Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions – 2023 Genesis Scottish Open

Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the 2023 Genesis Scottish Open  

Genesis Scottish Open Fantasy Preview

For a moment there, Sepp Straka had golf historians scrambling for their record books.

After posting 28 on the front nine on Sunday at the John Deere Classic, the Austrian would have carded a total of 57 if he could replicate that score of -7 on the back nine. Given that there’s only been one round of 58 on the PGA TOUR (Jim Furyk’s effort at the 2016 Travelers Championship), this truly was unknown territory.

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As was perhaps to be expected, Straka just lost a little rhythm coming home and would finish on 62 – a round that catapulted him up the leaderboard and which would, ultimately, see him secure a second PGA TOUR title as the chasing pack, including Brendon Todd and Alex Smalley, were unable to match the Austrian’s birdie bonanza. 

After that rollercoaster ride on Sunday, the PGA TOUR begins its annual UK tour with a two-week stopover: first at this week’s Genesis Scottish Open, before the final major of the calendar year at the British Open next week.

Last Event’s Fantasy Results

Last week’s top dog was Denny Mc – and our boy had an impressive week with a T6 finish. 

Overall, we had four Top 6 finishes on the week with our best finish being Brendon Todd (T2) on our Sleeper Report.

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2023 Genesis Scottish Open Field

A fully sanctioned PGA TOUR event with a handy $9 million purse, the main reason that the Scottish Open attracts such a strong field is that this is vital prep for the British Open next week.

So that’s why the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy will be teeing it up alongside defending champion Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Viktor Hovland, while the likes of Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler will be hoping to take advantage of their Links golf prowess.

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The home charge will be led by former British Open champion Shane Lowry, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood, while former winners at the Renaissance Club – Min-Woo Lee and Aaron Rai – also feature amongst a classy and eclectic field.

This Week’s Course Preview

Designed by Tom Doak back in 2008, Berwick’s Renaissance Club can almost be described as an American take on classic British Links golf.

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Doak’s original work was given an overhaul by Padraig Harrington – a two-time British Open champion – in 2021, and so some of the hallmarks of the traditional coastal layouts of the UK, i.e. pot bunkers, tangly fescue grass and ultra-firm greens, are here.

The greens are super-fast and undulating in nature too, and with a ferocious breeze blowing in from the ocean this is very much Links golf territory – an environment in which some thrive and others flail. 

Playing a shade under 7,300 yards, the Renaissance Club has a unique routing with three Par 5s and five Par 3s in its Par 70, so this is a decent stretch that will test the players’ ability to hit long-distance under shots under complete control – for context, Schauffele won here with a score of -7 last year, although it should be said that scoring is very much weather-related.

Just five holes – including all three Par 5s – averaged under par in 2022, with the final hole (a 483-yard Par 4) playing as comfortably the toughest on the real estate; there were just six birdies here a year ago, compared to a staggering 252 bogeys or worse!

Weather Forecast for North Berwick, UK

It’s been an unusually warm and dry summer so far in the UK, but that looks set to come to a dramatic end this week.

Temperatures will drop to 62 degrees for Thursday’s first tee and barely climb thereafter, with a similar theme of cool, rainy showers on Friday as well.

The forecast is so changeable on the Scottish coast that it could all change in the next few weeks, but the weekend predictions are looking particularly volatile. There’s thunderstorms in the mix potentially on Saturday, before Sunday brings rain showers and wind speeds possibly in excess of 20mph – this is quintessential Links golf in the most challenging conditions. 

NORTH BERWICK WEATHER

Last Year’s Results from the Genesis Scottish Open

Xander Schauffele is one of those guys that often speaks of his love for Links golf – he’s a classy operator in all departments of his game, and has that low ball-flight that is often so key on the coast.

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He backed up his words with victory here 12 months ago, outlasting the field as conditions became brutally tough at the Renaissance Club.

Schauffele did it the hard way too, bouncing back from an opening round of 72 with a 65 in round two and 66 in round three – only Cameron Tringale’s bizarrely-brilliant 61 and Gray Woodland’s 64 would beat that all week long.

Conditions on the Sunday made the final round a war of attrition, although opening with two birdies helped to settle Schauffele’s nerves. Errors would creep in – he made three bogeys in four holes before the turn, but he already had enough credit in the bank to see off the fast finishing Kurt Kitayama and Tom Kim with a one-stroke victory.

Where to Play Fantasy Golf for the Genesis Scottish Open this Week

There’s no doubt that these ‘specialist’ weeks – where certain players, and not necessarily the biggest names, thrive – offer opportunities for well-studied DFS gamers over their more casual counterparts. So this is a good chance to build our bankroll ahead of the British Open.

• PGA $1M Summer Sand Trap: At $25 a go, this contest isn’t exactly budget friendly, but with a top prize of $200k and some other mammoth payouts it holds plenty of appeal nonetheless. Perhaps fortune will favor the brave….

• PGA $40k Albatross: One of the ways to maximize our edge in weeks like this is to tackle single entry contests – at $12 for your entry, this contest is more friendly to those on a conservative budget and promises a top prize of $4,000 into the bargain. 

This Week’s Fantasy Notes

Control is the name of the game on Links golf courses, and that’s very much the case at the Renaissance Club too.

A low ball-flight off the tee is vital in such breezy conditions, although the undulating fairways run so fast that even balls that land on-line can still end up in the rough.

Avoiding these deep pot bunkers is a must, as is hitting the right portion of the large but contoured greens, which spit out errant approaches and leave tough up-and-downs or even simply very difficult two-putts for par.

Oddly, of the first nine players home in 2022 only two – Schauffele and Tom Kim – ranked inside the top for SG: Tee-to-Green, whereas four of the same number ranked inside the top-10 for SG: Putting. Doak himself has suggested that the Renaissance Club can become something of a putting contest in the wet, and the stats bear that out.

Vital too will be keeping bogeys off the card: Kim made just ten birdies all week long in 2022 and yet was still able to complete a solo third finish, while Schauffele’s tally of 17 birdies is low compared to other PGA TOUR events.

Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win the Genesis Scottish Open   

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Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2023-2023)

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