LIV UK final leaderboard

-13 J Rahm (Spa); -12 J Niemann (Chi), C Smith (Aus), T Hatton (Eng); -10 P Casey (Eng)

John Rahm ended his wait for a first win since last year’s Masters with victory on the final hole of the LIV Golf UK event at JCB Golf and Country Club in Staffordshire.

The Spaniard was tied on 13 under par with his Legion XIII team-mate Tyrrell Hatton at the 18th but the Englishman’s three-putt bogey handed Rahm the title after he made par.

Overnight leader Andy Ogletree had looked in pole position with birdies on the opening two holes but consecutive double bogeys on the back nine ended his challenge.

Hatton’s disappointing finish saw him tied for second with Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann, who both birdied their final holes to end a shot behind Rahm on 12 under par.

Rahm has finished in the top 10 of each LIV competition he has entered since its formation but had to withdraw from the Houston event last month with a toe injury, which also cost him a place at the US Open.

The 29-year-old said victory would fulfil his son’s request of returning home with a trophy.

“First of all I’ve got to give a lot of credit to Tyrrell too, he’s a fantastic player and you never want to see it end like that,” Rahm said.

“I almost wish we had to get it done in a play-off.

“It’s just emotional, you know. It hasn’t been the easiest year for our family. Kelly [his wife] and I have gone through quite a bit and she has gone through even more, being on bed rest and many other things.

“She did tell me our son Kepa said to bring a trophy home on this stretch of golf and I started to believe it was going to happen at one point today – maybe not in the last 20 minutes but at least I can bring one home for them.

“To get over the hump feels quite incredible and it’s just relief that it happened.”

Billy Horschel pulls out of PGA Tour’s 3M Open ahead of first round due to illness, days after finishing in a share of second place at Open Championship; Jacob Bridgeman shoots eight-under 63 to lead by one shot

Jacob Bridgeman opened up a one-shot lead in the first round of the 3M Open after shooting an eight-under 63 as Open Championship runner-up Billy Horschel withdrew due to illness.

Bridgeman, who has missed his last three cuts on the PGA Tour, carded nine birdies and a solitary bogey in Minnesota, chipping in from the bunker for a gain at his 17th hole.

The 24-year-old, whose best finish this season is tied 14th at the RBC Canadian Open in June, is a stroke clear of Mackenzie Hughes with Patrick Rodgers, Andrew Novak and Martin Trainer a shot further back on six under at TPC Twin Cities.

World No 11 Sahith Theegala, the highest-ranked player in the event, is in the group on five under after a blemish-free round.

Horschel, ranked 33rd in the world after his strong showing at Royal Troon last week, pulled out ahead of the first round, saying. “I wasn’t feeling great late last night and took some medicine.”Had decent sleep but woke up and just have a fever, body is just not wanting to respond, every muscle feels like it’s locked up. Tried to do a little warm-up in the gym, just didn’t respond.

“Tried to go out to the golf course and hit some balls, body’s just not wanting to cooperate. (It’s) disappointing. I was looking forward to playing here at 3M.

SportsLine’s proven model simulated the 3M Open 2024 10,000 times and revealed its surprising PGA Tour golf picks

After hosting a PGA Tour Champions event for 26 years, the greater Twin Cities area got its chance to hold an annual PGA Tour event when the 3M Open was created in 2019. Now the tour will head to TPC Twin Cities to get back on the FedEx Cup grind after a daunting week at Royal Troon, with the 2024 3M Open beginning on Thursday. Tony Finau has three top-10 finishes under his belt at TPC Twin Cities, including a victory in the 2022 3M Open, and he’ll be in the 2024 3M Open field after missing out on making the United States Olympic team.

Finau is currently ranked No. 18 in the Official World Golf Ranking and he’s the 10-1 favorite in the 2024 3M Open odds. He’s followed by Sam Burns (18-1), Sahith Theegala (22-1) and Akshay Bhatia (28-1), while defending champion Lee Hodges is an 80-1 longshot despite winning this event by seven strokes last season. Before locking in your 2024 3M Open picks, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

SportsLine’s proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed in June 2020. In fact, the model is up nearly $9,000 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.

This same model has also nailed a whopping 13 majors entering the weekend, including the 2024 Masters — its third Masters in a row — and this year’s PGA Championship and U.S. Open. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.

Now with the 2024 3M Open field locked in, SportsLine simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.

Top 2024 3M Open predictions

One major surprise the model is calling for at the 2024 3M Open: Burns, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour and one of the top favorites, stumbles this week and doesn’t even crack the top five. Burns has been playing well in recent weeks, finishing T-15 or better in three of his last five starts on the PGA Tour.

However, he has struggled with consistency this season, especially with his iron play. Burns enters this week’s event ranked 101st in strokes gained: approach to green (0.016) and 131st in greens in regulation percentage (64.13%). TPC Twin Cities places a premium on precision, which doesn’t bode well for Burns’ chances to finish on top of the leaderboard. See who else to fade here.

Another surprise: Tom Hoge, a 33-1 longshot, makes a strong run at the title. He has a much better chance to win it all than his odds imply, so he’s a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. The 35-year-old is ranked 54th in the world entering the week and he’s coming off a T-72nd finish at the 2024 Open Championship. However, he’s only a month removed from a T-3rd finish at the Travelers Championship and he’s had some success at TPC Twin Cities.

Hoge finished T-4th at the 2022 3M Open and he’s made the cut four of the five times that he’s played this tournament with three top-25 finishes to his name. He’s ranked 20th in the FedEx Cup standings, and with several top players choosing to take a week off after the Open Championship and to prepare for Olympic golf, this is a golden opportunity for Hoge to have a big week and move up. He ranks second on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: approach (.911) this season and he’ll be relying on that ball striking heavily this week. See who else to back here.

2024 3M Open odds, top contenders

Tony Finau +1000
Sam Burns +1800
Sahith Theegala +2200
Akshay Bhatia +2500
Luke Clanton +2800
Keith Mitchell +3000
Keegan Bradley +3000
Tom Hoge +3300
Billy Horschel +3500
Taylor Pendrith +3500
J.T. Poston +3500
Erik van Rooyen +4000
Maverick McNealy +4000
Cam Davis +4500
Nick Dunlap +4500
Patrick Rodgers +4500
Michael Thorbjornsen +5000
Adam Hadwin +5000
Emiliano Grillo +5500
Kurt Kitayama +5500
Sam Stevens +5500
Justin Rose +5500
Ben Griffin +5500
Mac Meissner +6000
Chan Kim +6000
Jhonattan Vegas +6000
Harry Hall +6000
Rico Hoey +6500
Mackenzie Hughes +6500
Ben James +6500
Matt Wallace +7000
Max Greyserman +7500
Adam Svensson +8000
Neal Shipley +8000
Jake Knapp +8000
Lee Hodges +8000
Patrick Fishburn +8000
Doug Ghim +8000
Andrew Novak +8000
Beau Hossler +8000
Seamus Power +8000
Thriston Lawrence +8000
Austin Eckroat +9000
Ben Silverman +9000
Ryo Hisatsune +9000
Pierceson Coody +10000
Michael Kim +10000
Taylor Moore +10000
Lucas Glover +10000
Kevin Yu +10000
Hayden Springer +11000
J.J. Spaun +11000
Sam Ryder +12000
Dylan Wu +12000
Chesson Hadley +12000
Andrew Putnam +12000
Santiago de la Fuente +12000
Matti Schmid +12000
S.H. Kim +12000
Carson Young +15000
Hayden Buckley +15000
Alex Smalley +15000
Daniel Berger +15000
Gary Woodland +15000
Chandler Phillips +15000
Nate Lashley +15000

Xander Schauffele delivered an outstanding performance to claim the 152nd British Open at Royal Troon, marking his second major victory of the season. Schauffele surged into the lead with a remarkable stretch of four birdies in six holes, eventually securing the title by two strokes.

The final round saw Schauffele overtaking the relatively unknown South African golfer, Thriston Lawrence, on the back nine. Despite opportunities for several players to challenge for the lead during the wide-open final round, Schauffele’s consistent play and precise iron shots proved decisive. He impressively hit 16 out of 18 greens in regulation, a key factor in his victory.

England’s Justin Rose made an early move in the final round, shooting a solid 4-under 67 to finish in a tie for second place. He was joined by Billy Horschel, who birdied his last three holes to also finish at 7-under. Thriston Lawrence ended in fourth place, three shots behind the leader.

Schauffele’s triumph at the British Open adds to his victory earlier this season at the PGA Championship. With Scottie Scheffler’s win at the Masters and Bryson DeChambeau’s victory at the U.S. Open, American golfers have swept all four major championships this year, a feat last achieved in 1982.

During the closing ceremonies at Royal Troon, Schauffele accepted the Claret Jug, expressing his gratitude to his family, team, course officials, the greens crew, and the R&A. “It’s been quite a journey,” Schauffele remarked. “I feel very honored hearing your name called with ‘Open Champion’ right after. It’s something I’ve dreamt of for a very long time.”

He also extended his thanks to the Scottish fans for their unwavering support. “You guys have been amazing. You guys have made it feel like a second home for me and I can’t wait to come back.”

Schauffele is set to defend his title at the 153rd Open next year at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. His victory at the British Open makes him only the fourth player this century to win both the PGA and the British Open in the same season, joining the ranks of Tiger Woods (2000 and 2006), Padraig Harrington (2008), and Rory McIlroy (2014).

With his remarkable achievements this season, Schauffele has firmly established himself as one of the top golfers in the world, continuing to build on his already impressive career.

Shane Lowry is hoping to lean on his experience of winning the Claret Jug in 2019 as he holds a two-shot overnight lead heading into Saturday´s third round of the British Open.

The Irishman claimed his sole major victory at Portrush five years ago and should relish more wet and windy weather to come on the west coast of Scotland.

Lowry overcame a dramatic double bogey on the 11th on Friday to move to seven under par, two clear of Englishmen Justin Rose and Daniel Brown.

A former US Open and Olympic champion, Rose had to go through qualifying to secure his place in Troon but produced a stellar round of 68 in the worst of Friday´s blustery weather conditions.

Brown, by contrast, is taking part in his first ever major and the world number 272 showed remarkable poise to handle the spotlight in his second round after a six-under round on Thursday took him to the top of the leaderboard.

“I don´t know what I´m going to reach in and grab in the memory bank but it will be very beneficial that I´ve done this before,” said Lowry.

The biggest threat to Lowry´s dream of winning the event for a second time could well come from world number one Scottie Scheffler, who sits five shots back in a share of fourth.

Scheffler has already won six times this year, including his second Masters in April.

But he is yet to transfer that form across the Atlantic with his best British Open showing so far a tie for eighth in 2021.

“I´m not sure Scottie Scheffler is too worried about anyone with the form he´s in,” added Lowry.

“He´s obviously on the leaderboard, and he´s one person that people are going to be talking about.”

World number three Xander Schauffele is also among the chasing pack at one under par.

But the wild Ayrshire winds blew a host of star names off course in the opening two days, causing them to miss the cut.

Rory McIlroy was among seven of the world´s top 12 who failed to make the weekend.

Instead, the world number two is resigned to a supporting role for the final two rounds as he cheers on close friend and Ryder Cup team-mate Lowry.

“He relishes these conditions,” said McIlroy. “The Open Championship is his favourite tournament in the world. He gets more up for this than anything else.

“I´m looking forward to cheering him on and hopefully him getting his second (Claret) Jug.”

US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and world number four Ludvig Aberg were among the others to miss out to leave the leaderboard wide open for the final two rounds.

Patrick Cantlay is among the small pool of 10 players to so far break par, at one under.

Joaquin Niemann, who has been in fine form on the breakaway LIV circuit, is at level par despite dropping five shots at the par-three eighth on Friday.

The Chilean found three different bunkers around the famous Postage Stamp green to ruin his chances of starting Saturday in the final group.

Two other experienced major winners now on the LIV Tour, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm, are a further shot back at one over.

Round one leaderboard

-6 Brown (Eng); -5 Lowry (Ire); -3 Thomas (US)

Selected: -2 Rose (Eng), Schauffele (US), Dean (Eng), Noren (Swe), Hojgaard (Den), Hughes (Can), Henley (US); -1 Wallace (Eng), Fitzpatrick (Eng), Scheffler (US); +1 MacIntyre (Sco); +2 Rahm (Spa); +5 Fleetwood (Eng), +7 McIlroy (NI); +8 Woods (US)

Unheralded Englishman Dan Brown holed a birdie putt in fading light at the last to sensationally take the lead after round one of The Open at Royal Troon.

The world number 272, playing in his first Open after only qualifying two weeks ago, nonchalantly knocked in an eight-footer at 21:35 BST to complete a stunning bogey-free six-under 65.

The 29-year-old, from North Yorkshire, is one ahead of 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry, who also posted a bogey-free round in wet and windy conditions on the Ayrshire coast.

American Justin Thomas, with seven birdies in his round of 68, is two behind Irishman Lowry.

Justin Rose, who came through qualifying, closed with 11 straight pars and is in a group of seven on two under.

The 43-year-old, who says he will “keep believing” he can win an Open, is joined on that mark by, among others, fellow Englishman Joe Dean, European Ryder Cup players Alex Noren and Nicolai Hojgaard and American Xander Schauffele.

Matt Wallace briefly led on four under after a birdie on the short eighth, but a wayward drive on the ninth led to a triple-bogey seven and he is in a group on one under with English compatriot Matt Fitzpatrick, world number one Scottie Scheffler and Australia’s Adam Scott.

Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, winner of last week’s Scottish Open, opened with a one-over 72, one ahead of Spain’s Jon Rahm and four better than England’s Tommy Fleetwood.

But it was a dispiriting opening for Rory McIlroy, who slumped to a seven-over 78 and is 13 shots off the lead. The world number two said it “was one of those days where I just didn’t adapt well enough to the conditions” and that his approach on Friday would be “to focus on trying to make the cut”.

That will also be the target for three-time champion Tiger Woods, who conceded he needed to “do a lot more work in the gym to progress and play more” after bogeying the last in posting a 79.

Golf may be one of the hardest sports to predict. Scottie Scheffler is in the middle of one of the most dominant stretches fans have ever seen. Still, despite his incredible play, he’s only won one of the three golf majors this year. While calling Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau underdogs when they won the PGA Championship and U.S. Open respectively would be doing them an disservice, their victories were still far from certain. Very few bettors likely bet on either to win their tournaments.

When it comes to betting on golf, the most fun comes from either betting on the favorite, or betting on a huge sleeper with virtually zero shot at the title. Sure, that latter group might not win, but if they did, that’s generational wealth headed your way. Why bet on someone with +1200 odds who probably won’t win when you can bet on someone with +25000 odds who probably won’t win, right?

That’s not to say that betting on long shots always fails. It doesn’t. There have been numerous underdog stories to emerge from major tournaments over the years. So why can’t the 2024 British Open add another name to that illustrious list? Here are some of the internet’s favorite sleeper picks for the 2024 Open Championship. All odds via BetMGM.

2024 Open Championship:

Louis Oosthuizen (+10000)

Oosthuizen will be making his first major start of the season after turning down an invitation into the PGA Championship and choosing not to qualify for the U.S. Open. The South African has been stellar on LIV Golf with a handful of top fives and enters this week very much as a forgotten man. The 2010 champion has connected on four top 30s in his last five Opens including a podium finish in 2021.

Sepp Straka (+10000)

Sepp Straka has been phenomenal for much of the 2024 PGA Tour season. Prior to a missed cut last week at the Genesis Scottish Open, Straka had made the cut in nine of his last 10 events, with three top-five finishes in that span. The Ox is no master on links courses by any means, but he tied for second last year at The Open Championship in just his second appearance at this major championship. Straka’s biggest strengths are Driving Accuracy and Approach play, and those advantages should be magnified this week. He ranks second on the PGA Tour in Driving Accuracy this season while hitting just over 72% of fairways and is 32nd in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green. At 125-1, Straka bettors received a boost following his missed cut last week as he previously 90-1 to win The Open Championship. This is great value for a great golfer in a bounce-back spot.

Sahith Theegala (+5000)

Strange that a guy who’s been right in the mix at a few majors over the past 12 months would be so far down the betting cards. Sure, his game gets a little topsy-turvy, which generally doesn’t jive with the Open, but he played one of the best rounds of his yearon Friday at Hoylake last year, and he played really well at the Scottish.

Viktor Hovland (+2500)

He hasn’t exactly played his best golf of late, but I’m still going to go with Viktor Hovland. When his ball striking is on, he’s one of the best golfers in the world and he has already shown he can compete at Open Championships, finishing T13 in better each of his three appearances including a T4 finish in 2022. The form isn’t there, but if he can figure something out this week.

2024 British Open odds:
Scottie Scheffler (+500)
Rory McIlroy (+750)
Ludvig Aberg (+1200)
Bryson DeChambeau (+1400)
Xander Schauffele (+1400)
Collin Morikawa (+1800)
Tommy Fleetwood (+2200)
Jon Rahm (+2500)
Tyrell Hatton (+2500)
Viktor Hovland (+2500)
Robert Macintyre (+2800)
Brooks Koepka (+3300)
Shane Lowry (+3300)
Cameron Smith (+4000)
Patrick Cantlay (+4000)
Tom Kim (+4000)
Tony Finau (+4000)
Hideki Matsuyama (+4500)
Cameron Young (+5000)
Justin Thomas (+5000)
Matt Fitzpatrick (+5000)
Sahith Theegala (+5000)
Min Woo Lee (+5500)
Brian Harman (+6600)
Joaquin Niemann (+6600)
Jordan Spieth (+6600)
Sungjae Im (+6600)
Adam Scott (+8000)
Corey Conners (+8000)
Max Homa (+8000)
Wyndham Clark (+8000)
Akshay Bhatia (+9000)
Davis Thompson (+10000)
Jason Day (+10000)
Justin Rose (+10000)
Louis Oosthuizen (+10000)
Nicolai Hojgaard (+10000)
Ryan Fox (+10000)
Sam Burns (+10000)
Sepp Straka (+10000)
Will Zalatoris (+10000)
Byeong Hun An (+12500)
Dean Burmester (+12500)
Dustin Johnson (+12500)
Matthieu Pavon (+12500)
Russell Henley (+12500)
Si Woo Kim (+12500)
Abraham Ancer (+15000)
Rasmus Hojgaard (+15000)
Rickie Fowler (+15000)
Tiger Woods (+15000)
Tom McKibbin (+15000)
Billy Horschel (+17500)
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+17500)
Keegan Bradley (+17500)
Ewen Ferguson (+20000)
Henrik Stenson (+20000)
J.T. Poston (+20000)
Kurt Kitayama (+20000)
Matteo Manassero (+20000)
Tom Hoge (+20000)
Victor Perez (+20000)
Eric Cole (+22500)
Adrian Meronk (+25000)
Denny McCarthy (+25000)
Harris English (+25000)
Jordan Smith (+25000)
Keita Nakajima (+25000)
Matt Wallace (+25000)
Matthew Jordan (+25000)
Maverick McNealy (+25000)
Padraig Harrington (+25000)
Sebastian Soderberg (+25000)
Adam Hadwin (+30000)
Austin Eckroat (+30000)
Chris Kirk (+30000)
Emiliano Grillo (+30000)
Laurie Canter (+30000)
Lucas Glover (+30000)
Matthew Southgate (+30000)
Phil Mickelson (+30000)
Romain Langasque (+30000)
Sam Horsfield (+30000)
Stephan Jaeger (+30000)
Taylor Moore (+30000)
Thorbjorn Olesen (+30000)
Alexander Björk (+35000)
Ben Griffin (+35000)
Gary Woodland (+35000)
Guido Migliozzi (+35000)
Nick Taylor (+35000)
Ryo Hisatsune (+35000)
Brendon Todd (+40000)
C.T. Pan (+40000)
David Puig (+40000)
Dominic Clemons (+40000)
Gordon Sargent (+40000)
John Catlin (+40000)
Joost Luiten (+40000)
Mackenzie Hughes (+40000)
Marcel Siem (+40000)
Rikuya Hoshino (+40000)
Sami Valimaki (+40000)
Sean Crocker (+40000)
Shubhankar Sharma (+40000)
Thriston Lawrence (+40000)
Yannik Paul (+40000)
Adam Schenk (+50000)
Calum Scott (+50000)
Dan Bradbury (+50000)
Daniel Brown (+50000)
Francesco Molinari (+50000)
Joe Dean (+50000)
Jorge Campillo (+50000)
Nacho Elvira (+50000)
Stewart Cink (+50000)
Younghan Song (+50000)
Zach Johnson (+50000)
Daniel Hillier (+60000)
Andy Ogletree (+75000)
Angel Hidalgo (+75000)
Darren Fichardt (+75000)
Elvis Smylie (+75000)
Jacob Skov Olesen (+75000)
Jesper Svensson (+75000)
Jeung-Hun Wang (+75000)
Kazuma Kobori (+75000)
Liam Nolan (+75000)
Masahiro Kawamura (+75000)
Mason Anderson (+75000)
Matthew Dodd-Berry (+75000)
Minkyu Kim (+75000)
Ryan Van Velzen (+75000)
Sam Hutsby (+75000)
Santiago De La Fuente (+75000)
Tommy Morrison (+75000)
Vincent Norrman (+75000)
Yuko Katsuragawa (+75000)
Aguri Iwasaki (+100000)
Alex Cejka (+100000)
Altin Van Der Merwe (+100000)
Charlie Lindh (+100000)
Darren Clark (+100000)
Denwit Boriboonsub (+100000)
Ernie Els (+100000)
Gun-Taek Koh (+100000)
Jack McDonald (+100000)
Jaime Montojo (+100000)
Justin Leonard (+100000)
Luis Masaveu (+100000)
Michael Hendry (+100000)
Ryosuke Kinoshita (+100000)
Jasper Stubbs (+200000)
John Daly (+200000)
Todd Hamilton (+200000)

Scottish Open final leaderboard

-18 R MacIntyre (Sco); -17 A Scott (Aus); -15 R Langasque (Fra); -14 L Aberg (Swe); R McIlroy (NI), C Morikawa (US), A Rai (Eng), S Im (Kor), S Theegala (US); -13 C Conners (Can), V Perez (Fra), A Noren (Swe), W Clark (US), R Mansell (Eng)

Emotional Robert MacIntyre vowed to “celebrate hard” after winning the “one I wanted” with a stunning Scottish Open triumph on home soil amid rapturous scenes.

The Scot, pipped to the title by Rory McIlroy’s brilliant birdie-birdie finish a year ago, was not to be denied this time as he staged a late surge to glory at the Renaissance Club.

MacIntyre – helped by a huge slice of luck on the 16th – gained four strokes in his closing five holes to post a three-under 67 that was capped by a title-winning birdie putt from 22 feet on the last.

That lifted the left-hander to 18 under, edging out Adam Scott by a shot after the Australian had set the target with a 67.

Frenchman Romain Langasque finished third on 15 under, with McIlroy and Ludvig Aberg a further shot back. Swede Aberg, who had led from the halfway stage, struggled to a closing three-over 73.

MacIntyre is now a two-time PGA Tour winner in the space of six weeks, having triumphed at the Canadian Open with dad Dougie on the bag.

That landmark win was special for the 27-year-old but it paled in comparison to the elation of victory in front of a large and passionate home crowd, who belted out ‘Flower of Scotland’ after the winning putt dropped as MacIntyre let out a victory roar and revelled in the celebrations.

“I had a tear in my eye before I hit the putt,” he said. “I was getting emotional before I read the putt. I still I had a job to do.

“This was the one I wanted, and it was the one I got. I can’t believe it’s happened.”

He has another huge home engagement next – The Open at Royal Troon starting on Thursday – but MacIntyre was in no mood to temper the celebrations.

“How do I come down from this? I don’t think I will,” he added. “I think I’m just going to try to ride the wave.

“The Open means a lot to me but you’ve got to celebrate the good times because it doesn’t happen a lot.”

Rory McIlroy put his US Open heartbreak behind him when he made an impressive start to the defence of his Scottish Open title on Thursday.

The Northern Irishman carded a five-under-par 65 to sit just a shot off the first round clubhouse lead shared by Germany’s Max Kieffer and Li Haotong of China. “I’m not going to let three or four holes cloud my judgement in terms of how good I’m playing,” 35-year-old McIlroy said.

McIlroy is competing for the first time since agonisingly missing out on a fifth major title at the US Open. He held a two-shot lead with five holes to play at Pinehurst but bogeyed three of the last four before finishing a shot behind Bryson DeChambeau.

The devastating loss left McIlroy still looking to add to his last major which he won in 2014. However, the 35-year-old insisted his game is in good shape ahead of the British Open at Royal Troon next week.

“I played well at the Canadian Open and at Memorial and the US PGA and Quail Hollow. My game has been in good shape and it was in good shape coming in here,” said McIlroy. “It’s just a matter of going out there and focusing on the task at hand and not letting your mind wander too much. I felt like I did a good job of that today.”

World number two McIlroy chipped in for an eagle on the third hole, his 12th of the day, and also recorded five birdies, but missed good chances on three of his last five holes. “I hit a couple of shots over the first few holes that I haven’t seen in practice over the last 10 days so it was a bit of a reminder that golf isn’t as easy as sometimes I think it is,” McIlroy said.

Before the world of golf heads to Royal Troon for the 152nd Open, a loaded field of PGA Tour stars has made its way to The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, for the 2024 Genesis Scottish Open. Defending champion and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy is back for the first time since his devastating loss to Bryson DeChambeau at the U.S. Open.

The Northern Irishman, who is also the betting favorite at +800 (8/1), is joined in the field by 2022 champion Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Tom Kim, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Max Homa, just to name a few.

This week’s winner will walk away with $1.62 million of the $9 million purse and 500 FedEx Cup points.

With Scottie Scheffler missing from the field, it feels like we can finally open up the board a little bit. Let’s jump into our preview.

Golf course
The Renaissance Club | Par 70 | 7,237 yards | Tom Doak design

Course history
Course history at “The Renaissance Club” since 2019 for the @ScottishOpen.

Betting odds

Player Odds Player Odds
Rory McIlroy +800
Xander Schauffele +900
Ludvig Aberg +1600
Collin Morikawa +1600
Tommy Fleetwood +2000
Viktor Hovland +2200
Tom Kim +2500
Min Woo Lee +2800
Matt Fitzpatrick +3500
Hideki Matsuyama +3500
Wyndham Clark +4000
Robert MacIntyre +4000
Justin Thomas +4000
Sungjae Im +4500

Picks to win
Tommy Fleetwood (20/1)
Fleetwood hasn’t been able to get over the hump of winning on U.S. soil yet, so it seems fitting his first PGA Tour win would come across the pond.

In two previous appearances at the Scottish Open, the Englishman has finished T-4 (2022) and T-6 (2023).

Over his last six Tour starts, Fleetwood has finished T-26 or better and is in the middle of a three-event stretch of finishing inside the top 20 (15th at the Travelers Championship in his last start).

Tom Kim (25/1)

Young Tom Kim, fresh off a playoff loss to Scottie Scheffler at the Travelers Championship, couldn’t make enough birdies during the first two rounds of the Rocket Mortgage Classic and missed the cut. However, I like his chances at The Renaissance Club.

Firm and fast conditions play right into Kim’s game and he’s shown he can perform well at this Tom Doak design.

In 2022, Kim finished third. A year later, he tied for sixth.

Min Woo Lee (28/1)

Min Woo Lee won at The Renaissance Club in 2021, the final year the event was a DP World Tour event and not a co-sanctioned event between the two tours. Since then, he’s missed the cut (2022) and tied for 35th (2023).

Over his last six Tour starts, Lee has six top-30 finishes and is coming off a T-2 performance at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

His ability to flight the golf ball is exactly what you look for in links golf.

Brian Harman (55/1)

Harman shot a 62 in the final round of the Travelers Championship in his last start to finish off his T-9 performance. A week earlier, he tied for 21st at the U.S. Open.

Firm conditions at The Renaissance Club will help his lack of distance off the tee and after missing the cut in this event in 2022, Harman tied for 12th last season.