Genesis Scottish Open Preview
Xander Schauffele hoisted the hardware at the 2022 Scottish Open. It was his third win over a three-month stretch, kicked off by a team victory at the 2022 Zurich Classic.
He'll return to The Renaissance Club this week in hopes of defending his title. While this season has been arguably just as steady as last year for Schauffele, he arrives without a single win on his 2023 bingo card.
The Scottish Open also highlights the potential benefits of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour's strategic alliance. This week's event is a co-sanctioned event that provides a fun blend of player names on the field list. Many of the superstars in the field are using this as a tune-up event for next week's Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
The Course
The Renaissance Club will play the role of tournament host.
This Tom Doak design has hosted the four previous editions as well as the 2019 and 2020 Ladies Scottish Open.
Playing to 7,237 yards, this par 70 is on the short end of the spectrum when you consider the firm and fast conditions you typically see in Scotland at this time of year. Driving distance can be an advantage here but it's certainly not a requirement.
On approach, golfers will be nudged in the direction of lowering their ball flight. As Rafa Cabrera Bello put it last year, "Normally, I tend to hit it fairly straight. If I miss, I tend to hit it thin and on links courses, if you hit it thin, it will bounce and reach anyway."
Played right near the coast, wind is one of the key challenges of the course.
That puts a premium on creativity and that is even more true as you get near the green. Cameron Tringale fired a course-record 61 in the opening round last year then had this to say, "I think I'm pretty creative when it comes to the shots around the greens and being able to visualize and imagine shots that are not traditional for us in the States. I just think it's so much fun to have that kind of optionality and to have fun with those shots. There are probably five ways you can play most shots. It's fun to be an artist out here."
The fescue greens will be slow compared to the typical PGA Tour stop. Golfers have spoken on this in the past, even when they know the greens will be slower, they often still struggle to lock in those speeds on short notice.
Mother Nature will dictate the scoring conditions as we've seen winning scores range from 7-under to 22-under over the last four years. It's too far out to trust a weather forecast at this time but keep an eye on the projected wind speeds over the next few days.
Golfers to Watch
Xander Schauffele
The defending champ hasn't finished outside of the top 25 since a T-39 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March (eight stroke-play events since then). He's played extremely steady all season and a return to a course where he previously won may be just what he needs to get back into the winner's circle.
Gary Woodland
He's not going to grade out near the top of the board in this strong of a field, but I did find his quotes from last year rather interesting. He does a good job of laying out the conditions seen at the Renaissance Club. "I like to play the golf ball low. I grew up playing in the wind, so I like to hit low shots and that sets up beautifully over here. The imagination around the greens, you can putt it from about anywhere you want."
Z
The World No. 1 golfer is playing as consistently as anyone in the world. He's bagged six straight top-5 finishes. Now he returns to the Renaissance Club, site of a rare missed cut last year. It was a dud of a week but he is confident on his abilities in similar conditions, "When you get out here, it came really naturally to me, like when I get around the greens and don't see my normal pitches at home, it's much simpler to play those bouncier shots into the green and it's something that I just immediately saw When you're at home in Dallas you're really dictated by what the grain does, and out here there is no grain and you can bounce it and use the mounds and hills and whatever you want and you're not limited by stuff that I'm limited by at home." He's the pre-tournament favorite and rightfully so.
Min Woo Lee
He won the 2021 edition of the Scottie Open, back when it wasn't yet a co-sanctioned event. That was also before he really established himself as a regular contender on the PGA Tour. He arrives with a pair of top 10s on his recent game log in addition to a T-15 at the British Masters in the lead-up to this week. Converging trends are suggesting that Min Woo Lee may be a name to circle in weekly fantasy formats.
Tyrrell Hatton
It's hard to ignore Hatton when playing at a links layout. The Englishman improves by nearly half a shot per round compared to his baseline when playing links courses over the last two years. The argument against that is sample size but longtime fans know that Hatton has been racking up those big finishes on links courses over the entirety of his career.
Ranking the Field
1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Patrick Cantlay
3. Rory Mcilroy
4. Xander Schauffele
5. Tyrrell Hatton
6. Viktor Hovland
7. Rickie Fowler
8. Tommy Fleetwood
9. Max Homa
10. Matt Fitzpatrick
11. Jordan Spieth
12. Wyndham Clark
13. Justin Rose
14. Sungjae Im
15. Sam Burns
16. Min Woo Lee
17. Tom Kim
18. Adam Scott
19. Justin Thomas
20. Shane Lowry
