The 2026 Genesis Scottish Open returns to The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, this week, serving as the ultimate links golf tune-up. Co-sanctioned by the PGA TOUR, and DP World Tour, this elite event brings together a powerhouse international field right before the year’s final major championship.
Tom Doak’s modern coastal design relies heavily on unpredictable winds, deep pot bunkers and massive, undulating greens to protect par. Reigning champion Chris Gotterup looks to defend his title after holding off a heavyweight leaderboard to win at 15-under here last year.
To get reps for next week’s 154th Open Championship, LIV Tour players Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton join the three major champions this season, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 2 Rory McIlroy, in a stacked field.
PGA STAR SAHITH THEEGALA’S FIANCÉE FEUDS WITH SPORTSCENTER HOST OVER ‘UNCOMFORTABLE’ INTERACTION
For the record, I’m risking 2.17 units (u) on outrights and 2u on top-5 and top-10 bets for the Scottish Open. Here are my horses for the course at The Renaissance Club and my “one-and-done” pick for this week.
The following odds are based on my previous bets on the golfers listed below. Subject to change.
🇸🇪 Ludvig Åberg +2464 at Polymarket (0.81u) and Top-10 with ties +228 at Kalshi (0.75u)
🏴 Tyrrell Hatton +3633 at Polymarket (0.55u) and Top-10 with ties +312 at Kalshi (0.5u)
🇩🇰 Nicolai Højgaard +5163 at Polymarket (0.39u) and Top-5 with ties +770 at DraftKings (0.25u)
🇺🇸 Jake Knapp +9245 (0.22u) and Top-10 with ties +624 (0.25u), both at Kalshi
🇪🇸 Eugenio Chacarra +10000 at DraftKings (0.2u) and Top-10 with ties +656 at Kalshi (0.25u)
The golf betting world clowns on Ludvig because of all his Sunday collapses this year. Yet, if you don’t harp on that, he is having an objectively good season, has great course history, and is due for a win. Åberg has six T8-or-better finishes this year, including T5 at THE PLAYERS Championship and T4 at the PGA Championship.
He tied for eighth at last year’s Scottish Open and tied for fourth two years ago, gaining strokes across the board (driving, approach, around-the-green, and putting) in both.
The Renaissance Club is a “bomber’s paradise,” and Ludvig is a top-five driver of the golf ball in the world. Plus, he ranks second on the PGA TOUR this season in approach shots from 200+ yards.
Lastly, his odds at Bookmaker are +1755, which is significant because that’s a sharp sportsbook for golf betting. So, since Åberg’s odds at Bookmaker are lower than the legalized U.S. sportsbooks’, he must be taking sharp action.
One of the best links golfers in the world, Hatton has 14 professional wins, including one on the PGA TOUR, two on the LIV Tour and eight on the DP World Tour, and has won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland three times.
He is playing well entering the Scottish Open, winning his last start on the LIV Tour in Andalucia, Spain, and cashing a top-20 bet for me by finishing T7 at the 2026 U.S. Open last month.
Hatton did miss the cut at the 2026 PGA Championship, but he finished T3 at The Masters, T16 at the 153rd Open Championship and T4 at last year’s U.S. Open in his four previous majors.
Tyrrell has gained strokes tee-to-green (driving, approach and around-the-green) in seven consecutive majors and finished T6 in his last Scottish Open in 2023 while gaining strokes across the board.
The Dane gave me a “weekend sweat” at last year’s Scottish Open by finishing T4. Højgaard tied for sixth in the 2023 Scottish Open and has gained strokes on the field with his irons in three straight visits to The Renaissance Club, per DataGolf.com.
After a strong start to his season, Nicolai fell off with three straight missed cuts at the Memorial, RBC Canadian Open and U.S. Open before tying for 14th in his last start at the Travelers.
Højgaard’s best finishes this year were T2 in the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow and second at the Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park.
Those are good comp courses to The Renaissance Club: Quail Hollow is another driver-heavy course and Doak, who designed this place, also renovated Memorial Park.
That said, the top of last year’s Scottish Open leaderboard was bombers, and Nicolai pummels the ball off-the-tee, ranking fourth on the PGA TOUR this year in driving distance. Like Åberg, Højgaard’s Bookmaker odds (+3511) are much shorter than his odds at the U.S. sportsbooks.
Before his last three starts — T74 (RBC Heritage), missed cut (U.S. Open) and T55 (Travelers Championship) — Knapp was having one of the best seasons on the PGA TOUR. He had seven T11-or-better finishes in his first eight events of the year, featuring a sixth at The Genesis Invitational and an 11th at The Masters.
Knapp finished T22 in his first Scottish Open last year despite gaining the fifth-fewest strokes on approach that week, thanks to picking up nearly 11 strokes putting and 3.35 strokes with his driver.
With that in mind, Knapp is a good fit for this course. Putting and driving are the two most important skills for The Renaissance Club, and he ranks second in putting on the PGA this season and seventh in Club Head Speed.
Maybe his season has been ruined by injury, or maybe Knapp will bounce back and finish the year strong. At these odds, with how well his game fits The Renaissance Club, I’m willing to find it.
He was Ludvig’s rival in college and the second-ranked amateur in the world, but their careers went in separate directions when Åberg joined the PGA TOUR out of college and Chacarra took the money and signed with the LIV Tour.
Chacarra won once on the LIV Tour in three years, then joined the DP World Tour full-time in 2025, where he has won three times, including twice in his last three starts entering the Scottish Open. The Spaniard is another dominant driver and ranks 10th on the DP World Tour this season in driving distance.
Most casual golf fans don’t know much about Chacarra because he plays in Europe, but he’s got the talent to win any tournament in the world and has the chance to prove that in this co-sanctioned event between the two biggest tours in golf.
Mayo Cup season standings: 4,444th with $4,919,969
It would make sense to pick either the winner of last week’s John Deere Classic, Chris Gotterup, or Wyndham Clark, who is on a heater with two recent wins, including his second U.S. Open.
Plus, Gotterup and Clark have shorter betting odds than Hatton; hence the market gives them more win equity. But I’m not betting those guys, and I don’t want to use some for one-and-done if I don’t have an outright bet on them.
I already used Åberg for the RBC Heritage, where he tied for fourth and added $823,333 to my Mayo Cup earnings. Finally, I’m saving Jon Rahm, the third-betting favorite, for The 154th Open Championship next week.
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