2026 Genesis Scottish Open Preview | The Renaissance Club Course Success, Field Analysis, Player Profiles

With just one week to go before The Open Championship, we move to The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, for the Genesis Scottish Open. With this week being a co-sanctioned event between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, the Genesis Scottish Open has become one of the strongest non-major fields in golf, giving players the opportunity to adjust to links golf before the season's final major. For a lot of top players, this will be their first hit-out since the Travelers Championship, with most skipping the John Deere Classic last week in order to favour a links golf style of preparation.

The Course

The Tom Doak-designed Renaissance Club opened in 2008 and has hosted the Scottish Open since 2019. The course plays almost like an entry-level links golf track. It isn't as rugged or unpredictable as many Open Championship venues, but it still demands a links golf skill set. Players need to be creative, have precision and patience, and most importantly be able to handle the elements, particularly when the wind arrives. This week, players will run into a par 70 playing at 7,282 yards.

While the yardage appears long on paper, firm fairways and favourable winds can make it play considerably shorter, allowing players to attack with driver on many holes. When the wind changes direction, the same holes can become extremely demanding. Unlike many traditional links layouts, The Renaissance Club features generous landing areas off the tee, meaning driving accuracy is generally less important. The premium here is placed on players who can combine distance with elite iron play.

Large, undulating greens provide plenty of birdie opportunities for those who control their approaches, but will also test players' putting with awkward-length par putts and difficult up-and-downs when players miss in the wrong spots. The layout will reward imagination around the greens, with bump-and-runs the preferred play over your typical lofted wedge shots. Weather will always be the biggest defence on a links course. Calm conditions have produced winning scores between 15 and 18-under over the last three years, but tougher conditions saw Xander Schauffele win at just 7-under in 2022, highlighting just how dramatically scoring can change depending on the forecast.

The Field

• Field: 155 Players
• Cut: Top 65 + Ties
• FedExCup: 500 Points (Winner)
• Purse: $9,000,000

Course Success

Historically, the top of the leaderboard at The Renaissance Club has been filled with players who are long off the tee, making the most of the reachable par 5s and shorter par 4s. Despite this playing like an easier-than-usual links challenge the last few years, I want some aspects of every part of a player's game factored in. Here are the most important stats for me this week:

• Strokes Gained: Approach
• Strokes Gained: Tee to Green
• Driving Distance
• Three-Putt Avoidance %
• Par 5 Scoring

Player Profiles

Alex Fitzpatrick

Odds: 60, 59/1, +5900

I'm back. Almost every week since little Fitz has been a full-time member of the PGA Tour, I have found myself loving his spot in the market and I have bet him in most events. The driver and the long approach play from Alex have been so impressive since Zurich. All he does is hit fairways and hit it close. The one thing that he has against him here is that he has MCs in his only two goes at The Renaissance Club, but that doesn't really concern me going into this week. This isn't the same player from those events. Another top 10 at a Signature Event, finished T23 at the US Open, he is going to win again this season. Growing up playing on these styles of courses doesn't hurt either.

Key Ranks - Last 20 Rounds

• SG: Approach — 10th
• SG: T2G — 11th
• Driver Accuracy % — 13th

Si Woo Kim

Odds: 90, 89/1, +8900

Stacked field and you can't be short-priced on everyone, but I don't think Si Woo should be this big here. The US Open and Travelers were ordinary, but he probably should have won the Byron Nelson and followed that up with a T10 at the Memorial. Even with a quiet couple of events, his recent ranks are still good, with some really bad rounds factored into them. He is still one of the best ball strikers in this field, has a couple of top 30s here in previous goes, which isn't horrible. The knock on him will be that his record playing in the UK and Ireland on links courses isn't amazing, but there is no way I can pass up betting him at this range.

Key Ranks - Last 20 Rounds

• SG: Approach — 20th
• Driver Accuracy % — 15th
• Three-Putt Avoidance % — 28th

Tom Kim

Odds: 85, 84/1, +8400

Pretty easy one to explain here. His June was really impressive and it does look like his game has turned the corner after a pretty long and miserable stretch. His US Open was so good, solo third, and he looked like a completely different player to the one who was kind of looking like he would end up in a fight to secure his card for next year. On top of this, his record at the Genesis Scottish Open is very strong, with a solo third, T6, T15 and T17 in four goes at The Renaissance Club. He also has a T2 at The Open from back when he was playing his best golf in 2023. Happy to take a guy playing with confidence heading into a course where he has a strong history.

Key Ranks - Last 20 Rounds

• SG: Approach — 2nd
• SG: T2G — 16th
• Overall Proximity — 8th

Angel Ayora

Odds: 160, 159/1, +15900

I wanted to find some DP World Tour spots in my card and this guy was always getting one of them. I absolutely love watching Ayora play and I really hope that he joins the PGA Tour next year so I can see much more of him. Aesthetically, one of the most beautiful swings in golf, and he is having a really good season. He has two top 5s in his last three starts and is near the top on tour for a lot of what is needed for success here this week. He is making his Scottish Open debut this week but has a T5 at St Andrews and a T5 at the Irish Open, so he can play on these courses.

Key Ranks - DP World Tour

• SG: Off The Tee — 3rd
• SG: T2G — 5th
• SG: Approach — 11th

Daniel Hillier

Odds: 310, 309/1, +30900

Another guy who ranks highly on the DP World Tour for a lot of what you need this week. He has missed his last two cuts but had a T7 and T14 prior to that, and they followed his performance at the PGA Championship, which was so impressive, where he finished T26 shooting rounds of 71, 69, 70 and 70 on a course that challenged the best players in the world. His form to start the season was ridiculous, with three top 5s, a T6 and two more top 25s in his first six events of the year. Worth a play at this price.

Key Ranks - DP World Tour

• SG: Approach — 10th
• SG: Putting — 11th
• SG: Total — 6th