– The afternoon session of the first day of the Scottish Open has given us another co-leader, Victor Perez (-6), who has joined Nico Echavarría (-6), Jake Knapp (-6), and Sepp Straka (-6). The Frenchman Perez has spent his life (so to speak, of course) trying to get into the European Ryder Cup team. He has always been seen as a potential candidate, but once again, in this 2025, he is far from the top in the rankings. A victory this week in Scotland wouldn’t even put him among the top six, but it would certainly give him a penultimate and interesting boost. In any case, the position he currently holds would grant him a spot for next week’s Open at Royal Portrush, which would not be a minor prize.
– With three holes to go to finish his round, Rory McIlroy (-2) was somewhat adrift, with a score of one over par, but he finished with three consecutive birdies to completely transform the day and possibly his tournament. It wasn’t just that he was one over par in fifteen holes; his game hadn’t allowed for much more. He was struggling to leave it close and was getting into more trouble than necessary… Until those last holes: on the 16th, a par 5, he putted for eagle; on the 17th, a par 3, he sank a putt of over seven metres; and on the 18th, another six-metre putt. Just before this magnificent final series, the Northern Irishman saved a bogey on the 15th, sinking a putt from off the green, about eight metres from the hole… It smelled like a double bogey, but it ended up being the gateway to the great final reaction. Very typical of Roryland.
– Jorge Campillo (-2) finished with the same result, carding a 68 on this par 70 at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, but the Extremaduran’s finish was almost the opposite, as he three-putted on holes 6 and 7, finishing on the 9th and marring a very eventful round, with a spectacular eagle on the 16th as the main highlight. Jorge hit an atomic 2-iron for his second shot, like a local: intending to pitch the ball about thirty metres before the green, so it would roll towards the flag, which is exactly what the ball did. Then, a five-metre putt went in, and on to the next. The fact is that the Spaniard is well in the mix, just four shots off the leaders.
– The defending champion, Robert MacIntyre (-2), also started moderately well. He played this morning alongside Scottie Scheffler (-3), and the Texan later admitted that he greatly enjoyed watching the Scot play on a links course and felt he learned a lot playing alongside MacIntyre on this type of course.
– There is a European player, the Englishman Harry Hall (-3), who is off everyone’s radar when it comes to Ryder Cup qualification. However, Luke Donald wanted to see him up close, and there’s a reason for that. The captain played today alongside Hall and the Dane Rasmus Neergaard Petersen (PAR), and it turns out the Englishman did quite well (round of 67). We’ll see how far he goes.
– Xander Schauffele (-2) won this tournament and on this course three years ago (2022) with a lacklustre first round over par that left him eleven shots, no less, off the lead. That was a comeback over 54 holes that certainly doesn’t happen often. In 2023 and 2024, he also played here, yet he was never in the winning equation on Sunday, despite starting much better on Thursday… golf is crazy, we know, but it’s logical to think that his 68 today confirms him as a contender. Before the year ends, the Californian will ring the bell, we’ll see how, where, and when…
– Viktor Hovland (-4) and Ludvig Aberg (-3) have also made a strong start. They will indeed be in Luke Donald’s team by hook or by crook, because right now they are not among the top six, although they would get in with a win in Scotland. Let’s keep an eye on them. Also, Marco Penge (-5), who continues to do very well this year, and was one of the best in the afternoon session, only behind Victor Perez.
– If anything has become very clear on this first day of the Scottish Open, it’s that the Renaissance Golf course deals justice, as Hovland himself points out: “It’s one of those courses where you can score well if you’re playing very well. But as soon as you go a bit off and miss in a bad spot, it’s very easy to make a bogey.” In a tournament where many of the world’s best are present, and on a day when the wind has blown but never excessively, 67 players have beaten the course, and nearly a hundred have not. The Renaissance is no joke.
