Northern Irishman shared second with England’s Marco Penge. Matthew Fitzpatrick and Nicolai Hojgaard shared fourth on 12-under-par.

Jaques Kruyswijk was the only other South African to make the cut, and he closed with a three-over 70 to finish in a share of 65th on two-over-par.