The First Look: Genesis Scottish Open

Links golf is perhaps the truest form of the game – and perhaps the worthiest of challenges.

With the PGA TOUR co-sanctioning the Genesis Scottish Open for the second straight year, a nearly even split of PGA TOUR and DP World Tour pros will compete at The Renaissance Club, a Tom Doak design adjacent to some of the world’s finest links courses. With natural undulations, unpredictable turf and natural topography enhanced by fescue, hollows, humps and bumps – not to mention stiff winds coming off the sea – it’s a challenge unlike any other on TOUR throughout the season.

But it can be a joyride, too.

“I don't know if it was love at first sight, but I did enjoy playing with winds blowing 30 (mph) and playing the ball down closer to the ground and you know, it being okay to sort of aim 100 yards away from a bunker you can't go in and just play from there,” last season’s Genesis Scottish Open winner Xander Schauffele said of his first links experience. “It's just fun golf for me.”

When it comes to playing links golf, a savvy blend of skill and imagination is required.

Rickie Fowler, who won the 2015 Genesis Scottish Open, called links golf his “favorite” style of golf. Ditto Tiger Woods.

“I enjoy this type of golf because it is creative, and you have to use your mind. We’re not going to get the most perfect bounces. A certain shot that is hit where you think is a wonderful shot down the middle of the fairway could bounce some weird way. That’s just part of it,” Woods said in 2018 prior to The Open at Carnoustie. “That’s the fun challenge of it.”

So, the TOUR heads across the Atlantic for the Genesis Scottish Open, leading into next week’s Open Championship, a linksy double. It’ll be fun, different, and a little mind-bending for the world’s best – with Schauffele looking to successfully defend this week in North Berwick – but it’ll be a treat, nonetheless.

FIELD NOTES: World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler returns to The Renaissance Club looking for a little redemption from a year ago – he missed the cut at the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open. However, Scheffler is in the midst of an all-time ball-striking campaign and hasn’t finished outside the top-12 on a PGA TOUR leaderboard since October (18 total starts)… Rickie Fowler, fresh off his playoff win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, is back in action. Fowler had a chance to earn one of the final Open Championship spots a year ago at the Genesis Scottish Open but shot a final-round 75 to tumble down the leaderboard. Fowler won the 2015 Genesis when it was played at Gullane Golf Club… Rory McIlroy will tee it up for the first time since the Travelers Championship, riding a streak of five straight top-10 finishes on TOUR. McIlroy last played the Genesis Scottish Open in 2021 and missed the cut. He won the DP World Tour’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January… Jordan Spieth returns to the Genesis Scottish Open after a T10 finish last year. Spieth has five top-five results so far this season… A pair of major champions are making their returns to the Genesis Scottish Open after a half-decade away. Adam Scott will play his first Genesis since 2017 and Shane Lowry will play his first since 2016… Other notables teeing it up in Scotland including Max Homa, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland, and U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark… Approximately 75 DP World Tour pros will compete in the co-sanctioned event, based on their position on the Race to Dubai standings. Adrian Meronk is No. 3 in that list (after Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm) after three wins on the DP World Tour in the last 12 months.

HIGHEST-RANKED PLAYERS IN THE FIELD

SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: Ludvig Aberg heads across the pond for his first Genesis Scottish Open. Aberg has made an immediate splash on the PGA TOUR after earning his TOUR card as No. 1 on the PGA TOUR University Ranking. berg has made the cut in all four of his PGA TOUR starts since turning pro, including a T4 at last week's John Deere Classic... Scotland’s own Grant Forrest is in action in his home country. Forrest won the DP World Tour’s 2021 Hero Open in Scotland; tthe University of San Diego alum also was runner-up in The Amateur in 2015 and played the Walker Cup that same year… Four-time TOUR winner Charley Hoffman will compete… Three spots in the field are awarded to KPGA players – Yeongsu Kim will play his third TOUR event this season, Yoseop Seo will play his second, and Bio Kim will make his 31st TOUR appearance. Kim won twice on the 2022 KPGA.

STORYLINES:

1) Co-sanctioned contest

For the second straight year, the Genesis Scottish Open will be co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour. Approximately 75 DP World Tour pros will compete alongside an equal PGA TOUR contingent. The Genesis Scottish Open joins the Barbasol Championship and Barracuda Championship as co-sanctioned events on the TOUR/DP World Tour schedule. New for this year: The top 10 on the Race to Dubai not otherwise exempt on the PGA TOUR (e.g. McIlroy and Rahm) will earn 2024 TOUR membership.

2) Major tune-up

The Genesis Scottish Open offers a chance for the world’s best to test their linksy mettle before the 151st Open Championship. The final three spots are also up for grabs for those who haven’t yet punched their ticket to Royal Liverpool. This season’s Genesis Scottish Open purse has increased to $9 million (up from $8 million in 2022).

3) Tight finishes at The Renaissance Club

Each of the first three Genesis Scottish Opens at The Renaissance Club required a playoff, and it very nearly happened again in 2022, with Xander Schauffele defeating Kurt Kitayama by just one stroke. Scoring at the Genesis Scottish Open has been wildly unpredictable, from the tournament-low 22-under 262 carded by Bernd Wiesberger in 2019 to Schauffele’s 7-under 273 a year ago (the first time since 1998 the winning total was single-digits under par) – but, alas, such is links golf.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

COURSE: The Renaissance Club, par 70, 7,237 yards. Despite only opening in 2007, The Renaissance Club has hosted plenty of championship golf. This will be the fifth edition of the Genesis Scottish Open hosted at the Tom Doak design – located between iconic Open Championship layouts Muirfield and North Berwick. The Renaissance Club was carved out of 300 acres of pine forest but kept a number of trees in strategic fairway and greenside positions. Five years after the course opened, a land swap arrangement with the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (Muirfield) allowed the club to build three new holes along the coastline.

72-HOLE RECORD: 262, Bernd Wiesberger (2019)

18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Bernd Wiesberger (Round 2, 2019)

LAST TIME: Xander Schauffele captured his fourth trophy in 12 months – after going winless for two years – winning the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open by one over Kurt Kitayama. It was Schauffele’s seventh PGA TOUR title. Kitayama had a one-shot lead on the back nine but missed a 6-foot par attempt on the penultimate hole, ultimately opening the door for Schauffele. The win wasn’t easy for Schauffele, however, as he began Sunday with a two-shot lead and then birdied the first two holes – extending his lead to four shots through five holes – before surrendering his lead into the final nine. His even-par 70 in the final round – despite a bogey on the 72nd hole – was good enough for the win. Tom Kim finished third while Patrick Cantlay and Tommy Fleetwood finished tied for fourth. Cameron Tringale shot 61 in the first round in 2022 before surrendering his lead during the final nine.

HOW TO FOLLOW:

Television: Thursday-Friday, 8:30-10:30 a.m. ET (Golf Channel – World Feed), 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. (Golf Channel), 12-3 p.m. (CBS)

PGA TOUR LIVE:

PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+

• Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course

• Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group

• Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups

• Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

Radio: Thursday-Friday, 8 a.m.–1:30 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio