With time running out before the final major championship of the season, the PGA Tour heads to The Renaissance Club for the 2024 Scottish Open.
The Genesis Scottish Open will serve as a nice appetizer to The Open Championship next week. Roughly 75 PGA Tour members and a similar number of golfers from the DP World Tour will tee it up at The Renaissance Club this weekend in North Berwick, Scotland.
Rory McIlroy is the defending champion, and he will tee it up for the first time since his meltdown on the greens at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. It will be fascinating to see how he responds. No player has ever defended his crown at the Scottish Open and won twice in a row.
It is a pretty wide open field even though many of the best in the world are playing. Scottie Scheffler has taken the week off to prepare for The Open, which is always welcomed by the longshots. With no LIV Golf players participating, the door is open for a surprising winner this week.
With a links layout and the typically unpredictable Scottish weather incoming, it will not be a surprise to see some chaos ensue. The weather report looks dreary, with lots of rain and no sun in the forecast. The conditions will test every player in the field this week, and their full arsenal of skills will be needed to contend late into the weekend.
This week I'm targeting longshot golfers who can excel off the tee, are strong putters, boast an elite approach game and have a quality history at The Renaissance Club.
Let's take a look at my 2024 Scottish Open Sleeper Picks & Longshots below who have a chance to cash at 70-1 odds or longer.
2024 Scottish Open Sleeper Picks & Longshots
Thomas Detry 70-1 (bet365)
Our sleeper picks this week begin with Thomas Detry, who has quietly been in phenomenal form all season long.
The Belgian has now made 10 cuts in his last 11 PGA Tour events, which includes three top-10 finishes, highlighted by a tie for fourth at the PGA Championship.
The biggest strength in Detry’s game is by far his putting. In nearly every putting statistic, Detry grades out as one of the best of the best. Overall, Detry ranks sixth in Strokes Gained: Putting, and he should have a huge advantage on these undulating greens.
Detry is also a long hitter off the tee who is above average in Total Driving and Driving Distance at 301.2 yards on average. It's no coincidence that several of Detry's best finishes this season have come on some of the longer and more difficult tracks on the PGA Tour, such as Torrey Pines, (T20 at the Farmers Insurance Open), Memorial Park (T2 at the Houston Open) and Pinehurst No. 2 (T14 at the U.S. Open).
Maybe most importantly for his chances this week at the Scottish Open, Detry has a great history at The Renaissance Club. Out of all golfers in the entire field this week, he ranks second overall in Total Strokes Gained at this golf course in his career.
Don’t be surprised to see Detry make a serious run at a win this weekend.
Nicolai Højgaard 90-1 (FanDuel)
Rising star Nicolai Højgaard is my second sleeper pick, and he is in the field along with his twin brother Rasmus this week.
Højgaard will be a name you hear a lot from over the next few years, as he is just 23 years old and still very much coming into his own on the PGA Tour. He and Ludvig Åberg were the two youngest golfers on the victorious European Ryder Cup team last year.
His skill set is very balanced, and although he is having an underwhelming season, he still ranks above average in nearly all of the key statistics to win this weekend, including 16th in Driving Distance, 40th in Total Driving and 61st in Strokes Gained: Approach.
Højgaard has demonstrated an ability to contend, as evidenced by his second-place finish earlier this season at the Farmers Insurance Open.
In his last appearance at the Scottish Open, he tied for sixth last year when he led the field in Approach play. If his putter can break out of its poor form this season on these slower greens in Scotland, he will have a good chance this weekend to follow up that performance with an even better result.
Jordan Smith 140-1 (bet365)
Jordan Smith is the final longshot bet of the week, and he has been one of the best players on the DP World Tour this year at 19th on the points list.
Smith has the stuff to hang with the best of the best on the PGA Tour, as seen in his tie for 39th at the PGA Championship this year.
He’s in great form right now as well, coming off a runner-up finish at the BMW International Open last week. He has made the cut in eight of his last nine events and is rolling overall in the last few months.
Moreover, he has a very high-quality history at The Renaissance Club. Out of all players in the field this week, Smith ranks 12th overall in Total Strokes Gained at this course. The Englishman has gained strokes both on Approach and Off the Tee at The Renaissance Club in all five of his Scottish Open starts here.
No matter how wild the weather gets this week, Smith has seen it before and will be familiar with the elements. Given his recent form, this is worth a ticket at 140-1 odds.
