The PGA Tour travels overseas to The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, this weekend. This event serves as a preview for the fourth and final major of the year, The Open Championship. Players will be using the Scottish Open to fine-tune their game on a course that plays similarly to The Open.
Co-sanctioned with the European Tour, the 44th Genesis Scottish Open will host a loaded field of the best players in the world from the DP World Tour, PGA, and LIV.
What Is the Renaissance Club?
For the eighth year in a row, The Renaissance Club is hosting the Scottish Open. The par-70, 7,282-yard course puts a modern spin on how links golf is played. The pot bunkers, long grass lining the fairways, gorse, and wide-open areas give the course its links-style personality. Due to the spacious land, lack of trees, and Firth of Forth to the north, wind could play a factor. If the weather cooperates, the wide fairways and large greens allow players to play aggressively and attack the hole locations.
The course has a unique layout, holding five par threes. Highlighted by a short 147-yard par-three 6th hole, a drivable 338-yard par-four fifth hole, and three of the four par fives reachable in two, there are plenty of opportunities for the field to fire low scores. With the last three winners of this tournament finishing at double digits under par, if the wind is not a factor this week, the course could be in for another low-number winner.
New Familiar Faces in the Field
Due to this being a co-sanctioned event, the tournament will be hosting top talents from all pro tours. LIV Tour golfers Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton will be participating in their first non-major PGA Tour event in quite some time. Both can participate because of their DP World Tour memberships. This will be Rahm’s first PGA Tour event since the 2023 Tour Championship, and Hatton’s first since the 2024 Sony Open. The golf community will have many eyes on them as they look to make statements in their return.
Former LIV golfers Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed will also be in the field. The former major champions have been slowly easing their way back into the PGA Tour landscape. Koepka has been flashy at times, but has only been able to crack the top 10 once this year at the Cognizant Classic back in February (T9).
Reed has only played in three events this year, all being major championships. He played well in two of them, while missing the cut in the U.S. Open. Reed finished T12 at the Masters and T10 at the PGA Championship. As the final major of the season draws near, these familiar faces will need to find their swing if they want to compete.
The Defending Champ, Chris Gotterup, Is Coming off a Win
Last year, before the Scottish Open, Chris Gotterup wasn’t a household name. Gotterup was playing in the Scottish Open for the second time in his career, where he had missed the cut the previous year. After he shot a bogey-free 61 in the second round last summer, he put the golf world on notice. Tying the course record with that score, he would go on to win the 2025 Genesis Scottish Open for his second win on tour.
After holding off and defeating some of the best golfers in the world, he proved to himself and showed the world that Gotterup is a name to look out for for the rest of the season and beyond.
This time around, Gotterup is fresh off a win at the John Deere Classic. Unlike the last time he took the trip to Scotland, now the world knows his name. He has won three times on tour since his breakout victory at The Renaissance last year, all in 2026. Gotterup will aim to continue his hot streak and look to defend his title. He will once again need to compete with and beat the likes of the best golfers in the world. With some momentum and confidence on his side, he’s in a great position to repeat.
The Genesis Scottish Open is the last stop until The Open Championship, and players are going to give it their all. The Tour Championship is on the horizon, and players will be making a push for their position come August. With the combination of the DP World Tour, PGA Tour, and LIV, this year’s Scottish Open is shaping up to be an unforgettable tournament. We will see where the dominoes fall and who will play well enough to lift the trophy come Sunday.
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