Golf
Scottish Open preview: MacIntyre to go one better at his Homa tournament
As we near the end of the Major season on the PGA Tour the players head across the Atlantic for the Genesis Scottish Open.
The Reneissance Club in North Berwick plays host to the tournament, as it has done for the past five years, and will offer a great opportunity for players to prepare for next week’s Open Championship.
The course measures 7,237 yards and plays as a par 70 with five par 3s, three par 5s and the rest par 4s. As a links course, the difficulty will largely depend on weather conditions with wind likely to be a large factor.
With many of the Tour’s top players appearing here, we have selected a couple whom we think could get the perfect preparation for next week’s Open, by landing the Scottish Open this weekend.
Robert MacIntyre 33/1
Robert MacIntyre has had his best year to date on the PGA Tour, landing his first win last month at the Canadian Open. Away from that win he has been mightily impressive, finishing in the top 25 on six occasions and sneaking into the top 10 four times.
He heads to North Berwick as a 33/1-shot and judging by his performance last year those odds look good value. There’s a lot to be said for Rory McIlroy being the only man to better him here last year, when MacIntrye was all class to finish 14-under-par, just one back from the eventual winner.
As is the case with most links courses, Renaissance rewards strong play off-the-tee, approaching the green and with the putter. MacIntyre combined these three aspects nicely in his runner-up effort last year, with his putting the highlight as he was seventh in the field for strokes gained with the flatstick.
Finishing in the 8 places available with William Hill will be top of the Scotsman’s list and he has managed that feat twice in his four Open Championship appearances, something which bodes well for his chances here.
Max Homa 50/1
Max Homa hasn’t been at his vintage best this season, but the American has shown glimmers of what he can do and you can never count out a player of his ability.
Having finished a less than impressive T61 in his last outing at the Travelers Championship, he has taken three weeks off and should hopefully be back with a bang, having had time to work on some of his shortcomings this season.
He has decent form at this event with T16 and T12 finishes in his only two outings and if he continues to improve then his 50/1 odds could provide good value to finish in the 8 places available with William Hill.
His approach play from inside 100 yards is his main weapon, ranking ninth on the Tour for strokes gained in that area. Scrambling is always important on these tough links courses and Homa’s ability to get himself out of tough situations is better than most, ranking 22nd on the Tour for scrambling.
There’s no doubt Homa will need to improve significantly on his recent form, but if at his best then he’ll surely be in and around the top of the leaderboard and could well challenge for a seventh PGA Tour title.
