2013 European PGA Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open
Thursday, July 11-Sunday, July 14, 2013, TV: Golf Channel
Castle Stuart Golf Links – Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom
Par 72 – 7,193 yards
Defending Champion: Jeev Milkha Singh
All odds courtesy of Bookmaker

With the British Open coming up next week, some top PGA players are making the trip across the pond a week early to play in the Scottish Open. The Scottish Open is played at Castle Stuart Links in Inverness, and next week’s Open Championship is at Muirfield just outside of Edinburgh, roughly 160 miles south.

Here is a look at some of the contenders to win the Scottish Open with odds courtesy of Bookmaker.

Ernie Els (16/1)

Els won the BMW International Open in Munich last month for his first win of the season worldwide. He hasn’t played since then. Els tied for 13th at the Masters and tied for fourth at the US Open. He looks to use the Scottish Open as a tune-up to defend his Open Championship title next week. Els won this event in 2000 and 2003. He is certainly worth a play as a slight favorite.

Phil Mickelson (33/2)

Mickelson is fourth in the FedEx Cup Standings with a win at Phoenix and 5 top fives.  He hasn”t played since his heartbreaking tie for second at the U.S. Open last month, the sixth time he has been the runner up at the U.S. Open. He has 3 top 5’s in his last 5 events played, but missed the cut at last week’s Greenbrier Classic as the favorite. Mickelson struggles on links style courses and has never won this event or the Open Championship. I don’t see him contending and he could struggle to make the cut again. He did manage a top 20 here last year though.

Henrik Stenson (17/1)

Stenson doesn’t have a win this season but does have 3 top tens world wide. He was the runner up at Houston and had a top 10 in the BMW International in his last tournament the week after the US Open. He tied for 18th at the Masters and tied for 21st at the US Open. Stenson has never won this event before but did tie for 8th last year here. Stenson could break through here for his first Scottish win.

Paul Casey (19/1) 

Casey won the Irish Open two weeks ago for his first win of the season worldwide.  He missed the Masters and tied for 45th at the US Open. Casey has never won this event but could use the momentum from his Irish win to contend.

Matteo Manassero (20/1)

Manassero has a win at the BMW Championship in surrey England in May. He finished tied for 25th at last week’s French Open. He missed the cut at both the Masters and the US Open. He has never won this event before.

Thomas Bjorn (22/1)

Bjorn has 4 top 10’s in his last 5 events played including solo runner-ups at the BMW Championship and the Lyoness Open. He tied for 8th at the French last week. He made the cut at the Masters but missed the US Open. He missed the cut here last year and has never won this event.

Francesco Molinari (23/1)

Molinari has 3 top tens on the European Tour this season. He finished tied for 18th at the French last week. He missed the cut at the Masters and US Open. Molinari won the Scottish Open in 2010 and lost in a playoff to Jeev Singh here last year. He could be worth a play as a semi-dark horse.

Nicolas Colsaerts (24/1)

Colsaerts has 4 top 10’s worldwide including in both match play events. He last played in the AT&T National two weeks ago, where he tied for 21st. He missed the cut at the Masters but tied for tenth at the US Open.  He has never won this event, and tied for 36th here last year.

Other contenders and their odds are Jamie Donaldson (25/1), Shane Lowry (53/2), Alexander Noren (55/2), Bernd Wiesberger (57/2), Padraig Harrington (31/1), Martin Laird (65/2), Ross Fischer (75/2), and the field is +150. The field is definitely worth a play.

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