Five of the last six British Open champions competed in the Scottish Open the week before their respective triumphs, a fact clearly not lost on those still seeking their first Claret Jug. Only Zack Johnson in 2015 chose another path to the third major of the year (John Deere Classic on the US PGA Tour), with Darren Clarke (2011), Phil Mickelson (2013), Rory McIlroy (2014) and Henrik Stenson (2016) all honing their games in Scotland prior to their British Open breakthroughs, and Ernie Els winning his second Open title in 2012 after also teeing up in the Scottish Open.
That Open championship five years ago is remembered for Adam Scott’s meltdown over the final four holes. The Australian led by four after 14 holes but reeled off four closing bogeys to miss out on forcing a play-off with Els by one stroke. Scott rebounded the following year to become the first Australian to win the US Masters, but that Open setback must still hurt. This year, he will be making his first Scottish Open appearance since 2009.
Among those joining him at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Dundonald Links in July, according to The Scotsman newspaper, will be 2017 global sensation Jon Rahm. Competing in his rookie PGA Tour season, the Spaniard has already won the Farmers Insurance Open, has four other top-10 finishes this season (a feat only matched by Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas), is fourth in the FedExCup standings and has risen to 13th in the world rankings in less than a year as a pro.
After pre-qualifying for his debut in last year’s British Open (just his third start as a professional) Rahm finished a commendable 59th. At the time he was 278th in the world ranking. This year he will be one of the favourites to win the Scottish title, and also be well backed the following week at Royal Birkdale.
