The Genesis Scottish Open Power Rankings: The 10 Best Golfers at The Renaissance Club
By Todd Moser
Last week: Our four-week winning streak came to an end as our contenders could not match Davis Thompson’s 28-under finishing score.
This week, the PGA Tour and DP World Tour merge across the pond for the annual Scottish Open. Except for Scottie Scheffler, most of the top players are playing as they prepare for next week’s (British) Open Championship.
With the strength of this week’s field, one would think one of the favorites will come through, and we have plenty of them in our countdown although only one is from the USA.
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
The Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club Power Rankings
10. Ludvig Aberg (Sweden) +1400
Aberg’s always a threat anytime he plays; however, there are three things I’m not fond of. One, he has not played in three weeks so rust will be a bit of a factor. Two, he has only played this course once and missed the cut last year. 3) He is over bet at +1400. But with all his talents, it’s hard to keep him off the rankings.
9. Viktor Hovland (Norway) +2200
Hovland and Aberg are often compared to each other, and for ranking purposes they are again very much alike. Hovland has not played since his T-20 finish at The Travelers three weeks ago, and he missed the cut here in 2022. In his only other start, he finished T-25 last year. Both Hovland and Aberg are looking to find their missing A-games. Perhaps a course closer to home will get it done.
8. Matt Fitzpatrick (England) +3300
Fitzpatrick, too, has not played in three weeks since his T-36 finish at The Travelers. His last good finish was back in May at The Memorial where he finished T-5. But he has a good track record at The Renaissance which includes a T-6 in 2022 and a T-2 playoff loss in 2021. Like most on this list, he should have the crowd support this week.
7. Aaron Rai (England) +4000
This guy has had a lot of close calls lately. He’s finished T-7 or better four times including the last two week with a T-7 and a T-2. In both of those, he had a relatively poor final round to thwart attempt at victory. Not many recall he won this event in 2020. I see him on the leaderboard heading into Sunday.
6. Tom Kim (S Korea) +2500
Kim has a lot of momentum coming into the week. In five of his last seven starts, he’s finished T-26 or better including a playoff loss to Scottie Scheffler at The Travelers. He has played The Renaissance Club course well. He finished T-6 last year and solo third in 2022.
5. Min Woo Lee (Australia) +2800
Like Tom Kim, Lee comes into this event in excellent form. He has not finished outside the Top 26 in his last six events going all the way back to May. In his last start, he nearly won the Rocket Mortgage before finishing T-2. In addition, he won the Scottish Open in 2021 with an 18-under score.
4. Tommy Fleetwood (England) +1800
Ah Tommy Boy. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Here’s hoping this will finally be the week. His form is good. He’s finished T-26 or better in eight of his last nine starts. He finished T-15 in his last start at the Travelers, and he’s had success here. He finished T-6 last year, T-4 in 2022, and solo second in 2020.
3. Xander Schauffele (USA) +800
Our one and only USA pick this week, X won here in 2022 and finished T-10 in 2021. His form has been great all year. He has 12 Top 25 finishes in a row, eight of those Top 10s, and of course his PGA win.
2. Rory McIlroy (N Ireland) +750
What can we say here? Rory is an obvious pick. He’s the defending champ, number two in the world, and like Schauffele, seemingly always contending. In 12 of his last 13 starts, he has finished T-24 or better. His last six starts read like this. Win, Win, T-12, T-4, T-15, and solo second. But he has not played since the U.S. Open after that heartbreaking finish. I fear he might be rusty.
1. Robert MacIntyre (Scotland) +3300
Well you know me, I can’t pick the obvious to win so I’m going with the hometown favorite Bobby Mac. He has played well here including last year’s solo second and two other Top 20s. He got his breakthrough PGA Tour win at The Canadian Open and most recently finished T-16 at the Travelers. Oddly, he has missed the cut in every other week the last 13 events except once. Since he missed the cut last week that bodes well for our predicted winner.
Longshot Plays at The Genesis Scottish Open
Thomas Detry (Belgium) +6000
Believe it or not, Detry is NOT in next week’s (British) Open as he failed to qualify last week, and he ranks just outside the Top 50 in World Rankings. As a result, he must win this week to get in. I like that incentive. He’s had good finishes here including a T-10 in 2022 and a T-2 in 2021. He finished T-4 at the PGA and T-14 at the US Open, so he has the game.
Matthew Pavon (France) +6600
Pavon just missed my Top 10 rankings. He has a solo fifth and a T-16 in his last two events. He hasn’t had a whole lot of success at The Renaissance in his five starts but did finish T-12 in 2021.
Nicolai Hojgaard (Denmark) +6600
I think both the Hojgaard brothers could contend this week. I hope I picked the right one. Nicolai finished T-6 here last year. His PGA Tour play has been spotty though. In his last seven starts, his best finish is T-35 with three missed cuts; however, he did finish T-16 at The Masters.
Ryan Fox (New Zealand) +8000
The Kiwi finished T-12 here last year and does have some DP Tour wins under his belt. His best finish recently on the PGA Tour was a T-7 at The Canadian Open.
DP World Tour longshot picks to consider and their current Tour standings
The below players might be worth a pancake bet or two:
Rikuya Hoshino (3) Japan +20000
Jesper Svensson (5) Sweden +25000
Guido Migliozzi (7) Italy +15000
Tom McKibbin (8) Northern Ireland +7500
Laurie Canter (10) England +15000
Nacho Elvira (11) Spain +50000
Ewen Ferguson (16) Scotland +10000
Adrian Otaegui (17) Spain +25000
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.