With the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews on the horizon next week, many of the top names in the game are competing this week at the Genesis Scottish Open trying to capture some key momentum for the final major championship of 2022. Rory and Tiger will not be in the field as they are preparing on their own, but all the other big names will be honing their games at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland. The Renaissance Club is close to Muirfield, which is an Open rotation site and where Phil Mickelson won in 2013 to capture his fifth major championship. It’s only 20 miles from St. Andrews as well. The Old Course will put on another classic Open Championship next week. Can’t wait.

The defending champion is Min Woo Lee who defeated Matt Fitzpatrick and Thomas Detry with a birdie on the first playoff hole. Lee is a 23 year old native of Perth Australia, and his older sister, Minjee, is a two time major winner on the LPGA circuit at 26 years old. Lee has won twice on the European Tour and is in the field this week. He’s 125/1. Could be a good choice with his odds.

Weather

Thursday, 70, mainly sunny, wind W 18 MPH

Friday, 67, windy, low chance of rain, wind west 20-30 MPH.

Saturday, 68, Partly cloudy, wind W 10-20 MPH.

Sunday, 70, Partly cloudy, wind W 14 MPH.

TV

Thursday-Friday, 7:30-12:30 PM CT, Golf Channel.

Saturday-Sunday, 9-11 AM CT, GC, 11 AM-2 PM CT, CBS.

ODDS

Jon Rahm, 11/1

Justin Thomas, 12/1

Scottie Scheffler, 12/1

Xander Schauffele, 18/1

Matt Fitzpatrick, 18/1

Patrick Cantlay, 22/1

Cameron Smith, 25/1

Collin Morikawa, 25/1

Sam Burns, 28/1

Will Zalatoris, 28/1

Jordan Spieth, 30/1

Hideki Matsuyama, 30/1

Viktor Hovland, 35/1

Sungjae Im, 35/1

Joaquin Niemann, 40/1

Billy Horschel, 40/1

Ryan Fox 45/1

Max Homa, 45/1

Tommy Fleetwood 45/1

Corey Conners, 50/1

Justin Rose, 50/1

Cameron Young, 50/1

Keegan Bradley, 50/1

Tyrrell Hatton, 60/1

MIto Pereira, 65/1

Aaron Rai, 65/1

Brian Harman 65/1

Harold Varner, 65/1

Keith Mitchell, 65/1

Lucas Herbert, 65/1

As you can see, the field is stacked.

The course is a 7,293 yard, par 70. There are 3 Par 5’s, the 600 yard 3rd, the 594 yard, 10th, and the 576 yard 16th. If the wind is a factor, as it is predicted to be, these will be healthy holes. The 7th is a 505 yard par 4. The 15th is a 488 yard par 4 and the 18th is a 483 yard par 4. The 9th is a 218 yard par 3, the 12th is a 204 yard par 3 and the 17th is a 203 yard par 3. So if the wind is blowing the scores won’t equal last year’s winning total of -22. The weather changes quickly in Scotland, but if these windy conditions hold up, I’m looking at a 10-12 under par core winning.

Winner

I’m going to take the 25 year old from SF, Cali, by way of Wake Forest University. He went to a playoff with JT at the 104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills, OK in May, losing in the three hole aggregate and just missed a 14 footer that would have tied Matt Fitzpatrick on the 72nd hole at the 122nd U.S. Open at the Country Club at Brookline, MA. He’s so close to breaking through. I like him to employ his stellar ball striking skills this week and his better then advertised putting into a Scottish Open title and set himself up well for a shot at winning the Claret Jug at the 150th Open next week at St. Andrews.

Will Zalatoris

Sleeper

Not really a sleeper, but I’ll take 45/1 ,

Tommy Fleetwood

****I apologize for not getting the Auburn Football 2022 column out yet, but will have it out in the next couple of days. Have a super rest of your week.****