The Rolex Series returns as we head to The Renaissance Club for the PGA TOUR co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open. Here are your five things to know.
Gotterup defends
Chris Gotterup showed calmness and quality to hold off Rory McIlroy by two shots and claim his first DP World Tour and Rolex Series title 12 months ago. The 25-year-old shared the third-round lead with the World Number Two and the pair went toe-to-toe on Sunday. McIlroy led by one at the fifth but after a birdie at the eighth, he endured a barren run of ten straight pars to open the door for his American rival. Gotterup took full advantage with birdies at the eighth, tenth and 12th to open up a two-shot lead, only to bogey the 15th. However, he bounced back with a birdie at the next to re-establish his lead before parring his way home. "I just hung in there tight and tried to keep it together," he said. "Held it together really well and then it was so much fun out there. It's all hitting me. It's just so cool. I played really well this week, and I knew today was going to be tough. I hung in there like a champ and finished it off in style."
Rolex Series returns
This week sees the second Rolex Series event of the season as the blue riband tournaments return on the DP World Tour. The first of the season saw Patrick Reed win the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and there will be further Rolex Series events at the BMW PGA Championship and DP World Tour Play-Offs with the Abu Dhabi Championship and DP World Tour Championship. The events bring enhanced prize money and points, with a prize fund of US$9,000,000 and 8,000 Race to Dubai points on offer. The Genesis Scottish Open has been part of the Rolex Series since the Series began in 2017 and since then has been won by Rafa Cabrera Bello, Brandon Stone, Bernd Wiesberger, Aaron Rai, Min Woo Lee, Xander Schauffele, McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre and Gotterup.
This season, the Championship layout at The Renaissance Club has been rerouted to build an exciting closing stretch for both players and fans. At the heart of the changes, the fan-favourite par three sixth hole, The Thistle, now becomes the 15th hole, flanked by two par-fours, the new 14th and 16th holes. To facilitate the change, the two nines are switching, with the final two holes on each nine remaining the same.
Major rewards on offer
There is entry into not one but two Major Championships on offer this week in East Lothian. If the victor is not already exempt, then they will not only receive the trophy but also an invitation to the 2027 Masters Tournament at Augusta National, with Gotterup the first player to take advantage of this new pathway last year. Scotland's national open has long provided routes into The Open Championship and this year is no different with it being the final event of the Open Qualifying Series. To earn a place at Royal Birkdale a player must make the cut and be one of the top three players not already exempt, with the Official World Golf Ranking used as a tie-breaker.
Global stars gather
Scotland's national open has long attracted a global field but since its co-sanctioning with the PGA TOUR in 2022 it has become a truly world-class spectacular. World Numbers One and Two Scottie Scheffler and McIlroy headline the field and they are joined by fellow reigning Major champions Rai and Wyndham Clark. MacIntyre will once again be expected to lead the home charge, in a field that features 11 of the 12 Europeans who won the Ryder Cup at Bethpage last year. Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World leader Patrick Reed will be hoping to take a step closer to the year-long title while fellow challengers and multiple 2026 winners Eugenio Chacarra, Jayden Schaper and Casey Jarvis also tee it up. Five-time Major champion Brooks Koepka returns to the event for the first time in 11 years, with further Major winners in the field including Shane Lowry, Adam Scott, Gary Woodland, Francesco Molinari, Pádraig Harrington, Brian Harman, Justin Thomas, J.J. Spaun and Schauffele.
Closing Swing begins
The height of the golfing summer brings with it the start of the Closing Swing - the last of the five Global Swings that make up Phase One of the DP World Tour season. The ISCO Championship runs simultaneously to the Genesis Scottish Open before next week's Corales Puntacana Championship - The Open Championship does not count towards the Swing. There is then a three-week break before the Danish Golf Championship and Nexo Championship end Phase One. Whoever follows Schaper, Reed, Mikael Lindberg and Chacarra in becoming a 2026 Swing champion will earn entry into all events of Phase Two - the Back 9 - and a US$200,000 bonus. There is also a place at the BMW PGA Championship available for the highest-ranked player on the Swing not already exempt. The Back 9 then takes us through some of the Tour's most historic national opens and storied events before the top 70 on the Race to Dubai head to the UAE for the start of the Play-Offs.
