This is one of my favorite events of the year, right up there with The Masters and the U.S. Open. In America, we will be able to sip our coffees while watching players battle heavy fescue grass, gorse bushes, and (hopefully) strong winds as they navigate one of the most complete tests of golf on planet Earth. Can. Not. Wait. After last week saw Scotland’s national Open produced a homegrown champion, Royal Troon, running adjacent to the Firth of Clyde, will play host to the Open Championship. Last week at the Scottish Open, Robert Macintyre took home his home country’s national championship, holing a 20’ putt on the final hole to beat Adam Scott by a single stroke. The tournament once again produced a dramatic finish after the 2023 edition saw Rory McIlroy birdie the final hole in strong winds to best the 2024 champion by a single shot. While the Renaissance Club isn’t a true links course like Royal Troon, it still serves as a warm-up to the Open, and there is much we can learn from what we saw play out.

Open Championship DFS Preview

In this edition, we head across the pond to Scotland for this Genesis Scottish Open. It’s a DP World Tour event, but it is PGA TOUR sanctioned for the 3rd year and draws a very good field. For many, especially PGA TOUR players, it serves as a warm-up for the Open Championship, and golf in the UK is much different than in the US. You’ll see a lot of long fescue grass, balls bouncing and rolling much more than you see in the States, and typically windy conditions as most courses are on the sea coast. While the forecast at the moment doesn’t call for much wind, that can change quickly in Scotland. This will be a full field of 156 players, with the top 65 and ties making it through to play the weekend. In previous events here, the winning score has varied greatly. Last year, Rory won at -15; in the four years previous, Xander at -7, Min Woo Lee at -18, Aaron Rai at -11, and Bernd Wiesberger at -22 have taken home the title. The wind and course conditions are largely responsible for the wild variance, and with the course playing firm this year with little wind expected, I won’t be surprised if we see the winning score reach the high teens. Because of the firm conditions, the medium-length hitters are more in play than if the course were soft.

Genesis Scottish Open DFS Preview

Last week in Detroit, we watched Cam Davis win for the second time at Detroit Golf Club. His -18 winning score bested Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia, both of whom bogeyed their final hole. Also finishing T-2 were Davis Thompson and Aaron Rai, who failed to birdie the easy par five 17th hole coming home. It smelled like a playoff all the way up to the point that Bhatia missed a 4’ par putt on the 18th, falling out of a tie for the lead. It wasn’t quite the birdie fest that was expected, but it still played easier relative to par than most tournaments do. Check out “At the Turn” for a more in-depth review of the RMC and what we can learn.


John Deere Classic DFS Preview

Hey, Scottie Scheffler won last week. I’ve now typed that six (SIX!) times this season, and it isn’t yet July. A truly incredible feat; he did it this time by beating his hometown friend and birthday buddy Tom Kim on the first sudden-death playoff hole. I am out of superlatives to describe Scheffler’s greatness, so we’ll just move on to Detroit.


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Open Championship DFS Preview

Genesis Scottish Open DFS Preview

John Deere Classic DFS Preview

Rocket Mortgage Classic DFS Preview

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