The PGA heads to North Berwick, Scotland, this week for the Genesis Scottish Open. The event will again take place at the Renaissance Club, a very high-end and exclusive links venue that is set just across the sea and south from St. Andrews. This will be the fifth season in a row that the Renaissance Club has hosted this event, and also the third year in a row that the Scottish Open is set as an official PGA event, co-hosted by the DP World Tour.
The links setup of the course this week will make results very volatile, and we have seen drastic swings in scoring here each of the past few seasons. The course isn’t overly long and features four par 5s, despite being a par 71, so players can go low if the conditions are calm.
I wrote more about The Renaissance Club in this week’s Genesis Scottish Open PGA DFS Cheat Sheet.
“The course itself is a traditional links setup with fescue greens and hard fairways that will require intelligent decision-making. Your ball can roll a lot here and that’s helped shorter hitters like Tringale and Wiesberger when the wind is down. Despite it being a par 71, there are four par 5s and while they do have quirky large greens, they are still very short holes for the pros and will yield a ton of birdies if the course is soft.
One of the most interesting wrinkles of this course is the fact that while there are four par 5s, there are also five par 3s, meaning par 4s make up only half the course. The par 3s tend to play as some of the most difficult on the course, and three stretch over 200 yards, making ball-striking extremely vital here when the wind is up. Each of the last three winners at the Renaissance Club gained over 5.0 strokes on approach and elite approach play tends to become more and more important as the weather deteriorates.
The venue sits right on the coastline of the North Sea, which means it’s always at risk of being affected by heavy winds or rain.”
As of now, the first day does look like it will see rather steady winds in the AM up to 20 MPH. That said, it also looks like the wind is set to die down over the course of the day, and Friday looks relatively calm. Late starters on Thursday may have a slight advantage as a result.
DraftKings Pick6 has full tournament totals up for this week, so I’ll again be focusing on FULL TOURNAMENT totals, specifically finishing positions (“Better Than” or “Worse Than”), but also the holes played market, which essentially acts as a “make or miss the cut” question.
Top DraftKings Pick6 Picks for the Genesis Scottish Open
Viktor Hovland Better Than 31.5 Finishing Position
Hovland hasn’t played since finishing T-3 at the US Open a couple of weeks ago. The Norwegian will be a little disappointed about his play in that final round, where he had a chance to secure his first major. However, I expect a solid effort this week. Hovland has some decent links experience and finished T-4 at the Open in 2022.
Further, he’s in great form right now, having gained strokes on approach in seven straight starts while also gaining 14.8 strokes TTG at the US Open. His off-the-tee game hasn’t been great, but he’ll likely be less affected by a little wildness on the links where bad bounces affect the entire field and can make even the straightest drives go off-kilter. This line seems very big given his form, so happy to take him to outperform and land us at least a top-30.
Scottie Scheffler Worse Than 4.5 Finishing Position
We faded Scheffler on this exact number at the Travelers, and while he gave us a good sweat that week, he did ultimately finish outside the top four (T6). I like going back to the exact same play this week. Scheffler has had some success at the Renaissance Club, but, in general, his links experience isn’t huge, and he also missed the cut at the Renaissance Club back in 2022.
Moreover, Scheffler is in the early wave on Day 1 and will be playing alongside last year’s winner and hometown hero, Robert MacIntyre. I don’t personally see either as overly advantageous for Scheffler, as he’ll be dealing with big crowds and heavier winds as the early wave is likely to see worse conditions on Day 1.
Ultimately, with such a low total, I think fading the World No. 1 is the correct play once again.
Si Woo Kim Better Than 41.5 Finishing Position
Kim is coming off a solid week at the John Deere, where he finished T-11 and gained over 6.3 strokes on approach. He was terrible on the greens, otherwise, he may have won that event outright. Still, even with his struggles with the flatstick, Kim is one of the more in-form players on TOUR right now. He finished T-8 at the PGA just a couple of months ago and also gained over 5.0 strokes on approach at the US Open.
He doesn’t have a huge amount of links experience but has made the cut in two of the last three Open Championships and was T-26 at this venue last year. Just given how well he’s progressed with his ball-striking this spring and summer, I don’t see any reason not to be bullish on him this week.
If the slower greens help his putting, I could even see him getting in contention for the outright win. Safe to say I am more than happy to take him to finish inside the top 40, especially with what should be an advantageous late tee time on Day 1.
Matti Schmid More Than 36.5 Holes Played
Schmid had to pull out of the Travelers with an illness and had missed a couple of cuts coming into last week, so it was good to see him put in a solid effort against a weaker field in Germany, where he finished T-7. Overall, it’s been a promising season for the German, who finished second at the Colonial behind Ben Griffin and T-6 in Puerto Rico after a big round.
Schmid isn’t the most consistent player on the PGA, but he can get red-hot with his putter and looked confident on the greens last week, where he shot 15 under par over his final three rounds. He’s only played the Scottish Open once but has solid links experience and was T-9 at the Alfred Dunhill Links event back in 2021. If the conditions are slightly easier this season, it should also favor a solid putter like Schmid, who has traditionally done his best in lower-scoring events.
With a later tee time on Day 1, he should be in the better wave and looks like a solid play to make the weekend, given how well he played last week.
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