Course Preview and Fits: Genesis Scottish Open

We must now say goodbye to the stretch of birdie fest dustball events that we’ve come to know and love, and that have, for the most part, treated us well. Davey Thompson got it done, and while it wasn’t the most exciting Sunday, it was a pretty solid John Deere on the whole. It’s a touch bittersweet that we now head across the pond for a loaded Scottish Open field, only to follow it up with an even more loaded Open Championship field. But fear not, my friends, as links golf and its characteristic chaos and uncertainty give us a few chances to get different in the coming weeks. We also have a lot of lesser-known DP World Tour players in the field, and luckily, we know them well. Let’s have a look, shall we?

Until a few years ago, the Scottish Open was a DP World Tour event that drew a typically weaker field, but 2022 saw the tournament’s first year as a co-sanctioned event between the PGA and DP World Tour. It’s a logical move, with many of the big dogs skipping the Keene Trace PGA event this week anyway in favor of a links warm-up and time zone acclimation for the Open, and with the top 75 players from each tour eligible to play, it has quickly become one of the stronger fields of the year. Most of the top dogs on the PGA Tour will be here (minus Scottie and Patty Ice), and there’s some depth here too, despite names that many won’t recognize. There are advantages and disadvantages to this new co-sanctioning; while we have a bunch of players in the field that the average golf fan won’t know, we also don’t have as much relevant data given the weaker fields in past years and the lack of ShotLink data. So while there’s a lot to lean on in terms of player skill, fit, and links effects, course history is a non-factor, and with diabolical weather two years ago, there’s only so much we can take away from the 2022 event. We certainly have an edge on euro players, though, as we bet the DPWT each week.