The Renaissance Club in Dirleton, North Berwick is the venue for this week’s Scottish Open and with just a week to go until the year’s final major, The Open Championship, a quality field takes to the first tee.
The Renaissance Club plays to a par 70 and is a links setup with a few of the holes hugging the coast. The course was only opened 15 years ago and it first hosted the Scottish Open in 2019 where Bernd Wiesberger claimed the victory with a -22 score. The last 3 years have seen winning scores range from -18 to -7 which was Xander Schauffele’s score in 2022. As is usually the case with links courses weather is going to be absolutely crucial and players with proven links form are most likely going to be worth following.
PAST WINNERS
2022 – Xander Schauffele -7
2021 – Min Woo Lee -18*
2020 – Aaron Rai -11*
2019 – Bernd Wiesberger -22*
2018 – Brandon Stone -20
Defending Champion, Xander Schauffele tees it up and he is a 14/1 joint 3rd favourite with Patrick Cantlay, the two ahead of them in the betting are Rory Mcilroy 7/1 and Scottie Scheffler 8/1 and recent PGA Tour winner Rickie Fowler is on offer at 16/1. There is 18/1 and better available the balance.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Rory Mcilroy 7/1
Scottie Scheffler 8/1
Patrick Cantlay 14/1
Xander Schauffele 14/1
Rickie Fowler 16/1
Viktor Hovland 18/1
Matt Fitzpatrick 22/1
Jordan Spieth 22/1
Tommy Fleetwood 22/1
25/1 and better the balance, all prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The two at the top of the betting boards are certainly going to be big runners, but historically having a hot putter has been important at this course and that puts me off Scottie Scheffler who is hitting the ball well, but just can’t seem to hold a putt.
Rory Mcilroy has been very consistent with 5 consecutive Top 10 finishes including a runner-up in the US Open, but he just isn’t getting over the line often enough for me and I am going to look further down the betting boards for some action.
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SELECTIONS:
Xander Schauffele each way at 14/1
Schauffele was 10th here on debut in 2021 and followed that up with a victory last year. His form has been consistent over recent weeks with 5 consecutive Top 25 finishes although he has been struggling to put 4 good rounds together. Back on a track he clearly loves I give him a big shot at defending his Title.
Rickie Fowler each way at 16/1
Fowler missed the cut here in 2019 and finished Top 50 last year, but all of that can be ignored given he was struggling with his game and is now back to his best. Fowler faded down the stretch in the US Open to finish 5th, but his last start was a victory on the PGA Tour and 6 of his last 7 starts have been Top 15 finishes and 4 of his last 5 have seen him in the Top 10. Fowler enjoys links golf and gets the nod as the second leg of our staking plan.
Tom Kim each way at 45/1
It is time to look a bit further down the betting boards and Tom Kim has good course form with a 3rd place finish here on debut last year. Since finishing Top 10 at the US Open three starts back his form has dipped with a Top 40 and a missed cut, but I am hoping the return to The Renaissance Club will see him find the sort of form he showed in the US Open and for that matter last year in this event.
Thomas Detry each way at 125/1
I always like to have a triple figure long shot in my foursome and Detry gets in courtesy of his course form which saw him finish runner-up in 2021 and in 10th place last year. He was showing some reasonable form a couple of months ago, but the reason for his big price is he is coming into this Tournament on the back of 2 missed cuts. He has taken a week off and I am hoping he comes back fresh and ready to go well on a course that he enjoys.
