One week before the season's final major, the Open Championship, the PGA Tour will be playing in Scotland for the first of two consecutive weeks. Defending Champion Rory McIlroy will be among those in attendance, as will Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg, Collin Morikawa, and several other big names.
Chris Gallagher and Everett Davidson contributed to this article.
The Course
The Renaissance Club plays host to this week's Genesis Scottish Open for the sixth time in a row, all of which have come since 2019. Even before the 2022 event, which was the first time the PGA Tour co-hosted, many American players would play in the Scottish Open to prepare for the Open Championship. Still, only one player, Phil Mickelson in 2013, has won both tournaments in back-to-back weeks. Generally speaking, the Scottish Open serves as a good tune-up, especially given the similarities between the Renaissance Club and next week's host, Royal Troon.
Both courses play at similar lengths, with the Renaissance Club being about 50 yards longer, and both are the only true links courses that the PGA Tour will play on this year (Pebble Beach doesn't count). Players who are good at playing different heights and shapes with their shots will be good this week. If a player is only confident with one type of shot, they will still be able to win, but they will need to play to safer areas and won't be able to take on the risks that players who have their games firing on all cylinders will be able to.
The Field
Highlighted by the return of McIlroy, the current world number two captured this event a year ago by birdieing two of his final three holes to edge out Robert MacIntyre. Choosing to take time off following his heartbreaking collapse at the U.S. Open, the 35-year-old will hope to put the final stages on his preparation ahead of next week's Open Championship at Royal Troon. Joining Mcilroy, five more of the top ten players in the Official World Golf Rankings are set to tee it up, including Schauffele. In the middle of another stellar campaign, he has 11 top-ten finishes this year. Furthermore, the San Diego native also captured the PGA Championship in May. Rounding out the field are Aberg, Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood, and Viktor Hovland.
Chris' Genesis Scottish Open Picks
Outright: Viktor Hovland
Hovland jumped out to a rocky start to begin his 2024 campaign. However, after reuniting with his former swing coach, Joe Mayo, the 26-year-old has returned to form. He has placed inside the top 20 in three of his last four starts, including a solo third at the PGA Championship. Along with this, the Norwegian native has the game to fit the Renaissance Club. Over his last 36 rounds, Hovland ranks eighth in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 31st in Strokes Gained: Approach, and 14th in Birdie Average (4.23). Furthermore, the 2023 FedEx Cup winner has historically been a significantly better putter on slower greens. Motivated to get back in the winner's circle, bet on Hovland this week.
Outright: Tommy Fleetwood
Classically, Fleetwood has been one of the most consistent players on Tour this year. The 33-year-old has eight top-25 finishes, including a T13 at the Wells Fargo Championship, a T16 at the U.S. Open, and a T3 at the Masters Tournament. Historically an excellent links golf player throughout his career, the England native ranks sixth on Tour in driving accuracy (76.4), 18th in scrambling (66.5), and 34th in scoring average (70.487). Moreover, Fleetwood has had an excellent track record at the Renaissance Club. Following his loss in a playoff to Aaron Rai in 2020, Fleetwood has racked up back-to-back top 10s at the event. While he may not win, the 14-year veteran will be in the mix and offers excellent value at his 20-1 odds.
Sleeper: Tom Kim
Kim has grabbed two top-five finishes at the Scottish Open, including a solo sixth a year ago. Additionally, he has gained multiple strokes with his irons and putter in each of his two appearances at the Renaissance Club. While the 22-year-old is coming off a disappointing missed cut at the Rocket Mortgage in Detroit last week, he remains in good form over the last month. Kim placed T4 at the RBC Canadian Open before losing to Scottie Scheffler at the Travelers Championship in a playoff. Among all players in the field, the South Korean native ranks 15th in total driving and 44th in proximity to the hole (37'1"). He is one of golf's rising stars, so expect him to be among the final groups on Sunday afternoon.
Everett's Genesis Scottish Open Picks
Outright: Xander Schauffele
Schauffele famously won the PGA Championship at Valhalla this year. Still, even outside of his win, he has been very good this season, as he hasn't had a single finish outside the top 25 since February, and he only has four finishes outside the top 10 out of 12 events in that span. His history on links courses has also been solid, with the highlight being a win in this event in 2022 and a T2 finish at the Open in 2018. In nine starts between the Open and the Scottish Open, he has never missed a cut and never had a finish lower than T-42 in either event. Look for Schauffele to be in contention this week and next, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him win both.
Outright: Collin Morikawa
Morikawa hasn't won this season, but, like Schauffele, he has been highly consistent and hasn't missed a cut since March. Since the Masters in April, he has just as many top-5 finishes as he does finishes outside the top-10. However, Morikawa's career on links courses has been boom or bust. In five combined starts at the Open and the Scottish Open, he has only made the cut twice, with one of those being a T-71 finish at the Scottish Open in 2021, but in his other start, he won the Open, so he clearly has what it takes to take a win this week. It is too early to tell whether that win will end up being a flash-in-the-pan (as far as his career on links courses) or if the recent run of missed cuts will end up being somewhat of an uncommon entity as his career progresses. Still, regardless, he has the talent to win on any type of course, but he doesn't have the experience that most of his counterparts do. As he begins to gain knowledge, however, don't be surprised to see him get stronger on links courses, which could even start this week.
Sleeper: Jordan Spieth
Spieth's season has been up and down, and he hasn't had a top-10 since April, but there is something about Spieth's game that makes him excel at links courses. Spieth's famous win in 2017 at the Open is his crowning achievement in this style of play, but he has ended up one place back of the winner in regulation two other times, in 2021 (to Morikawa) and 2015 (Spieth was one stroke back of a playoff and ended up T-4). He never played in the Scottish Open until 2022, and he immediately showed he would be a factor, finishing T-10 in his first appearance. Spieth missed the cut last year, but there is no reason he shouldn't be a factor this week.
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