It's the best of both worlds this week as the co-sanctioned 2022 Scottish Open tees off Thursday at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland. LIV Golf's push to compete with the top tours has spurred a strategic alliance between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. The Scottish Open field will feature 75 players from each of those tours, plus three from the Korean tour and three sponsor exemptions. The PGA Tour's involvement – and the British Open being set for St. Andrews, just 20 miles across the Firth of Forth, next week – means a stacked 2022 Scottish Open field. It includes 14 of the top 15 golfers in the world, with Rory McIlroy the only absentee, making it the strongest in the event's history. Top-ranked Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, recent U.S. Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick and fellow major champs Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth are just a few of the stars set to tee off this week.
Caesars Sportsbook lists Rahm as the 11-1 favorite in its latest 2022 Scottish Open golf odds. Thomas and Scheffler are both priced at 12-1, followed by 2021 Scottish Open runner-up Fitzpatrick (18-1) and Xander Shauffele (18-1). Before making any 2022 Scottish Open picks, you really need to see the golf predictions and best bets from golf insider Patrick McDonald.
After spending time at FanSided and NBC Sports EDGE, McDonald joined CBS Sports as a golf writer in the spring of 2022. Now covering the sport from a broader perspective, McDonald still likes to dip his toes into the betting pools on a weekly basis on the PGA Tour.
He takes a measured approach to his outright selections and is up more than 64 units on those plays in 2022, having hit Cameron Smith (22-1) at the Tournament of Champions, Hudson Swafford (250-1) at The American Express, Joaquin Niemann (70-1) at the Genesis Invitational and Justin Thomas (66-1) live at the PGA Championship.
Now, McDonald has studied the 2022 Scottish Open field and locked in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. Head to SportsLine to see them.
Top 2022 Scottish Open expert predictions
Shockingly, McDonald is fading young star Viktor Hovland, who is priced at 35-1 at Caesars but has been trending in the wrong direction. The 24-year-old certainly has the skills to excel at The Renaissance Club, but his game has been off, and he has particularly struggled in the short game. Rankings of 204th in strokes gained around the green and 86th in scrambling don't point to success on this course, and his putter also can be a problem. He is a solid 28th in strokes gained putting but 114th in three-putt avoidance, He has not finished in the top 20 since March.
On the other hand, Spieth has been excellent across the pond, but The Renaissance Club will be a slightly different test. The modern links course has severe contours on the greens, which could be an issue as Spieth has struggled with his putter at times. But he has gained strokes on the greens in two of his past three events. He is 114th in strokes gained with his putter. Spieth has a win and four other top-10's in eight British Opens, and he was a runner-up on a similar track at Royals St. George's last year. He has three top-10's in his past seven tournaments.
How to make 2022 Scottish Open golf picks
For this week at The Renaissance Club, McDonald has locked in a slew of other bets for the 2022 Scottish Open, including an outright play on a massive triple-digit long shot. He says it "could be the perfect time to buy in" on him, and you can only see who it is and get the rest of the picks at SportsLine.
So what 2022 Scottish Open prop picks should you target? Which huge long shot can make a serious run at the title, and where does all the betting value lie? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Patrick McDonald's top prop picks for Scottish Open 2022, all from the expert who's up more than 64 units on outright plays in 2022.
2022 Scottish Open odds, field, top contenders
See full Scottish Open picks, best bets, and predictions here.
Jon Rahm +1100
Justin Thomas +1200
Scottie Scheffler +1200
Xander Schauffele +1800
Matt Fitzpatrick +1800
Patrick Cantlay +2200
Cameron Smith +2500
Collin Morikawa +2500
Sam Burns +2800
Will Zalatoris +2800
Jordan Spieth +3000
Hideki Matsuyama +3000
Viktor Hovland +3500
Sungjae Im +3500
Joaquin Niemann +4000
Billy Horschel +4000
Ryan Fox +4500
Tommy Fleetwood +4500
Max Homa +4500
Corey Conners +5000
Justin Rose +5000
Cameron Young +5000
Keegan Bradley +5000
Tyrrell Hatton +6000
Mito Pereira +6500
Lucas Herbert +6500
Aaron Rai +6500
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +6500
Brian Harman +6500
Keith Mitchell +6500
Harold Varner +6500
Adrian Meronk +6500
Sebastian Munoz +7000
Robert Macintyre +8000
Matt Kuchar +8000
Maverick McNealy +8000
Alex Noren +8000
Marc Leishman +8000
Gary Woodland +8000
Chris Kirk +8000
Kyoung-Hoon Lee +10000
Haotong Li +10000
Mackenzie Hughes +10000
Jason Kokrak +10000
Jordan Smith +10000
Cameron Tringale +10000
Erik Van Rooyen +12500
Luke List +12500
Min Woo Lee +12500
Si-Woo Kim +12500
Jhonattan Vegas +12500
Henrik Stenson +12500
Joel Dahmen +12500
Rickie Fowler +12500
Tom Hoge +12500
Patrick Rodgers +12500
Thomas Detry +12500
Harris English +12500
Matt Wallace +15000
Troy Merritt +15000
Ryan Palmer +15000
Rasmus Hojgaard +15000
Dean Burmester +15000
Johannes Veerman +15000
Francesco Molinari +15000
Matthew Nesmith +15000
Victor Perez +15000
Russell Knox +17500
Edoardo Molinari +17500
Richie Ramsay +17500
Adri Arnaus +20000
Danny Willett +20000
John Catlin +20000
Dylan Frittelli +20000
Padraig Harrington +20000
Sepp Straka +20000
Antoine Rozner +20000
Thorbjorn Olesen +20000
David Lipsky +20000
Alex Smalley +20000
Fabrizio Zanotti +20000
Nick Taylor +25000
Mikko Korhonen +25000
Kurt Kitayama +25000
Stewart Cink +25000
Anirban Lahiri +25000
Jason Scrivener +25000
Joohyung Kim +25000
J.J. Spaun +25000
Thriston Lawrence +25000
Jorge Campillo +25000
Marcus Armitage +25000
Nicolai Hojgaard +25000
Wil Besseling +25000
Alexander Bjork +25000
Wyndham Clark +25000
Lucas Glover +25000
Guido Migliozzi +30000
Sean Crocker +30000
Maximilian Kieffer +30000
Bio Kim +30000
Nino Bertasio +30000
Brandon Stone +30000
Kalle Samooja +30000
Callum Tarren +30000
