Scottish Open Betting Preview

Half of the world’s top ten players will travel across the pond to take part in this week’s Scottish Open. The best golfers are largely making the jump to Europe this week in order to prepare for next week’s British Open. That event will be held in southeastern England at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Kent, and this week’s Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland is more likely to prepare players for the difficulties of that course.

Jon Rahm is a considerable favorite heading into this week’s event. Rahm is currently the top-ranked golfer in the world, and he is riding high after winning the 2021 US Open. He was also going to win the Memorial last month and had a six-stroke lead going into Sunday before being forced to bow out due to a positive COVID test.

Other Contenders

Collin Morikawa appears ready to be one of the next great golfers. Morikawa is just 24 years old, yet he already has four PGA Tour victories including the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park. He won the WGC Workday Championship in late February, and he has been extremely competitive in each of his last four events. Morikawa posted a T8 at the PGA Championship, a T14 at the Charles Schwab Challenge, a runner-up finish at the Memorial, and a T4 finish at the US Open three weeks ago.

One of the other frontrunners according to the oddsmakers is Xander Schauffele. He hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2019, but he continually contends week in and week out. Schauffele has finished T18 in 14 of his 17 events this season, and he finished T3 at the Masters and T7 at the US Open. The California native has a very good short game and uses that to his advantage.

Which Rory Mcllroy will we see this week? He has been boom or bust over his last several events. McIlroy missed the cut at both THE PLAYERS Championship and the Masters, and he finished T49 at the PGA Championship, However, he also won the Wells Fargo Championship in May, finished T6 at the WGC Workday Championship and T7 at the US Open three weeks ago. That makes it difficult to rely on a solid performance this week.

Longshots to Watch

Although he has only won one event since 2012, Ian Poulter is a threat to win the 2021 Scottish Open. Poulter has just two top ten finishes this season, but he is very familiar with this course and has had success here. He finished T14 at this event in 2019 and T6 in 2020, and he is an intriguing pick at 50-1.

The other longshot to keep an eye on is Lucas Herbert. Herbert has yet to win a PGA Tour event, but he won the 2020 Omega Dubai Desert Classic and last week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. He earned two T20 finishes at PGA Tour events in June, so the 25-year-old Australian could end up in contention.

2021 Scottish Open Odds and Picks

If you are looking for the most likely picks to win, Schauffele and Morikawa are both decent options at 12-1. The best bang for the buck lies in Poulter though.