The PGA Tour and DP World Tour unite this week for the Genesis Scottish Open.
The co-sanctioned event that precludes next week’s Open sees the best players from the two tours come together to get some much needed links experience.
Of course, the Renaissance Club isn’t the truest links course, but it will give players an idea of the conditions to expect at Royal Birkdale next week.
The North Berwick venue typically suits longer players without being too penal for those missing fairways, and the lengthy holes will task players’ long iron skills. Last year saw bombers Chris Gotterup, Rory McIlroy and Marco Penge occupy the top three spots, while Nicolai Hojgaard, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark, Viktor Hovland and Taylor Penrith all finished T13 or better.
The enormous green complexes will run slower than usual owing to the seaside setting, but despite their size, they're still only found around 12 times per round, and of last year's top 10, seven players ranked 14th or better for scrambling.
LIV Golf’s Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton are in the field this week, but do either make our Power Rankings? Find out below.
5 - Wyndham Clark
Wyndham Clark’s T5 at the Travelers Championship was almost as impressive as his win at the US Open. To win a second major in the circumstances he did and the find himself on the fringes of contention at TPC River Highlands was seriously impressive.
The downside is that Clark’s ball-striking was well off and only a stellar short game and putting display put him in contention.
Still, Clark has had a week off to reset and returns to a venue where he’s finished T16, T25, T10 and T11.
Lots of players who played well at the Renaissance last year followed up with good weeks at Royal Portrush. Clark put some really poor form to one side to follow up his T11 at the Scottish open with a T4 at The Open 12 months ago.
He might be running on fumes, but Clark will fancy his chances this week.
4 - Tyrrell Hatton
It’s impossible to rule out Tyrrell Hatton on a links course. Arguably the best links specialist in the world, perhaps the most surprising thing about Hatton is that he’s never won at the Renaissance Club.
Since moving to LIV, this is his first outing in North Berwick, where he’s finished T14, T18, T24 and T6.
Hatton also has three top-20s in his last four Open outings and is a three-time winner of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He’s also got an excellent record at Bay Hill (where he's a former winner), Muirfield Village and has a strong finish at Quail Hollow – all courses that require excellent long-iron play.
Though he missed the cut at the PGA Championship, he was T7 at the US Open and T3 at the Masters, with a win at Valderrama on the LIV tour sandwiched in between.
Hatton is playing excellent golf and looks as likely as anyone this week.
3 - Matt Fitzpatrick
It’s safe to say now that Matt Fitzpatrick is one of the world’s best golfers, genuinely rivalling the likes of Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm and should be treated as such.
The only thing that holds Fitzpatrick back is his mediocre distance off the tee, which does him no favours this week, but he should find plenty of fairways and his long-iron play is genuinely elite, recording five top-10s at Bay Hill, three top-10s at Muirfield Village and finished T8 at Quail Hollow for last year’s PGA Championship.
Alongside his three wins this season, Fitzpatrick has beaten Scottie Scheffler in a play-off to win a second title by the coast at Harbour Town, and being by the seaside doesn’t bother Fitzpatrick one jot, winning the Alfred Dunhill Links in 2023.
Fitzpatrick has a T2, T6 and a T4 at the Renaissance Club, and win number four of 2026 could be right around the corner.
2 - Rory McIlroy
We’re seeing less and less of Rory McIlroy these days, but he’ll be pegging it up at the Scottish Open as he bids for a second Claret Jug next week at Royal Birkdale.
McIlroy has developed into a really good links player over the years, and while Pebble Beach might not be like the British links, he does have a recent win there.
McIlroy also has an excellent recent record at the Renaissance; as per Golf Betting System, he ranks first for strokes gained at the event of everyone to have played there more than once. He broke Robert MacIntyre's heart to win in 2023, finished T4 the year after and was T2 last year, just unable to chase down Chris Gotterup on the back nine.
The Renaissance Club is a course for long drivers and good long-iron players: check and check.
McIlroy suits this course down to the ground, and as long as his lack of tournament reps aren’t holding him back, he has every chance of a second title.
1 - Scottie Scheffler
It’s genuinely perplexing how Scottie Scheffler hasn’t won since taking the American Express back in January.
In his last eight outings, Scheffler has a ridiculous four solo-seconds, two of which were play-off losses. Scheffler was a very short price to win the Travelers last time out, looking home and hosed on the back nine, and yet missed a short birdie putt on the Monday play-off to lose to Viktor Hovland.
Is this a sign of weakness? Is Scheffler losing that killer instinct? The opposite argument would suggest that he’s getting so close so often that the win is right around the corner, and maybe the Renaissance Club is the place for it.
Scheffler returns to North Berwick where he boasts a strong record of T12, MC, T3, T8, and he’s won at Bay Hill, Muirfield Village and Quail Hollow, though there’s no part of his game that’s in question and the world number one can win literally anywhere.
Scheffler will use this week as a tune-up with his eyes on next week, but drought needs to come to an end soon, and it may well be in North Berwick.
