2025 Genesis Scottish Open: Martin Dempster's daily divots

Rory McIlroy hails course as ‘best it’s ever played’

He may not have been its biggest fan after seeing it being torn apart when the Genesis Scottish Open was first held at The Renaissance Club in 2019 but, boy, has Rory McIlroy changed his tune about the East Lothian venue.

It had already grown on him over the course of three subsequent appearances, including a title triumph in 2023, and, with tweaks having been made by Padraig Harrington in a consultancy capacity, it is getting better and better.

“I think the best it's ever played is this year because of how firm it is,” observed McIlroy. “It's a real fiery links test that you have at least you have the option to play the ball on the ground if you want to.

“Yeah, this golf course has evolved a lot over the time we've been coming here and it's certainly grown on me, not just because of the results but I think it plays more and more like a links course every year we come back.”

Lessons galore in Fan Zone from Stephen Gallacher Foundation

We often hear talk about “growing the game” and it’s often actually hollow but not when it comes to the Genesis Scottish Open.

During this year’s edition, an incredible 650 lessons were provided for youngsters in the Fan Zone by the Stephen Gallacher Foundation.

“It’s been a chocca,” said Scott Knowles, the foundation’s manager. “Last year we provided 450 lessons from two bays and this year we had three but reduced the lesson time from 15 minutes to ten minutes.”

Paul Lawrie, who also runs a successful junior foundation in the North-East of Scotland, praised the work being done by SGF in a post on social media, describing it as an “amazing job”.

The Renaissance Club likely to stay as event’s home

The Renaissance Club looks set to remain as the event’s host venue after the latest edition at the East Lothian venue was given a huge thumbs up by both the fans and players.

Helped by unprecedented sellouts on both Saturday and Sunday, the event attracted over 85,000 spectators across the week, breaking the record at the Dirleton venue by close to 10,000.

The current deal with the American owners of The Renaissance Club ends next year but, on the back of Genesis having already committed to being title sponsor through 2030, an extension seems likely.

Rory Colville, the championship director, told a small group of journalists on Sunday “We're really pleased that we're contracted for next year and we can continue that growth. It's been a fantastic venue for us and we'll continue to discuss the future with the Sarvadis.”

American ace on loving ‘wacky’ North Berwick

Chris Gotterup was among the players who paid a visit to North Berwick for a game during this year’s event and probably came up with the best line about the West Links layout.

“If someone tried to design a course like that back home, they’d get killed,” said the American of it being totally different, for example, like TPC Deere Run, where he’d played last week in the John Deere Classic.

Referring to the par-4 13th, he added: “I had never had to hit over a wall in the middle of the fairway before until I played North Berwick. It’s really cool, very wacky.

“I am not an experienced links player by any means. It’s all still pretty new to me. So it was great to get out and play North Berwick this week.”