This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
Genesis Scottish Open
North Berwick, Scotland
The Renaissance Club - Par 70 - 7,237 yards
Field - 156 entrants
Purse - $9M
The Preview
The humid Midwestern Swing concluded with a runaway maiden victory for Davis Thompson at the John Deere Classic on Sunday afternoon, but the PGA Tour now travels across the pond to the DP World Tour's neck of the woods for the Genesis Scottish Open, which serves as a links-golf primer for the final major championship of the season. Featuring large, sloping greens and long fescue, The Renaissance Club in Scotland plays host to this event for a sixth consecutive year. The par-70 venue's wide landing areas off the tee favor the bombers, but this layout requires stout iron play and cromulent lag putting. However, North Berwick's forecast calls for a tame breeze throughout the tournament, so we could see this turn into somewhat of a birdie fest with few defenses guarding the even-par mark.
Recent Champions
2023 - Rory McIlroy (Renaissance Club)
2022 - Xander Schauffele (Renaissance Club)
2021 - Min Woo Lee (Renaissance Club)
2020 - Aaron Rai (Renaissance Club)
2019 - Bernd Wiesberger (Renaissance Club)
2018 - Brandon Stone (Gullane)
2017 - Rafa Cabrera-Bello (Dundonald)
2016 - Alex Noren (Castle Stuart)
2015 - Rickie Fowler (Gullane)
2014 - Justin Rose (Royal Aberdeen)
Key Stats to Victory
SG: Approach
Birdie or Better Percentage
Driving Distance
Three-putt Avoidance
Yahoo Value Picks
Based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Rory McIlroy - $45
Making his first appearance since being outplayed by Bryson DeChambeau down the stretch at the U.S. Open, McIlroy returns to the Genesis Scottish Open as the event's defending champion after pacing the field in driving distance en route to 22 total birdies and an eagle here last year. McIlroy has landed on the positive side of each Strokes Gained subcategory in five straight measured starts dating back to his win at the Wells Fargo Championship, and over his past 24 rounds, he's second to none in both SG: Off-the-Tee and P4: 450-500 Efficiency.
Xander Schauffele - $45
Per usual, Yahoo's pricing makes it relatively easy to stack multiple studs up top, so it's entirely plausible to target both of the tournament favorites that each carry outright odds shorter than 10/1 this week. Schauffele won here at The Renaissance Club two years ago in tough conditions, and his putter has been red hot ever since THE PLAYERS Championship in mid-March.
Glue Guys
Corey Conners - $36
Fifth in both Opportunities Gained and Birdies or Better Gained over his last 24 rounds, Conners has been stellar from tee to green since the Wells Fargo Championship, though he also enjoyed a couple spike weeks with his putter on the way to a pair of top-10s at the RBC Canadian Open and the U.S. Open. He posted a top-20 result at last year's Scottish Open when he fired two rounds of 66 or better and ranked second among the field in driving accuracy.
Aaron Rai - $34
Rai extended his top-20 streak to four consecutive outings this past week at the John Deere Classic, where he gained a career-high 8.9 strokes on the greens while averaging six birdies per round. The Englishman also happens to be a past champion here at The Renaissance Club (2020), and he's top-5 in both SG: Approach and P4: 450-500 Efficiency over his last 24 rounds.
Bargain Bin
Kevin Yu - $20
Sitting No. 1 in each of SG: APP, Prox: 175-200 and P3: 200-225 Efficiency over his past 24 rounds, Yu models extremely well this week, and it doesn't hurt his cause that he's coming off four straight made cuts from the Charles Schwab Challenge to the John Deere Classic. He's a superb ball striker, especially at the $20 minimum, and Yu even gained a collective 3.7 strokes putting across his last two events played.
Andrew Novak - $20
A scorching-hot putter guided Novak to three consecutive top-20s from the RBC Canadian Open through the John Deere Classic, but he also gained strokes with his irons at each tournament during this recent stretch, improving to 12th in Prox: 175-200 and 29th in Prox: 200-plus over his last 24 rounds. Within this sample, he's also top-10 in both Birdies or Better Gained and three-putt avoidance. This past week at TPC Deere Run, Novak ranked second in putts per GIR and feet of putts made en route to 28 total birdies, allowing him to rack up a season-high 135.3 Yahoo fantasy points.
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