AH, the linksland. The original form of golf and still the best: the salty air, the fast-running turf, the fine sand in the bunkers, and the contours from tee-to-green that have been created by the ocean rather than by man-made machinery.
It might be the first way the game was played, and still the finest, but elite golfers continue to see very little of it, and the month of July is down to a mere fortnight of seaside action. It might even be said that the first week, at the Renaissance Club, is not quite the purest form of linksland golf because it is a modern (and at least somewhat man-made) version of it.
The Scot Richie Ramsay won’t mind, however. Deep into last Sunday, he wasn’t sure where he would be playing this week. He dearly hoped for a spot in his home Open, but he needed an awful lot to go his way, and the alternative was a crack at the ISCO Championship in Kentucky.
There are times when Tour golf resembles the board game Snakes and Ladders and here was a prime example. After carding a final round 69 for T19 in the BMW International Open in Munich (a superb watching course and event by the way, excellent for anyone who wants to attend an event and see lots of action), Ramsay found himself hoping that either Dan Brown or Jordan Smith would polish off the win.
If they achieved that aim, they would jump from Category 10 (based on last year’s rankings) to Category 3 (winners of high-grade events). That would allow first reserve Grant Forrest to pop into Category 10. And that was the good news for Ramsay was hoping for because Forrest was the highest ranked Scot outside the field at the start of this week, that position earns an invitation from the promoters, and Ramsay was next in line. When Brown won, all the balls fell into place.
On such fine margins can a career be transformed and this one just happened to be (relatively) obvious. There will be many others we never learn of, and many others which even those involved will never know turned on the choices or movements of someone else entirely. What a potty game and what a potty life we all lead (because life, of course, is no different to sport).
So Ramsay has a 30 minute commute this week rather than a 10 hour flight to the States, and the week, although it is not quite ideal links territory, is a good pointer for the Open next week.
“It’s a big benefit,” Henrik Stenson once said of playing links golf the week before the final major championship of the year. “In my last four Opens I played the Scottish Open twice and finished second and first at the Open. The two times I didn’t go I finished around 40th.
“Playing links gets you in the mindset of where to land the ball and playing three-quarter shots in crosswinds. It’s a different game.” He added that not playing the Scottish Open, “would be like going from clay straight into Wimbledon and you wouldn’t do that.”
The last four Open champions (Xander Schauffele, Brian Harman, Cameron Smith, and Collin Morikawa) all played the Scottish Open and made the cut – the first three of those recorded top 15 finishes. Shane Lowry didn’t play the Scottish Open, but two weeks before winning the Open made the cut on the wonderful links at Lahinch in the Irish Open.
But who will prevail this week? Repeating the success of last year’s column might be difficult because we landed the winner, Robert MacIntyre, at 40/1, and Thomas Detry grabbed a full place in the first round leader market at 80/1. We’ll have a go, though.
The Belgian did us that favour last year and we’ll support him again this week, but solely in the outright. He’s 6-for-6 at making the cut at Renaissance with a best of second in 2021 when he lost a play-off. He was also T10 in 2022 and opened with 64 in both the last two editions. In addition, he’s been T15 on the links at Hillside and T13 in the Open at Royal Liverpool, as well as playing lots of seaside golf at St Enodoc in Cornwall where he has contacts through his partner. He came a PGA Tour winner earlier this year at the Phoenix Open and has played his best golf since then in recent weeks when T18 in Canada and T23 in the US Open.
Aldrich Potgieter each-way at 125/1 and First Round Leader each way at 100/1
It’s been some nine months for the 20-year-old South African. He spurned leads in the Nedbank Challenge at the end of 2024 and in the Mexico Open at the start of 2025. He also contended at Torrey Pines in between. Two weeks ago, he proved that he had learned lessons from those experiences by hanging tough in extra holes at the Rocket Mortgage Classic to land a first PGA Tour title.
He’s a thrilling big-hitter who leads the PGA Tour Driving Distance rankings and that firepower should help him this week on a course that is not overly testing from the tee. But he’s also not without links savvy. I was present at Royal Lytham & St Anne’s for the 2022 Amateur Championship, and he was mightily impressive from tee to green. That matters because it is a long game test, especially on the back nine, that no golfer can fluke. There is a slight concern that he withdrew from last week’s event but assuming all is fine he looks a great option this week.
We’ll also take him in the first round because he has the ability to go low. It was first hinted at when he carded a 59 early last year on the Korn Ferry Tour, he also thrashed a 61 when contending in Mexico, and he opened his win with a 62 for a share of the Thursday lead.
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