There’s a touch of pragmatism as to why Rory McIlroy has readded the Genesis Scottish Open to his calendar.
“I feel like I’m sort of killing a few birds with one stone this week,” observed the world number three, ahead of a tournament co-sanctioned by both the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.
So, for the Northern Irishman who hasn’t played in two weeks, the €8.25 million tournament at The Renaissance Club on Scotland’s eastern seaboard provides the opportunity to enhance his FedEx Cup points and also his European Tour order of merit points.
“It’s a big tournament and I can make points on both sides of the pond looking later down the line at the end of the year.”
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Of more immediate relevance is that the tournament comes in the week ahead of next week’s 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club and, while McIlroy didn’t include the Scottish Open on his schedule last year (coming as it did the same week as the JP McManus pro-am at Adare Manor), there is a lot of sense in getting a competitive scorecard on links terrain into his hands before going in search of another Claret Jug.
“I think [it’s important] just to get some competitive golf under my belt, get a scorecard in my hand and play. It’s not pure links at this place, but it’s linksy enough conditions that at least you’re playing in a bit of breeze and you’re maybe getting some visuals that you would get at a links course. So I think just all of that will obviously be good with one eye towards next week, and The Open.”
McIlroy’s quest for a fifth career Major has been an ongoing process since he lifted the 2014 US PGA but it was at St Andrews last year where he went closest to ending that drought, when Cameron Smith completed an admirable final round pursuit – with a hot putter to McIlroy’s cold one – to deprive him.
“I’m as close as I’ve ever been, really. My consistency in the performances, especially in the Majors over the last couple years is way better than it has been over the last few years.
“I’m really pleased at that but at the same time, having had a really good chance at St Andrews, having a really good chance [in the US Open] in LA a few weeks ago. I need to keep putting myself in those positions obviously and the more times I go through them whether it be St Andrews or LA, and just gaining that experience.
“Even though I’m not getting the wins, it’s going to stand by me for whenever I get myself in position again,” insisted McIlroy, who hasn’t played since The Travelers over a fortnight ago, which was the tailend of a four-week stretch of tournaments.
As it stands, McIlroy is well primed for strong challenges to both FedEx Cup and DP World Tour order of merit titles this season – he is currently sixth on the US standings and is leading the R2D rankings – but there is some pressure on Shane Lowry if he is to feature in next month’s big-money FedEx Cup playoffs.
Lowry is currently 77th on the FedEx Cup standings and must get inside the top-70 if he is to make it to the first playoff tour stop at the St Jude Classic.
As such, the Scottish Open takes on a little extra significance while also serving as getting a competitive tournament on links ahead of his own quest for another Claret Jug.
Lowry is playing in the Scottish Open for the first time in seven years and, as he told Golf Digest, a return to links conditions gives him an edge.
“I do feel like I have an advantage over most players when it comes to links golf. I’m good in the wind. I see the game very well. That’s my biggest edge. I’m not one-dimensional. Which is not to say I don’t like to play in perfect weather. I do. But I know when the weather gets bad, I have the shots to cope with the conditions.”
Genesis Scottish Open lowdown
Purse: €8.25 million (€1.45 million to the winner)
Where: North Berwick, Scotland
The course: The Renaissance Club – 7,237 yards, par 70 – was designed by noted American course architect Tom Doak and first opened for play in 2007. Located on golf rich terrain between the iconic Muirfield and the old school North Berwick, the course was created on land which featured some 300 acres of pine forest (of which only a few feature trees remain). In recent years, a land swap arrangement with the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (Muirfield) enabled an enhancement of its links effect with three new holes built along the coastline, the stretch from the ninth to the 11th. There are just two par fives (the third and 10th) on the course’s layout which also features five par threes.
The field: Given its place in the calendar a week ahead of the 151st Open and its added significance of being a links course and in a tournament co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, the Scottish Open has again gathered together an exceptionally strong field, headed by world number one Scottie Scheffler. Masters champion Jon Rahm favoured some time at home in Spain in the build-up to the Open but Rory McIlroy returns to the tournament after skipping it last year and Shane Lowry is playing for the first time since 2016 in a modification of his schedule resulting from the Irish Open’s switch to a September date. Olympic champion Xander Schauffele is the defending champion.
Quote-Unquote: “I had an off-week here last year on a golf course that I like, so that was a bit strange. But there’s always something to take away. I feel like every time I’ve missed a cut on tour, I’ve done something wrong mentally . . . I’m always trying to refine my approach and approach everything with a good attitude and be very committed to what I am doing” – world number one Scottie Scheffler on a rare missed cut when playing in the Scottish Open a year ago and how to learn from such experiences.
Irish in the field: A quintet of Irish players are in the field, among them Tom McKibbin benefiting from his improved status as winner of the European Open last month on the DP World Tour. Rory McIlroy is in a group with holder Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas (off the 10th tee at 7.59am in the first round); Séamus Power showed a welcome upturn in form with a top-15 in the John Deere last week and is in a group with Sam Burns and former champion Min Woo Lee (off the 10th at 8.21am); Pádraig Harrington is back in Europe after a busy schedule marrying Majors on both the regular and Champions Tour circuits and is grouped with Charley Hoffman and Daniel Hillier (off the first at 12.30pm); McKibbin hasn’t yet got a place in the field for Hoylake but will be further incentivised by the R & A offering three exemptions and he is in a group with Callum Tarren and Julien Brun (off the first at 12.41pm), while Shane Lowry features in a marquee group with Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler (off the first at 1.14pm).
Betting: Scottie Scheffler’s missed cut a year ago has deterred the bookmakers from installing him as the 7-1 market leader, ahead of Rory McIlroy is a rated an 8-1 shot. Defending champion Xander Schauffele is 14-1 as he seeks his first win in exactly a year since winning this event. Shane Lowry is a 28-1 shot but the value bet could be Min Woo Lee at 33-1 while rising star Ludvig Aberg is worth an each-way look at 50s.
On TV: Live coverage on Sky Sports Golf from 8am.
