The Rundown: 2023 Genesis Scottish Open
Bagpipes, haggis, Braveheart, scotch and now a bonified big d*** golf tournament? The only way Scotland could be any better is if they joined the SEC. Players and fans alike are getting into the mood across the pond with the 151st Open just around the corner, but up first is a return to Scotland's Renaissance Club for the second time as a co-sanctioned event between the PGA and DP World Tours. Last year saw Xander Schauffele triumph over a stellar field, and this week's roster is even better. Only Jon Rahm and Tony Finau are taking the week off among eligible players inside the top 15 in the OWGR, and 30 out of 50 of the world's best have made the trip to North Berwick as well. It's good to have links golf back in our lives. So without further ado, here's everything you need to know to make this trip to Scotland a profitable one.
course notes & quotes
A short drive from the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, the Renaissance Club is a mix of heathland and coastal links that stretches to the shore of the Firth of Fourth on the North Sea. The club's 18-holes run alongside Old Tom Morris' Muirfield, but the 2008 Tom Doak design looks like it belongs despite its relative infancy by Old World standards.
The 7,237-yard par-70 is hosting the Scottish Open for the fifth-straight time and has seen a variety of results and winners over its history as host. The early years exclusive to the DP World Tour saw birdies in bunches with winning scores of -22 ('19), -11 ('20), and -18 ('21). But the course showed its teeth on its PGA TOUR debut last year with a cut line at +3 and a winning score of -7. With significant elevation changes and an abundance of trees throughout much of the property, the Renaissance Club isn't a true links course in the traditional sense, but much like the Old Course at St. Andrews, it does rely on the unpredictable Scotland weather to add some difficulty.
The winds kicked up in '22 and an early look at the forecast calls for exciting speeds in the mid-teens and gusts exceeding 20 mph.
"The putting was very difficult in the wind but it wasn't that it was constant," said Schauffele during last year's event. "It was that it was kind of coming in and out and pretty strong breezes. As soon as you felt like you had an edge on the putting green, it would blow you off your feet.”
With the wind likely to be a factor again this week, expect scores to be higher and for players with links experience to have the advantage. This week's field will feature an even mix of PGA TOUR and DP World Tour players, and even though plenty of stars will be out, this could be a good week for some lesser-known Europeans who know how to handle these conditions.
Gusty Greens
“The putting was very difficult in the wind but it wasn't that it was constant. It was that it was kind of coming in and out and pretty strong breezes. As soon as you felt like you had an edge on the putting green, it would blow you off your feet.”
— Defending Scottish Open Champion Xander Schauffele
Course history
You can break down the Renaissance Club's Scottish Open history into two parts: pre-co-sanctioned and post. The three additions as an event exclusive to the DP World Tour saw Bernd Weisberger, Aaron Rai and Min Woo Lee take home the title. But last year's addition of the PGA TOUR's best resulted in a leaderboard topped by Schauffele and filled out by the likes of Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth, Matt Fitzpatrick and Cam Smith in the top 10. I'm expecting something similar this week, so here's a few numbers to note when making your picks.
Off the Tee
Like most links-style courses, the fairways at the Renaissance Club are generous. But one of the main differences between here and classic links layouts is how close the second cut of rough is to the short stuff. Players won't have much margin for error with any errant tee shots. Even so, this still shapes up to the bomber's advantage, as the Renaissance Club ranks behind only Riviera in terms of the least penalty for missing the fairway. According to Data Golf, playing from the rough adds just .16 strokes on average versus from the fairway.
Tee to Green
Links-style courses put a premium on creative shot shaping and ball striking to combat the disruptive winds on approach. The Renaissance Club is no different, ranking behind only St. Andrews among the most-difficult tracks to gain strokes on approach. The pros should get just about every club in the bag dirty with an even mix of approach lengths throughout the course. If the wind blows as expected, we may even see drastically different yardages on the same hole day-to-day, so players who have the ability to hit different trajectories and adjust their gameplans will have a leg up.
Around the Green
Perhaps the biggest impact of the wind will be felt on the greens. As Schauffele noted last year, hitting the right spots and holding these greens will be a challenge if the winds pick up. Links layouts provide a unique opportunity for creative short-game players to flash their finesse, so I'll be leaning toward players who have the wizardry required to consistently get up down from these tight lies.
Betting picks & plays
This week features a combination of factors that make handicapping difficult. The field features a host of DP World Tour players who are lesser-known entities, not to mention the unpredictability of the wind from day to day. With that in mind, I'm sticking to the basics and looking at proven links players who can take advantage of length off the tee and short-game prowess around the greens. As always, be sure to check out the Tour Junkies Blog for more picks and insight from the rest of the gang, including DB's Big Balls Betting Card, which always comes in hot with the long bomb plays. With that said, here are some names and numbers I like at the Scottish Open.
Tommy Fleetwood (+2000)
As we near the home stretch of the 2023 golf calendar, it's almost hard to believe that Tommy Fleetwood hasn't won already. The Englishman has over 120 professional starts to his name and zero PGA TOUR wins. Since March, nobody has played better than Tommy without bagging at least one victory. Since his T3 finish at the Valspar in March, only Scottie Scheffler and Wyndham Clark have more top-5 finishes than Tommy's four. He finished T4 in his first Scottish Open last year and has plenty of links experience with three finishes of T12 or better in the Open including a runner-up at Portrush in 2019.
Jordan Spieth (+2200)
Welcome to the column Jordan Spieth. I've kept his name off the card all year while the three-time major champion has put together a quietly strong season, but now is the time to put some money on him. When he's on, there's no better links player than Spieth. His creativity and execution around the greens should shine around the Renaissance Club, and his approach play has been solid as of late as well, gaining strokes on approach in 11 of his last 13 starts. It's true, he hasn't been at his best by his own lofty standards, but I think Spieth will find something over this stretch across the pond, and I want some action on him when he does.
Meet the Author:
Nate Moore
A Georgia native, proud UGA alum and former media guy for Augusta National, the only thing Nate Moore loves more than the Peach State is a Top-20 parlay. Nate is a golf-obsessed sportswriter/journalist who brings his experience in the golf industry to the Tour Junkies brand.
Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and commentary in this post belong to its author and do not necessarily represent the Tour Junkies as a whole.