– It seems that the course at the Renaissance Golf Club, host of the Scottish Open which started today, is not that challenging. It’s a modern links, but a true links nonetheless, built on dunes and sandy terrain adjacent to the legendary Muirfield, which could well be its great-grandfather. It might seem so, but it’s not true. As soon as the wind picks up, it becomes much more difficult to stay on track; and when you don’t stay on track, be careful.
– Scottie Scheffler (-3), for example, almost never strayed from the path, but as soon as he did, he got into some trouble and ended up with two bogeys… The World Number One, however, had a good start this morning. He finished three shots behind the provisional leaders once the morning session was completed, who are Nico Echavarría (-6), Jake Knapp (-6), and Sepp Straka (-6), and it could even be said that he missed some opportunities, as the Texan left behind up to three good chances from less than three metres. Nonetheless, make no mistake: except for a short par putt he missed, it cannot and should not be said that Scheffler putted poorly. It’s likely we’ll see him among the contenders on Sunday, but there’s a long way to go, and it’s better not to get ahead of ourselves.
– Alejandro del Rey (-3) could also reach that point by Sunday noon. The Madrid native started very well last year in this same tournament and on this same course, as he was within the top 5 after two rounds, and today he did his homework on the Scottish course, making good use of his opportunities and without too much trouble. However, he is the only Spanish player, among those who played in the morning session, who managed to beat the course. Eugenio Chacarra (+2), Nacho Elvira (+3), and Ángel Hidalgo (+3) fell short and will need to improve significantly tomorrow if they hope to make it to the weekend.
– For now, we have four DP World Tour players within the top ten. Besides Del Rey, they are: Marcel Siem (-5), Callum Hill (-5), and Elvis Smylie (-3). Siem and Hill, along with Knapp, would currently take the three spots available here for next week’s Open. But there’s still a long way to go, so let’s leave it at that, as the competition for those three spots is sure to be fierce. In any case, it’s an interesting target for Del Rey, now that he has confirmed this remarkable start. You have to be up there and seize the opportunity at the last moment.
– The Colombian Echavarria is already in the Open, but this week, if he finishes as well as he started, he could secure a place in the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time in his career, a goal he was well on track to achieve (he arrived at this event ranked 61st and the top seventy make it to the first playoff), but not yet mathematically secured.
