MacIntyre, heavily supported by the gallery throughout, had set a daunting target of 14-under-par at the Renaissance Club, north Berwick, on Sunday.

That was in part thanks to a sensational birdie on the 18th, just the second of the day on the closing hole as winds gusting up to 40mph made for testing scoring conditions. The Scot hitting his 3-wood approach to within a few feet.

However, overnight leader McIlroy birdied the par-3 17th to get on level terms and then hit a stunning 2-iron approach into the last before holing from 10 feet.

"I'm really proud," said McIlroy, who will head to next week's Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, scene of his 2014 triumph, on the back of his first win on Scottish soil.

"That was such a tough day, especially the back nine. To play that in four-under-par to win the tournament I'm really proud of how I stuck in there, hit some amazing shots down the stretch and was able to finish it off.

"It feels incredible. It's been a sort of long six months I feel since I won in Dubai. I've given myself tonnes of chances and hopefully this win sort of breaks the seal for me, especially going in to next week as well."

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler tied for third with South Korea's Byeong Hun An (70) and Sweden's David Lingmerth (68).

Min Woo Lee was Australia's best finisher, tied for 35th after a par final round left him four-under.

MacIntyre began the final round five shots behind McIlroy, but made good on his promise to relish "absolutely brutal" weather with his superb 64.

But after missing from eight feet on the par-5 16th, McIlroy conjured up a magical finish to seal a brilliant fightback.

After the victory, which takes him back to World No.2, McIlroy confirmed he and Sergio Garcia were back on speaking terms after falling out over the Spaniard's switch to the rebel LIV Golf circuit.

"It feels incredible. It's been a sort of long six months I feel since I won in Dubai. I've given myself tonnes of chances and hopefully this win sort of breaks the seal for me ..." – Rory McIlroy.

Garcia had said he had "gained a friend back" following the proposed peace deal between the rival factions.

McIlroy did not go that far but he said: "We've talked, which is a first step.

"There's things that we both think we probably could have done differently, and there's a lot that's went into it.

"I wouldn't say we are all the way there but it's a good first step."