GOLF GLANCE: RORY MCILROY DEFENDS IN SCOTLAND; LPGA, CHAMPIONS GO MAJOR HUNTING
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: John Deere Classic (Davis Thompson)
THIS WEEK: Genesis Scottish Open, North Berwick, Scotland, July 11-14
Course: The Renaissance Club (Par 70, 7,237 Yards)
Purse: $9M (Winner: $1.62M)
Defending Champion: Rory McIlroy
FedEx Cup Leader: Scottie Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 10:30-11 a.m. (Golf Channel – world feed), 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (GC); Saturday-Sunday: 10 a.m.-12 p.m. (GC), 12-3 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday, 2 a.m.-2 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 4:15 a.m.-3 p.m.
X: @ScottishOpen
NOTES: The PGA Tour is co-sanctioning the event for the third consecutive year, with the field including 75 tour players along with a similar number of DP World Tour players. … It is the final event of The Open Qualifying Series, with three spots available into next week’s field at Royal Troon. The top three players who make the cut and are not otherwise exempt will earn spots into The Open. … McIlroy defends his title as he tees it up for the first time since losing the lead on the back nine of the U.S. Open to finish second. No one has successfully defended at the Scottish Open. … Thirty-five players in the field competed at last week’s John Deere Classic. … Cole Rueck will make his PGA Tour debut after recently finishing his sophomore year at Boise State. He earned a sponsor exemption by winning the Genesis Collegiate Showcase at The Riviera Country Club in February. … Thompson is coming off his tournament-record 28-under par 256 at TPC Deere Run to earn his first spot in the Scottish Open. He has three consecutive top-10 finishes.
BEST BETS: Rory McIlroy (+800 at DraftKings) hasn’t played since the U.S. Open, but does have a win among three top-5s while posting top-15 finishes in five consecutive starts. … Xander Schauffele (+900) won the Scottish Open two years ago, his last tournament victory until claiming the PGA Championship this year. His 11 top-10 finishes on tour this year are five more than any other player in the field. … Ludvig Aberg (+1600). … Collin Morikawa (+1600). … Tommy Fleetwood (+2000) and Tom Kim (+2500) are the only players to post top-10 finishes in the event each of the past two years. … Viktor Hovland (+2200). … Robert MacIntyre (+4000) finished second last year and the Scotland native won his maiden PGA Tour event at the RBC Canadian Open last month.
PGA TOUR
THIS WEEK: ISCO Championship, Nicholasville, Ky., July 11-14
Course: Champions at Keene Trace Golf Club (Par 72, 7,328 Yards)
Purse: $4M (Winner: $720,000)
Defending Champion: Vincent Norrman
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 4:30-7:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday: 4-7 p.m. (GC)
X: @ISCOChamp
NOTES: Florida State junior Luke Clanton is in the field after becoming the first amateur on record since 1958 to post consecutive top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour. He is also the +900 pre-tournament favorite at DraftKings ahead of Michael Thorbjornsen at +1400. … The 150-player field includes 50 players from the DP World Tour as part of the Strategic Alliance between the tours. The winner will receive a PGA Tour exemption through 2026 for current tour members and through 2025 for non-tour members, along with a DP World Tour exemption through 2026. … The field also includes 42 players who have previously won on the PGA Tour. … Sponsor exemption Neal Shipley was the low amateur at this year’s Masters and U.S. Open.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: The Open Championship, Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland, July 18-21
LPGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Dow Championship (Atthaya Thitikul, Ruoning Yin)
THIS WEEK: Evian Championship, Evian-les-Bains, France, July 11-14
Course: Evian Resort Golf Club, Champions Course (Par 71, 6,693 yards)
Purse: $8M (Winners: $1.2)
Defending Champion: Celine Boutier
Race to the CME Globe leader: Nelly Korda
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 6-10:30 a.m. ET (Golf Channel/Peacock), 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. (Peacock); Saturday-Sunday, 4-10 a.m. (GC/Peacock)
X: @EvianChamp
NOTES: This is the 11th edition of the event since it was elevated to a major in 2013 and serves as the fourth of five majors this year. … The 132-player field will be cut to the top 65 and ties after 36 holes. … Korda returns after missing her title defense at last week’s Ladies European Tour at Centurion Club due to a dog bite. Korda won six of her first eight starts this season, but has now missed three consecutive cuts for the first time in her career. … Boutier cruised to a six-shot victory over Brooke Henderson last year to become the first Frenchwoman to win the Evian. … The Champions Course opened in 1904 alongside the Hotel Royal. Originally a nine-hole course, it was re-designed in the late 1980s. … Forty-one players in this week’s field will compete in the Paris Olympics next month.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Dana Open, Sylvania, Ohio, July 18-21
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
LAST TOURNAMENT: 44th U.S. Senior Open Championship (Richard Bland)
THIS WEEK: Kaulig Companies Championship, Akron, Ohio, July 11-14
Course: Firestone Country Club (Par 70, 7,248 yards)
Purse: $3.5M (Winner: $525,000)
Defending Champion: Steve Stricker
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Stephen Ames
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 2-4:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 12-4 p.m. (GC)
X: @KauligChamp
NOTES: This is the fourth of five majors on the Champions tour this season. … The 78-player field includes Stricker along with Wisconsin native Jerry Kelly. Both are seeking to become just the second player to win the event three times. … The field also includes five World Golf Hall of Fame members: Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Vijah Singh Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: The Senior Open Championship, Carnoustie, Scotland, July 25-28
LIV GOLF LEAGUE
LAST TOURNAMENT: Nashville (Individual: Tyrrell Hatton; Team: Legion XIII)
THIS WEEK: Andalucia, Spain, July 12-14
Course: Real Club Valderrama (Par 71, 7,010 Yards)
Purse: $20M Individual, $5M Team (Winner: $4M Individual, $3M Team)
Defending Champion: Talor Gooch (Individual), Torque GC (Team)
2024 Leaders: Players, Joaquin Niemann; Team, Crushers GC
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Friday, 7:15 a.m. ET (CW App, LIV Golf Plus); Saturday, 7:15 a.m. (CW Network, CW App, LIV Golf Plus); Sunday, 7:05 a.m. (CW Network, CW App, LIV Golf Plus)
X: @livgolf_league
NOTES: This is the 10th of 14 events on the 2024 schedule, which will be followed by the team championship in Dallas Sept. 20-22. … The 54-player field will compete in a three-day event with shotgun starts. There are 12 four-player teams and two independent wild card players. … Hatton is coming off his first LIV Golf individual title at Nashville. His Legion XIII team will make its debut in Andalucia captained by Spanish star Jon Rahm. … Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia was born in Borriol, Castellon, and is an honorary member at Valderrama, which his calls his favorite golf course in the world. … Sixteen players in the field are scheduled to play in next week’s Open Championship at Royal Troon.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: LIV Golf UK, United Kingdom, July 26-28
KEEGAN BRADLEY DOESN’T JUST WANT TO CAPTAIN THE RYDER CUP — HE WANTS TO MAKE THE TEAM
NEW YORK (AP) — Keegan Bradley was clear about his intentions when he was introduced Tuesday as the U.S. Ryder Cup captain for 2025.
He doesn’t just want to be Captain America, he wants to play on the team at Bethpage Black in New York.
“I feel as though I’m still in the prime of my career and can make this team,” Bradley said at his introductory news conference.
Bradley would be the first U.S. Ryder Cup playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963 if he were to qualify.
“I’m not going to pick myself,” Bradley said. “The only way that would happen is if the team was insisting it but even if they did I don’t see that happening. I want to make the team on points, otherwise I’m going to be the captain.”
Whether he plays or not, Bradley’s captaincy is already tied to Palmer. At 38 years old, Bradley is the youngest U.S. captain since a 34-year-old Palmer led the team in ’63.
He said he will soak in advice from his predecessors, but plans to refresh the staff with a youthful approach.
“What’s personally important to me is I would like the vice captains to set up the future,” Bradley said.
Bradley competed in the Ryder Cup in 2012 and 2014, both losses for the Americans. He has long talked about wanting to make it back to the Ryder Cup to redeem those results.
ANALYSIS: LUCAS GLOVER IS A REMINDER HOW QUICKLY FORTUNES CAN CHANGE IN GOLF
GULLANE, Scotland (AP) — Lucas Glover is in a far better position than he was a year ago when he was fighting for job security, not any form of privilege.
What hasn’t changed is the urgency.
Everyone knew it was going to be a sprint this year because the PGA Tour switched back to a calendar season. The starting line was in January, not the previous September. Only four tournaments remain before the top 70 move on to the FedEx Cup playoffs.
That’s one reason Glover was among 28 players who went to the John Deere Classic before flying across six time zones to the Scottish Open this week at The Renaissance Club. Twelve of them — Glover included — are exempt for the British Open the following week at Royal Troon. For the others, this could be a long trip for one week, but they don’t have much of a choice.
Every point matters. And that makes it seem as though every week matters.
Glover was No. 72 in the FedEx Cup going into the John Deere Classic after a season in which he felt like he was getting nothing out of his rounds.
“Very average, and that’s what everything shows,” he said. Scores don’t lie.
His tie for 23rd in the John Deere Classic was enough to move up four spots. Baby steps, sure, but every point counts.
The trick is to be patient when it’s hard to ignore how little time is left.
“It could be a shot or a putt that sends you in the right direction, or a shot that sends you the other direction. You never know when it’s going to turn,” Glover said. “I’ve learned you can’t chase it. You’re not going to change something (technical) weekly. It’s a bit of a process to work on what you know is right.
“We can all play this game,” he said. “You’re never that far away. At this level, everybody is really good.”
He speaks from experience. Glover went to the John Deere Classic a year ago at No. 130 in the FedEx Cup, tied for sixth and moved up to No. 110. A month later, his trajectory changed.
He won the Wyndham Championship to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs at No. 49. And then he won the next week to start the postseason and moved all the way up to No. 4. He was a lock for the Tour Championship, with a reasonable shot at the $18 million FedEx Cup title.
But it came with a cost: Glover had nothing left in the tank. He had played six out of seven weeks to get into the postseason, and coming off back-to-back wins in summer heat, it was all he could do just to cross the finish line at East Lake.
“Last year was a prime example,” he said. “Chicago, as good as I was playing, I literally was out of gas. I just couldn’t do anything. The game wasn’t any different, but I was zapped. I played all those weeks in a row to get in. Atlanta, same thing, even worse.”
That’s the trap so many players might find themselves in now.
Eleven of those players who were at the John Deere Classic before going over to Scotland were between No. 50 and No. 70 in the FedEx Cup. One of them was Davis Thompson, who had the best week of his career to win by four shots.
Another was Jordan Spieth, who returned to the TPC Deere Run for the first time in nine years. Spieth showed up at No. 59 and dropped one spot after his tie for 26th (he would have fallen three spots had he not played).
Justin Rose chose British Open qualifying in the U.K. and it paid off for him. He fell one spot in the FedEx Cup to No. 76, but he added a major championship he wasn’t assured of playing.
It’s no longer about keeping a PGA Tour card. Anyone who started the year at Kapalua, who could plan to be at Riviera and Bay Hill and Memorial and all the other $20 million signature events, knows the value of finishing in the top 50.
Talk about a magic number.
Glover, 44, is fully exempt for two more years. What drives him is the top 50 to become eligible for the elite schedule. Go even further to the top 30 and players are virtually assured of playing all the majors plus the signature events.
A year ago, Glover wasn’t eligible for a major for the first time since his rookie year in 2004.
That’s why there’s such a big push toward the end of the year.
Glover’s plan was to play the John Deere Classic, Scottish Open and British Open and have two weeks off — there is no tournament Aug. 1-4 during the Olympics — before defending his title in the Wyndham Championship.
That means missing the 3M Open in Minnesota. That’s the plan, anyway.
“If I have to, I’ll go,” Glover said.
Justin Thomas felt that way last year. He missed the cut in the British Open — his fourth missed cut in six starts — and entered the 3M Open the following week to make up ground. He missed another cut and eventually came up one shot short of the postseason.
It’s hard not to chase, because all it takes is one week.
Cam Davis was at No. 77 in the FedEx Cup and had played six out of seven weeks with only one finish in the top 40. And then he won the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
No one is ever that far off. The trouble is the finish line is right around the corner.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE GETTING SETTLED IN EUROPE BEFORE BIG STRETCH
Xander Schauffele’s PGA Tour career hit a lull after winning the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions in January of that year.
He didn’t win again until April 2022 in New Orleans, which started a three-win season that culminated in a victory at the Scottish Open. For World No. 3 Schauffele, entered in the tournament again this week at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, that win represented a rebirth of his game and his confidence.
“Yeah, that was unique,” the 30-year-old said Tuesday in Scotland. “I didn’t win for a couple years. I was able to win stateside, and then to travel over here straight after and win again, it was really cool. I was super proud and something I’m still proud of, just to be able to win, of course, but also in (a) completely different country is a really tough thing to do and a testament to sort of consistency and good game planning.
“So it was a big win for my team and myself, and those back-to-backs are important.”
Schauffele has 11 top-10 finishes and one win in 2024 — the PGA Championship in May at Valhalla. But he said he always enjoys going back to Europe, where more fans are students of the game.
“Not that all fans don’t appreciate golf but there’s a deeper appreciation here,” Schauffele said. “They know what a good shot looks like.”
He didn’t have that much fun in Europe last fall, when the U.S. Ryder Cup lost to the Europeans outside of Rome. But he had lots of thoughts about the selection of Keegan Bradley to captain the U.S. team in 2025, when competition returns stateside to Bethpage Black in New York.
Bradley, 38, was named the Ryder Cup captain on Monday after Tiger Woods declined.
“Yeah, it’s surprising. You typically expect someone that’s a little bit older to get selected as a captain,” Schauffele said. “I think a lot of people were banking on Tiger to do it. He obviously has a lot on his plate.
“So Keegan expressed his love for the Ryder Cup publicly, which we all saw, and I’m sure — I haven’t talked to him or seen him yet, but I’m sure he’s over the moon and is going to do a great job.”
Schauffele said Bradley, by being younger, can help prepare his contemporaries for the Ryder Cup.
“I think having someone that’s a little bit younger, I’m going to look at it, I’m a glass-half-full guy,” Schauffele said. “And I think him playing and knowing sort of the trends on tour, you start to see a lot more recovery centers here. You start to see a lot of things of that nature of how we practice and stuff.
“I feel like Keegan would understand sort of when we need to get up, when we need to practice, and when you need to do this and hopefully dodge anything you don’t have to do and maybe that will help us.”
Before Schauffele can start thinking about next year’s Ryder Cup or even the Paris Olympics later this month, he must get through the Scottish Open and The Open next week. What’s his focus?
“Overall acclimation,” the defending Olympic champ said. “Hitting the putts a little bit harder. When you’re playing chips, trying to position yourself on holes, even though you’re short-sided, as long as you’re into the wind, you have to start thinking that way again.
“And then the lag putting is really hard. You’ll be on the front of the pin and the pin will be on the front, and you have 50 feet, you pace it off, and you’re, like, dang. Whereas back home, pin to front of the green you have 15 feet or 18 feet. Getting used to those small things.”