NORTH BERWICK – Fourteen of the top 15 players in the Official World Golf Ranking will tee-it-up this week at the Scottish Open, the first time the pre-Open Championship tune-up is an official co-sanctioned event by the PGA Tour. Only Rory McIlroy is sitting the tournament out.
“If you throw out the Majors, I would have to think that this is going to be one of the two, three, four best fields that we play the entire year,” said Justin Thomas.
The last three Scottish Open tournaments have been decided by playoffs, including last year’s, when Min Woo Lee beat Matt Fitzpatrick and Thomas Detry on the first playoff hole. Fitzpatrick is comfortable at this course and on the DP World Tour in general, where his first seven professional victories came before the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline last month.
In the sleeper category for this week, Frenchman is 3-for-3 (making cut) with a T-14 (2020) at The Renaissance Club. He’s not far removed from a spirited run that got him into the U.S. Open which included a win at the Dutch Open just six weeks ago.