Scottish Open Predictions: Top Bets, Longshots and First-Round Picks

Chris Gotterup is the hot name as the Genesis Scottish Open begins Thursday at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick. Not only is Gotterup the defending champion but he just prevailed at the John Deere Classic to notch his third victory of the year.

Gotterup shot a blistering 62 on the final round last Sunday to win by one stroke over Max Homa. He will be pressed by the usual one-two duo of Scottie Scheffler and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy as he tries to add on to his impressive 2026 resume.

This is the home tournament for Robert MacIntyre, the 2024 winner and 2023 runner-up, and he figures to make another strong push. Englishman Aaron Rai won this event in 2020 and he’s soaring with confidence after his dynamic PGA Championship victory in May.

Not this week for Scottie or Rory

Scheffler (+490 to win) has gone 13 events and 5 ½ months without a victory and he will be waiting a bit longer despite recently losing in a playoff to Viktor Hovland at The Travelers. He finished in a tie for eighth at last year’s Scottish Open and another top-10 finish is likely.

McIlroy (+960) won this event in 2023 and tied for second last season so you can expect him to be in the hunt late in the final round. He repeated at the Masters but has just two other top-10 finishes this year.

Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick (+2100) had two top-four finishes in June and also tied for fourth in this event last year when he had a second-round 63. He might have a better chance of winning this week as Scheffler and McIlroy do.

Matt Fitzpatrick to win the tournament, +2100 (DraftKings)

MacIntyre will make strong push

Hovland (+640 top five) figures to make a run after the recent victory and a third-place finish at the Canadian Open in the middle of June. But the Norwegian also missed the cut at the U.S. Open in between the two events. He tied for 11th at last year’s Scottish Open.

If you can believe this, Gotterup (+495) missed the cut with a 66-77 in his first Scottish Open in 2024. He will be in the hunt but a repeat title or a top-five finish might not be in the cards this time.

MacIntyre tied for 65th last year while defending the crown and something says he will be loaded with motivation to turn that one around. He tied for 10th at the Travelers with a round that included two 65s.

Robert MacIntyre to finish in the top five, +630 (DraftKings)

Rai a solid bet to be in contention

There are plenty of candidates to eye for a top-10 finish, including Scheffler (-178 top-10), McIlroy (+106), Spain’s Jon Rahm (+128), England’s Tommy Fleetwood (+175), Xander Schauffele (+180 top-10) and Gotterup (+270). Rahm missed the cut at last month’s U.S. Open and Schauffele has just one top-10 in his last six events but had three straight before that, including finishing third at the Players.

Fleetwood finished second in the 2020 Scottish Open but he tied for 34th in each of the past years. Australian Adam Scott (+465), who finished second in 2024, is a veteran to keep an eye on but it’s also hard not to be skittish due to his missed cuts at both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open.

In addition to his 2020 win, Rai (+455) tied for fourth in 2024 before falling into a tie for 47th last year in Scotland. The week before his big PGA win, he was fifth at Myrtle Beach and later tied for 11th at the U.S. Open so a top-10 this week sounds doable.

Aaron Rai to finish in the top 10, +455 (DraftKings)

Not going to be you Wyndham

Wyndham Clark claimed his second career U.S. Open victory followed by a tie for fifth at Travelers. But he’s won only three other tournaments in his career, including the Byron Nelson in May.

Clark tied for 11th in Scotland in 2025 and tied for 10th in 2024 so no need to view him as a threat to win. He’ll make the cut and probably finish in the top-30 but don’t be surprised if he’s five, six or seven shots behind the leader after the first round.

Clark to shoot over 68.5 in first round + -124 (DraftKings)