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We are entering one of my favorite two-week stretches of the year with the Genesis Scottish Open followed by the Open Championship.
My regular sleep routine will be interrupted, but there will be plenty of time to sleep after the year’s final major.
This will be the sixth time the Renaissance Club has hosted the Scottish Open and the third time the event has been a partnership between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.
The 7,237-yard course is a unique par-70 layout that features three par-5s and five par-3s.
There is also a driveable par-4.
The four scoring holes certainly set up well for the longer hitters, but driving distance hasn’t been a prerequisite for success here over the years.
Many will claim that this is more of a links-style course rather than a true links course. Either way, this will be a much different test of golf than we are used to seeing on the PGA Tour.
The ground will be very firm, which gives more roll out on the fairways and even on some of the greens.
The greens themselves are large and feature fescue, which typically plays a lot slower than the grasses we usually see on PGA Tour.
The forecast calls for winds under 10 mph on Friday, Saturday and Sunday — far less than what we might typically see at a golf tournament in Scotland.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the winning score was an event low.
Here are my best outright win bets:
Min Woo Lee (25/1, FanDuel)
Lee is an extremely aggressive golfer who often feels overpriced in the betting market because his statistics never line up with his outright price.
He’s an elite driver of the ball and has an excellent short game, but his iron play is nothing special.
The good news is he has gained strokes on approach in three of his last four starts.
He has experience playing all over the world and a nice track record on links courses, including this one.
He won here in 2021 and will be looking to replicate that this week.
Tom Kim (28/1, FanDuel)
Kim hasn’t had the best 2024 campaign, but he seems to be rounding into form before the year’s final major.
He’s finished in the top five in two of his last five starts and his underlying statistics are encouraging.
He has gained at least 2.5 strokes off the tee in five of his last seven starts and has gained 14 strokes on approach in his last five events combined.
We know he loves courses that require pinpoint approach shots and he’s clearly taken a liking to this one. In his two appearances at the Renaissance Club, he finished T6 and T3.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see him win this week and contend next week at Royal Troon.
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Aaron Rai (40/1)
Rai is going to be a popular pick this week because he’s rattled off back-to-back top-10 finishes and four straight top 20s.
He didn’t have a great Sunday at the John Deere Classic, but he was in the mix once again.
We’ve always known him as an elite ball-striker, but his putter has been the attention-grabber recently. Over his last three events, he has gained 8.9, 4.8 and 2.9 strokes on the green.
When you combine that with his ability to hit fairways and dominate on approach, he becomes very live in any event.
He won at the Renaissance Club in 2020, so hopefully he can channel those good vibes into another good week in Scotland.