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In what can only be described as a star-studded, £5,443,200 warm-up act, the 2017 Scottish Open promises both an exciting four days of golf and an insight into who we should be watching out for at next week's Open Championship. Whilst it may be easy for us to overlook the importance of the Scottish Open in favour of 2017's third major, the golfers certainly will not. With nearly £900,000, a coveted trophy and qualification for the main event on the line, this truly is all to play for.
There's one name that really jumps off the page when you talk about potential winners in Scotland; Rickie Fowler. Go on, write off Rickie Fowler. I dare you. There are plenty of reasons for his status as the tournament favourite. More obvious factors include scintillating form of late and the fact that he won this tournament in 2015. However, his case is boosted further when you take into consideration his desire to claim a long-overdue major title next week. Unlike most Americans, Fowler enjoys links golf- giving the Californian a huge advantage over other Statesdide stars like Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka at Royal Birkdale. It doesn't necessarily have to be a win in the Scottish Open (although that would be nice, I'm sure), and Fowler will be well aware of that. Play well, find your rhythm and be ready to win a major. That's got to be the plan from the World No. 10.
As golf returns to its fatherland, let's take a look at the local Scots in with a shout. The highest-ranked Scotsman in the current world rankings is Russell Knox, who sits at 48th on the leaderboard. However, Knox has seriously struggled to put together any real form, having not even challenged for a top 20 finish since his T11 at the Sony Open in Hawaii back in January. On the other hand, fellow Scot Richie Ramsay jumped 171 places in the world rankings to number 170 with a T2 at the Irish Open last week. At the risk of sounding like a dreamer, could the home crowd spur on a fairytale? Surely it can't be ruled out.
As earlier mentioned, we'll be watching a star-studded field at the Dundonald Links course, and you sure as hell can't have a star-studded field without a certain Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman's dismal start to life with TaylorMade clubs was epitomised as he failed to make the cut on home turf at last week's Irish Open. Whilst things have been pretty bleak since his the mega-money TaylorMade switch, it's not unlike McIlroy to take some time to adjust. However, it would be like McIlroy to rediscover his mojo and hit dizzying form just in time for one of the biggest events on the golf calendar. Could the Irish Open failure be the kick up the backside that he needs to get back to winning ways?
Speaking of winning ways, let's take a minute to talk about the current champion: Alex Noren. The Swede has gradually crept up the ranks with a combination of quality and consistency, climbing from 97th to 9th in the world rankings throughout 2016. Despite showing glimpses of the quality he displayed in 2016, Noren's 2017 has lacked the same X factor as his breakthrough year. He has failed to make the cut in either major this year, although he did manage a 10th place finish at THE PLAYERS Championship before a superb performance at the BMW PGA Championship which yielded his first win of the year. Unfortunately I don't see him defending his title this year as he'll be unwilling to take many risks, wanting to put in a solid performance and set up to at least make the CUT at a major for the first time this year.
I'm going to be boring and go with the obvious favourite: Rickie Fowler. His style of play suits the course and he'll want to set up for a huge victory next week. However, don't rule out a resurgent Rory or a riled up Ramsay.
Written by Joe Carabini
