Bolstered by a significant contingent from the US, the European Tour heads to the links of Scotland for the Scottish Open. This tournament always attracts a high-quality field, as the week before a Major, many players wish to acclimatise to UK conditions and overcome the jetlag early.
Scottish Open: The Tournament
The Scottish Open provides a final warm-up for players looking to play well in the upcoming Open Championship. Previously the event was held at Loch Lomond (1996-2011) but, whether this is true or not, the tournament is now held on other courses to give the players better practice of links-style golf, as opposed to the more manicured and picturesque course by the shores of the famous loch. Either ways it pulls in a quality line-up, more so after Phil Mickelson bucked the trend in 2013 and did the Scottish Open – Open Championship double for the first time in many years.
Scottish Open: The Course
This week the players return to the Renaissance Club in North Berwick – not far from Edinburgh. This is the third straight year the course has hosted this tournament. The facility, designed by Tom Doak, has only been in existence since 2008 and is located on the banks of the Firth of Forth. It’s a 7,293 yard course laid out as a par-71. Naturally with any links course it draws on the surroundings for its main defence (the weather) but pot bunkers, undulating fairways and tricky greens will test the players to the maximum this week.
72-Hole Record 265, Tim Clark (2005)
18-Hole Record 61, Bernd Wiesberger (2019)
Past Winners Aaron Rai (2020), Bernd Wiesberger (2019), Brandon Stone (2018), Rickie Fowler (2017), Alex Noren (2016).
Scottish Open: The Field
A regulation line-up of 150+ golfers this week. Jon Rahm is the $7.75 favourite with TopSport.
Scottish Open: The Weather
The four-day rain forecast shows a 20%-70%-70%-70% chance of precipitation during the tournament. Temperatures will peak in the mid 60s, at best, with plenty of cloud cover all week. Wind speeds though will be very light, expected to be sub-10mph all four days.
The strongest field in @ScottishOpen history 🙌#abrdnScottishOpen #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/9Dsqr837NV
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) July 5, 2021
The Chances
These are two each-way outright bets from the Golf Insider. Members receive all of his best bets for all markets – win and each-way, Top 10, Top 20, Round 1 Leader and 3-Ball groups. He covers every tournament on the PGA and European Tours.
Antoine Rozner $85 with TopSport
Rozner has won twice on the European Tour in the last 8 months, winning the Golf in Dubai Championship at the end of 2020, and following-up with the Qatar Masters in March. The Frenchman had a poor run of form in May, but has bounced back with three solid results from his last three starts. He finished 33rd last week in Ireland, but ranked 6th from tee-to-green, and this is where his strength lies. He’s a superb ball-striker who, when the putter, cooperates always goes close. No doubt, this year’s Scottish Open field is much deeper than the previous two renewals, but I was still expecting a lot shorter prices on this recent multiple tour winner. The US players definitely skew the market in these events, as many are here just as a tune-up, rather than really trying to win, which makes the prices on quality European Tour players inflated… which is why Rozner easily makes the list this week.
Jason Scrivener $95 with TopSport
Australian golfers are on fire right now, and Scrivener is definitely an Aussie who looks close to a breakthrough win. He’s had four Top 10s this year (from just 10 starts) including three from his last four starts. He finished 3rd in Denmark, and then blew a huge opportunity in Sweden, shooting a Sunday 73 to finish 7th. Last week in Ireland he finished 9th, but ranked 1st from tee-to-green, to further underline how well he’s playing right now. Like many, it’s the flat stick that lets Scrivener down, and any upturn in putting should see him compete for a fourth week out of five. Again, I was expecting a price around 66/1, so to get triple-figures was another pleasant surprise and an easy add to the staking plan.
The Golf Insider is a GUN. Look at these winners, all since the start of 2020...
Martin Laird $201, Rasmus Hojgaard $151, Mark Hubbard $126, Marc Warren $101, Sam Burns $67, Tyrell Hatton $51, Peter Malnati $46, John Catlin $46, Talor Gooch $41, Harold Varner $36, Harris English $34, Robert Macintyre $31, Adri Arnaus $26, Connor Syme $26, Scott Jamieson $24, JB Holmes $21, Seamus Power $21, Dustin Johnson $21
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