Impressive list of Scottish Open winners - Renaissance Club has proved doubters wrong

That was basically the claim of some people when the East Lothian venue staged the event for the first time in 2019, when, in a week of no wind and a rain-softened course, it was ripped apart.

Take a look at the list of winners here, though, and you will see that it has actually proved those doubters wrong.

Austrian Bernd Wiesberger was the inaugural champion over the Tom Doak-designed course and he’s back this week as a nine-time DP World Tour winner.

Aaron Rai then sprung a surprise in 2020, with the Englishman returning on this occasion as a major champion after winning the PGA Championship at Aronimink in May.

Australian Min Woo Lee, who won in 2021, landed his maiden PGA Tour triumph last year while Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy were then crowned as champions in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

Bob MacIntyre, of course, thrilled the home crowds by rolling in a birdie putt across the final green as he claimed the title in 2024 before Chris Gotterup triumphed 12 months ago as world No 158 and is back here this week as No 7 and a three-time winner on the PGA Tour this season.

In short, it’s a venue that has developed a knack of throwing up good winners, with both Rai and Gotterup offering their views about why that has been the case in their pre-event interviews on Wednesday.

“I think this golf course demands a number of different things, and I think it can play a lot of different ways,” observed Rai. “We've had years where there have been a couple of days where it's been extremely scorable. Other days, like for instance in 2020, there were two days that were extremely difficult.

“I think it demands a lot. It sometimes demands the scoring side of your game and sometimes asks the more difficult questions, as well, when the conditions get difficult.

“So I think kind of mixing together how strong the field is, the stature of the event, the history of the event, and also what the golf course requires, I think when you kind of come through that and are fortunate enough to win the tournament, it definitely gives you an extra layer of confidence and belief moving forwards.”

As for Gotterup, the defending champion said: “For me, it was being able to win on a completely different course than I have ever played on. So it's like, all right, I have a game that travels, at least I think so.

“You know, obviously last year was coming up against Rory and Scottie and all these guys and coming out on top and thought ‘maybe I might be better than I thought I was beforehand’. But thinking you can do it and doing it are two different things.

“This field is one of the strongest we'll play all year. So to be able to come out on top of that is a confidence boost in and of its own. We play different courses for the majority of the season, so to have your game travel over here I think just gives you another notch of confidence in that respect.”