With the 2021 Open Championship on the horizon, plenty of golf's biggest stars are across the pond playing in the Scottish Open to get acclimated to links-style golf.
Jon Rahm is the betting favorite at +650, but he's got plenty of company near the top of the board with Xander Schauffele (+1000), Collin Morikawa (+1100), Rory McIlroy (+1400) and Justin Thomas (+1600) all making the trip to the Renaissance Club this week.
Here are our favorite outright bets for the 2021 Scottish Open:
Jason Sobel
Branden Grace (+4000)
The truth is, I could’ve — and maybe should’ve — spent these 2,350 words on the Scottish Open instead of the John Deere Classic, considering this week’s Euro Tour event in advance of The Open Championship features the likes of Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Tyrrell Hatton.
Expect this to be a popular event for both the betting and DFS markets this week. Even though players such as Aaron Rai and Brandon Stone have won here in recent years, I wouldn’t look too far down the board for a potential champion.
The only player to ever post a 62 in a major championship round, Grace did so on a links course, which should translate to this week’s host venue North Berwick. (A course which, oh by the way, should be an outstanding watch on TV.) I don’t mind Ian Poulter or Matt Wallace here, either, but Grace is my favorite play in an obviously packed field.
Josh Perry
Thomas Pieters (+6600)
We’ll close out this portion of the card with Thomas Pieters at +6600 on DraftKings. Pieters led the field off the tee last week at the Irish Open and has the game trending in the right direction after missing two cuts in his only two events over a two-month stretch.
He was also 20th here two years ago when he opened with 64 before slowing down a bit with three rounds of 68 in fairly easy scoring conditions.
Matt Vincenzi
Martin Kaymer (+6000)
Martin Kaymer is finding some form at just the right time. The German unexpectedly flashed back on the scene in the U.S. Open with a 26th-place finish. More importantly, he did so with his signature iron play that he once rode all the way to a World No. 1 ranking for eight weeks back in 2011. He gained 4.9 strokes on approach at Torrey Pines and followed that up nicely with a runner up finish at the BMW International.
Although his performance last week in the Irish Open was a bit disappointing (41st), I expect The Renaissance Club to be a much better fit for his skill set. Kaymer needs a top-3 finish to earn a spot in next weeks Open Championship, so you can be sure that the former major champion will be as motivated as ever.
