This article is part of our Golf Picks series.
Genesis Scottish Open Betting Preview
We're just one week away from the final major championship of the year, and many of those participating in the Open Championship will first tee it up this week at the Renaissance Club in Scotland.
A co-sanctioned event alongside the DP World Tour beginning last year, 75 of the spots in the field are reserved from the DP World Tour eligibility list. Despite this not being a designated event, the field is strong, as many players PGA Tour players look to get acclimated to a links style course. The group on hand is headlined by tournament favorite Scottie Scheffler, who is listed at 13-2 odds to win.
Last year, Xander Schauffele -- at 18-1 -- defeated Kurt Kitayama by a single stroke to pick up his seventh PGA Tour victory.
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Course Characteristics
Par 70, 7,237 yards
Average Strokes Gained Rankings: Genesis Scottish Open Winners Over Last Four Years
- SG: Off-the-Tee: 35.3
- SG: Approach: 16.0
- SG: Around-the-Green: 26.0
- SG: Putting: 29.8
- SG: Tee-to-Green: 2.3
- Driving Distance: 37.8
- Driving Accuracy: 55.6
Although this is just the second time this has been a PGA Tour event, the Scottish Open has been hosted at The Renaissance Club since 2019. We've seen the winning score range from 7-under-par all the way up to 22-under, as weather conditions tend to have a significant impact on scoring. Forecasts currently call for for moderate winds, so scoring should be better than Schauffele's win at 7-under last year. The course -- which features five par-3s and three par-5s -- has links tendencies with its pot bunkers and tall fescue, although it also comes with narrow fairways that are difficult to hit. Tee-to-green play stands out as the key statistic to hone in on, as the winner finished third or better each year. Ultimately, I'll lean towards the longer hitters, those that excel from tee to green and those that have a history of success in Europe.
Ripping it up at The Renaissance Club
The following players, with a minimum of eight rounds played, have the lowest scoring average at the Renaissance Club since 2019.
- Xander Schauffele: 67.9
- Matt Fitzpatrick: 68.3
- Lucas Herbert: 68.4
- Justin Thomas: 68.5
- Thomas Detry: 68.6
The defending champion tops the list, having also played this event the year prior and finishing in a share of 10th place. Since his win here, he has been one of the most consistent players in the world, having not missed a cut. However, another victory has eluded him. Listed at 14-1 odds, Schauffele is a strong candidate to go back-to-back. Another player with an excellent track record at The Renaissance Club is Detry, who lost in a playoff two years ago and followed that up with a top-10 last year. He hasn't had the best season but did record a top-25 at Colonial, and a return to a course where he has made the cut all four times should get him going in the right direction. He would certainly be a long shot winner at 110-1 odds, so he's better suited for a top-10 wager or in DFS lineups.
Current Form
These golfers, on a per-round basis, gained the most strokes from tee to green over their last 20 rounds.
- Scottie Scheffler: 3.74
- Rory McIlroy: 2.27
- Rickie Fowler: 1.98
- Viktor Hovland: 1.75
- Patrick Cantlay: 1.60
Scheffler extended his streak of 16 straight top-10 finishes to 17 at the Travelers Championship, and he has finished no worse than T5 in six consecutive tournaments. Amazingly, he's gained strokes off the tee, on approach and around the green every week during that stretch. Scheffler will be looking to rebound from a rare missed cut here a year ago -- just his second missed cut over the last year. Not much further down we find Cantlay, who is tied for third on the betting board with Schauffele at 14-1. He's coming off a T4 finish in his most recent start in which he led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. Cantlay's game has translated well to Europe, as last year he finished T4 in this event and T8 in The Open Championship.
Genesis Scottish Open Bets: Outright Picks
Viktor Hovland (18-1)
After pegging Sepp Straka at 50-1 last week, I'll start off the latest round of picks with Hovland. He's elevated his game to another level over the last two months, nearly winning the PGA Championship before winning the Memorial Tournament -- a designated event -- two weeks later. He missed the cut here last year but was terrible in the short game, so if he can clean up that area this time around, he should find himself in the mix Sunday.
Matt Fitzpatrick (25-1)
Fitzpatrick finished top-15 in three of his four trips to The Renaissance Club, which includes a playoff loss in 2021. His game is in good form, as he won this spring and posted a top-20 in three of his last four starts. It's hard to think of a reason not to like him this week.
Aaron Rai (65-1)
This is a lofty price for the 2020 winner, who has also been trending in the right direction with four top-25s -- including a pair of top-10s -- over his last five starts. The Englishman is certainly comfortable with golf in this part of the world and is a solid 24th in SG: Tee-to-Green this season.
Genesis Scottish Open Bets: Top-10 Wagers
Adrian Meronk (7-1)
The golf world will likely see Meronk this fall on the European Ryder Cup team, as he has won twice on the DP World Tour this season. He's leading that Tour in SG: Off-the-Tee, and although he hasn't fared all that well stateside he should be more comfortable in Scotland.
Alex Noren (13-2)
Noren certainly hasn't had his best year, but he seemed to have found something in his last start in Detroit, posting a top-10. I'm betting on him to keep the momentum rolling as he looks to bolster his Ryder Cup stock. Noren finished a respectable T30 here last year.
Cam Davis (9-1)
Davis goes through spells of struggling to make cuts and then playing really solid golf. Following a run of three top-10s over a five-tournament stretch, he missed three straight cuts. However, he is coming off a solid T17 two weeks ago. He lacks experience in Europe but his superb ball striking and distance make him tough to overlook at these odds.
Genesis Scottish Open Bets: Head-to-Head Matchups
Jordan Spieth (-120) over Shane Lowry
Spieth was in the mix here last year before faltering in the final round and finishing T10. He always seems to play well across the pond, finishing top-10 in over half of his Open Championship appearances. Lowry has never played professionally at The Renaissance Club, and his only real advantage over Spieth is that he's more accurate off the tee, which shouldn't be a huge factor here.
Lucas Herbert (-110) over Tom Kim
Kim is coming off a third-place finish here last year, but his game has leveled off in 2023, with just three top-25s since February. Herbert is no slouch at The Renaissance Club, with a pair of top-5s here over the last three years. He's coming up a top-15 at the Travelers and his strengths -- distance and putting -- should give him the upper hand in this matchup.
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