Sometimes you wonder what fans of top-class golf want, and the Genesis Scottish Open is a case in point. For years, critics have bemoaned the fact that the world's best players, in particular those from the United States, have been reluctant to play worldwide. Now that they're here as a consequence of the alliance between the sport's two biggest men's golf tours, we're told it's not right that some lower-ranked Europeans can't get in the field.
Short of a 250-man, multi-course tournament I'm not sure I see a solution, so whatever DP World Tour officials do, someone will suffer. If that's players who, in a meritocratic sport, have not performed well enough to earn what are limited places in the field, so be it. Rather them than the fans, who now get to witness one of the very strongest fields of the year in the country where it all began – the perfect aperitif ahead of next week's far more significant Open Championship.
That's not to diminish the Scottish Open, a wonderful event in its own right, but we should remember what happened last year. As Min Woo Lee won an evening play-off against Matt Fitzpatrick and Thomas Detry on the day England lost the Euro 2020 final, Collin Morikawa worried less about finishing alongside Italy's Francesco Laporta in a lowly share of 71st, and more about making the necessary changes to his equipment in order to be ready for the following week. Then he won on his debut in the Open.
Elite players usually win when elite fields assemble through sheer weight of numbers. Something similar could well happen again. But while The Renaissance may not quite (!) be an imitation of the Old Course, we are on links turf so unlike the Canadian Open, where Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Tony Finau produced a thrilling battle, this event cannot be viewed on its own. There's a bigger picture here, and at least a chance that certain players are focused on that rather than winning this title.
Ultimately, if a golf punter is asked to draw up a world-class tournament in which there might be scope for some kind of upset, of the handful of elements they'd surely choose, several are at play. We have a major next week, we have a lot of players who are new to this course, we're playing a form of links golf, and we're by the sea in Scotland. It's just a shame that the strong winds forecast for Wednesday are currently set to die down by tee-off.
Despite that, as you'll have seen from the staking plan, I want to roll the dice here but we'll start with a confident selection at the prices, TOMMY FLEETWOOD.
Runner-up to Aaron Rai in the 2020 renewal, one he ought to have won, Fleetwood played nicely again last year and in the process showcased that there are few as good as he is around these greens.
His links record of course includes second place in the Open Championship three years ago plus any number of low rounds in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, another tournament here in Scotland he'll feel he should've captured by now having so often gone close.
Fleetwood's first DP World Tour victory did of course come in Perthshire after he triumphed in the final tour event played at Gleneagles and it's clearly both a part of the world and a kind of golf which brings out his best – hence bookmakers pricing him defensively for the Open next week, where he looks a potential winner.
Last time we saw Fleetwood on this circuit he defied a bad start to finish 10th in Germany, just a couple of weeks after he'd again finished with a flourish for fifth place at the US PGA, and I wouldn't be alarmed that a cold putter caused him to miss the cut in the US Open. That club has generally been a strength and it was back firing when he started well at the Travelers before a quiet weekend.
More worrying is how he drove the ball there and it's clear that his absence from the very top table over the last two years can be explained by a general downturn off the tee. That said, he's been getting there slowly and prior to the Travelers had gained strokes from tee-to-green in every start dating back to the first week in March, including at Augusta where strong driving provided the foundations for a share of 14th place.
If he can get that club working then everything else is certainly in the sort of shape required to capitalise, and given both his form here and his performance on links land in general, he looks the most likely candidate if we're to get the world's best players beaten.
Ryan Fox is now alongside Fleetwood in the betting which is understandable given his consistent excellence this year. More of the same and the bits and pieces of 100/1 that remain for the Open next week will go, although bear in mind we're currently getting a maximum six places when double that are expected at some stage.
Fox isn't the only DP World Tour player capable of beating the raiding party from the PGA Tour, however, and the gap between him and VICTOR PEREZ in the market looks much too wide.
Perez of course beat Fox in the Dutch Open, at a course designed by Kyle Phillips and reminiscent in many ways of links courses including Kingsbarns, another Phillips design which hosts one round of the Dunhill Links.
It was in that event three years ago that Perez made his name, winning a huge pot in what was his rookie year, and but for the Covid pandemic it might've been the springboard towards a Ryder Cup place. In the end he was a little unfortunate and while frustrating to see him win in the Netherlands having selected him for his previous two starts, it was hard to begrudge the affable Frenchman.
Back to the Dunhill Links, and we learned during that event that Perez lived with his girlfriend in Dundee, so he was especially keen to play so close to home in Scotland. That's something he's done in this event, too, shooting 10 round in the sixties from 12 but paying the price for a Sunday 75 last July, which saw him tumble from eighth down to 59th.
Born near to Fleetwood, Jordan was a quality amateur (won St Andrews Trophy and Lytham Trophy, latter by nine shots) when he played the British Masters close to home at Hillside in 2018, taking the first-round lead on a leaderboard packed with winners of the Dunhill Links or Qatar Masters.
Everything about his form book tells you this is Lagergren's kind of golf and while clearly he has a class divide to bridge, links turf can be a real leveller. That's why he's managed no fewer than four top-five finishes in the Dunhill Links which, don't forget, is a lucrative event which always boasts a strong field.
Lagregren's one and only win so far came by the coast in Sicily, prior to which he'd lost out in a play-off for the Qatar Masters at Doha. In 2020 he finished third in the Portugal Masters alongside Fleetwood, so when it comes to those events which correspond in some way with this one, again his name appears plenty.
This season he's been unlucky not to win the British Masters and also finished fifth in the Netherlands, on a course which should provide a decent guide, while last year he was runner-up in back-to-back events including when in the mix with Min Woo Lee and Matt Fitzpatrick at Valderrama.
Seventh on his Portugal Masters debut and 20th on one of just two starts at Doha, again he has some correlating results and he's also produced plenty of his best stuff in the UK, as so many Scandinavians have done down the years. Ninth at the Scottish Championship gives us some links form, and he's been 10th and fifth from just two starts in Wales.
The best iron player in the field last week, Soderberg could be dangerous if his in-and-out putting comes back around and, as demonstrated in the Dutch Open, a bit more space off the tee will certainly help. He's not really done it here yet, it must be said, but did open with rounds of 67 on both previous visits to show he can score at the course.
Yes, it is difficult to envisage him going toe-to-toe with Rahm, Scheffler or Thomas and coming out on top, but remember this is a player who won a five-way play-off for the European Masters back in 2019. Among his victims? Rory McIlroy. At the very least there's a good chance he outperforms these odds.
Back towards the top of the betting, this looks a good opportunity to play the consistent but frustrating Corey Conners, who I'm begrudgingly leaving out of the staking plan but mentioning here for those who think the idea of backing players like Lagergren is a little silly.
It's only a month since Conners was a well-supported 20/1 shot for the Canadian Open, where he played well, and his ball-striking in the US Open was of similarly high standards despite missing the cut. He was a 50/1 chance there and while this is obviously a very strong field, it's much more winnable and he's probably entitled to a little more respect.
Conners missed the cut here last year, but his Friday 65 was bettered only by Scheffler and saw him miss the cut by a single shot. From there, he carded rounds of 68, 68 and 66 to lie fourth with a round to go at Royal St George's the following week, so we've got some links form of the highest calibre, and it won't surprise me if he's in the mix.
However, I'll finish off with the defending champion, MIN WOO LEE, despite the fact it's been a generally quiet year for the hugely talented Australian.
He's going to need to do better than last week's mid-pack finish in Ireland but 27th in the US Open, where he showed flashes of good iron play, was much more like it. And it's not all that long ago he was among the best debutants at Augusta, eventually finishing 14th.
Though helped by what happened to Detry, there's no denying his brilliance over the weekend of last year's Scottish Open – he was 13-under, the best golf in the field, before a fabulous birdie in the play-off sealed the biggest win of his career.
Further support and information can be found at and .