Upcoming Match-ups

2021 European Tour Scottish Open Odds and Picks

Michael Harrison

by Michael Harrison in Golf

Updated Jul 5, 2021 · 6:24 AM PDT

Jon Rahm
Jon Rahm, of Spain, lines up a putt during the third round of the U.S. Open Golf Championship, Saturday, June 19, 2021, at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
  • The European Tour’s Aberdeen Investments Scottish Open tees off Thursday, July 8th
  • Jon Rahm is the heavy +650 favorite over Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa
  • We’ve narrowed down the golfers with the best chance of emerging victorious and provided the best value bets below

Just one week before the final major of 2021 will be contested at the Open Championship, the world’s best descend to North Berwick, Scotland for the European Tour’s Scottish Open. Most of the top players have made the trip overseas to compete before the Open will be played at Royal St. George’s, with four of the top-five golfers teeing it up.

Newly minted world number one Jon Rahm, fresh off his first major triumph at the US Open, will compete for the first time since winning at Torrey Pines, and he’ll be joined by a stacked field. This tournament is being contested at the Renaissance Club for the third consecutive year.

While many of the best players in the world have opted not to play on the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic, this event features plenty of star power and American golfers who normally don’t compete on the European Tour. Englishmen Aaron Rai returns as defending champion, as he completed his second career European Tour title last year in a playoff over Tommy Fleetwood.

2021 Aberdeen Investments Scottish Open Odds

Golfers Odds at DraftKings
Jon Rahm +650
Xander Schauffele +1000
Collin Morikawa +1100
Rory McIlroy +1400
Justin Thomas +1600
Tyrrell Hatton +1800
Tommy Fleetwood +2000
Matt Fitzpatrick +2000
Scottie Scheffler +3300
Branden Grace +3300
Ian Poulter +3300
Bernd Wiesberger +3300
Will Zalatoris +4000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +4000
Sam Burns +4500
Matt Wallace +4500
Robert Macintyre +4500
Corey Conners +5000
Garrick Higgo +5000
Lucas Herbert +5000

Odds as of July 5th

Justin Thomas Provides Value

With so many top players competing, it stands to reason that a giant in the game would emerge with the trophy this week. Much like how he entered the Players Championship this year with the fifth shortest odds, Justin Thomas finds himself in the exact same situation for the Scottish Open. In his last event at the US Open, JT found himself in the mix on Sunday, before an errant tee shot on hole 10 led to double bogey to sink his chances.

He’s been in relatively good form with nine cuts made in ten starts and in his last 24 rounds, he’s been sharp, ranking fourth in strokes gained tee-to-green. He also had a strong event here in 2019, where he had a T-9 result.

Given that the top players on the board have such short odds, which makes them unappealing to wager on, getting Thomas at more than double the odds of favorite Jon Rahm has to be appealing, since he was in the hunt at his most recent tournament.

Last Five Scottish Open Winners

Year Winner
2020 Aaron Rai
2019 Bernd Wiesberger
2018 Brandon Stone
2017 Rafa Cabrera Bello
2016 Alex Noren

2021 Aberdeen Scottish Open Best Value Picks

  1. Garrick Higgo (+5000): He’s cooled off a little bit since his first PGA Tour victory at the Palmetto Championship, but phenom Garrick Higgo has made a name for himself, picking up three wins in a five start stretch. He’s first in strokes gained putting on the campaign and was a respectable T-26 last year at this championship.
  2. Guido Migliozzi (+6000): Guido Migliozzi’s last four worldwide starts have been phenomenal, with two runner-up finishes on the European Tour, a T-4 at the US Open and a T-13 at the Travelers Championship. The Italian is sixth in scoring average for the season, and was T-28 at this track in 2019.
  3. Richard Bland (+12500): 48-year-old Richard Bland continues to chug along in phenomenal form following his first European Tour title at the British Masters. Since then, he was T-3rd, co-led the US Open after 36 holes and last week was T-4 at the Irish Open. First in three putt avoidance and eleventh in scrambling this year. Will be in tough to win against an elite field, but top 5/10/20 wagers hitting aren’t out of the equation.
Author Image