J.T. Poston followed up an impressive T2 finish at the Travelers Championship with a decisive three-stroke victory over the field during the 2022 John Deere Classic. Poston added his second career win on the PGA Tour with a brilliant combination of tee shots, irons, and putting throughout all four rounds in Silvis, Illinois. Other familiar names who finished inside the top ten include Scott Stallings, Denny McCarthy, Maverick McNealy, and Cam Davis.
My recommendations were split 50/50 in terms of making the cut, as Stallings (T4/-17), Sahith Theegala (T16/-12), and Dylan Frittelli (T30/-10) all managed to finish inside the top 30. Adam Hadwin led as the betting favorite entering the opening round at TPC Deere Run, but a +4 finish on Thursday became too big of a deficit to erase on Friday, resulting in a missed cut. Ryan Armour (+2) and Lucas Glover (-2) also fell short after slow starts.
The PGA Tour heads across the Atlantic Ocean and will settle in North Berwick, Scotland, as the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open site. The Renaissance Club will host for the fourth consecutive season, bringing together players from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour via Strategic Alliance announced 20 months ago. It’s a loaded field on a links course setting the stage for next week’s fourth and final major of the 2022 PGA season during The Open Championship at St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland.
Without further ado, here is my in-depth analysis of the course at the Renaissance Club, including past winners, betting metrics, and players to target during DFS lineup construction. Let’s get it!
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Previous Winners
- 2021 – Min Woo Lee (-18)
- 2020 – Aaron Rai (-11)
- 2019 – Bernd Weisberger (-22)
Relevant Betting Stats
- Driving Distance
- Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee
- Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green
- Strokes Gained: Putting
- Greens in Regulation
Course Overview
The Renaissance Club is a scenic venue built along the Scottish coastline. It embodies the British links style, but American golf architect Tom Doak designed it. Renaissance is a par 70 that stretches to 7,237 yards, including plenty of birdie and bogey opportunities with five par 3s and three par 5s. Unlike most links courses, Renaissance has pine trees that blanket sections of the course, presenting unique challenges in terms of the lie and approach shots from the fairway onto fescue greens. That’s right; the greens are a relatively foreign surface that runs slower than standard Bentgrass or Poa Annua stateside, measuring 11 to 11.5 feet using the Stimpmeter.
Gusty winds are the hallmark of a Scottish course, but the weather appears to be tepid for the 50th anniversary of the Genesis Scottish Open. This means that ball-striking won’t be quite as necessary, but the accuracy will need to be tightened up on fescue greens that have been shortened with the aid of Padraig Harrington. The rough stands at two inches, but Doak is known for his blend of short grass, undulations, and firm putting surfaces to create challenges on a course without significant tree, water, and bunker hazards.
Recommended Plays: DraftKings
DraftKings maximum salary is set at $50,000
Jon Rahm ($11,000)
Jon Rahm will be making his debut at the Genesis Scottish Open and possesses all of the requisite skills to compete for his second solo win of the season. He’s a high-floor, high-ceiling blue-chip prospect on DraftKings, the second most expensive player to insert into lineups. However, Rahm is ranked first in strokes gained off-the-tee, fifth in strokes gained tee-to-green, and sixth in total strokes gained. In addition, he’s a wizard with his driver and irons. Rahm is ranked second in greens in regulation and has consecutive finishes inside the top 12 entering Thursday’s opening round. Lock Rahm into lineups as an expensive security blanket.
Matt Fitzpatrick ($10,100)
Matt Fitzpatrick is still coming down from the high of winning his first PGA event and the third major of the season at the 122nd U.S. Open in Boston, Massachusetts. A couple of weeks off should allow Fitzpatrick to rest up and level set ahead of a return to the links courses he grew up playing. He has excellent irons, ranking inside the top 36 in all tracked metrics, including strokes gained putting. Since missing the cut at RBC Heritage roughly three months ago, Fitzpatrick has finished T2, T5, MC, T10, and first in his last five events. He’s a great value and one of the best ball-strikers at the Scottish Open this weekend.
Cam Smith ($9,100)
Cam Smith makes a rare appearance in the low $9,000 salary range on DraftKings after missing the cut at the U.S. Open during his last event. The 28-year-old Aussie has a phenomenal putter and quality irons, except for off-the-tee, which he will need to work on to climb the leaderboard at the Renaissance Club. Let’s not forget Smith has two wins on the PGA Tour circuit this season and averages 4.8 birdies per round. So take the discount during Smith’s debut and watch the birdies launch your lineups into the green.
Recommended Plays: FanDuel
FanDuel maximum salary is set at $60,000
Xander Schauffele ($11,700)
Xander Schauffele has the most momentum behind him entering Thursday’s opening round at the Renaissance Club. He earned his first outright solo win since 2019 during a dominant performance at the Travelers Championship and is rested enough to make a run at the top of the leaderboard yet again. Schauffele is T13, T18, T14, and first in his last four events and converts over 69 percent of his greens in regulation. Don’t overthink this, and add another premier ball-striker with an impressive putting game into FanDuel lineups.
Tommy Fleetwood ($10,600)
Finally, a player with past success at the Renaissance Club! This is the main driver behind recommending Tommy Fleetwood in FanDuel lineups this weekend, as he lost in a playoff in 2020 and finished T26 last season. The 31-year-old Englishman is ranked highly in several strokes gained categories, and 37th in strokes gained putting, meaning Fleetwood can hit red numbers using a multi-faceted approach. He’s +190 to yield a T20 finish at the Renaissance Club this weekend, which ranks 16th in terms of the best odds. A bit expensive in terms of salary, but Fleetwood possesses the experience and skills to become an enticing prospect.
Aaron Rai ($9,400)
A lesser-known name available at a discount on this slate is Englishman Aaron Rai. The 27-year-old won at the Genesis Scottish Open back in 2020 with an 11-under-par performance and has played better in recent events this season, finishing his last three events, T26, T13, and T40. The volatility between rounds is the hiccup in Rai’s game, but his familiarity is a plus, combined with a 24th-ranked GIR conversion rate of 68 percent. In addition, an accurate driver could leave Rai in position to avoid the rough and newly added fairway bunkers on some of the lengthier holes, which he’ll need to overcome his putting woes.
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Whether you’re new to daily fantasy golf or a seasoned professional, be sure to check out our Daily Fantasy Golf Glossary. You can get started with The Stats That Matter Most or head to a more advanced strategy — like How To Use Vegas Odds To Generate Your Lineup — to learn more.
Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.
