European Tour - Scottish Open

First topic message reminder :

Always great to see the European Tour returning to Scotland... I was having a quick look at the intro I wrote last year for the Scottish Open, and I was trying to compare then the field strengths of this tournament with a few other events that take place around the same time (Irish and French Open and the BMW Intl. in Germany) and the conclusion was pretty clear, i.e. the Scottish Open was by far the strongest and the most consistent and stable in terms of field strength...

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But is that beginning to change, I wonder...?

Spoiler:

A couple of weeks ago at the Irish Open, out of nowhere really, McDowell made that blunt and controversial remark, saying that 'the Scottish Open has lost its prestige' in his opinion, linking that basically with the move from Loch Lomond to Castle Stuart, a course which he went on to describe as... 'a bit one dimensional'. I haven't been there so I couldn't possibly comment on it, but would be interesting to hear the views of some of you who are from the area or have played the course before. Not sure what made GMac to make such an 'unprovoked' comment (some have even seen this as part of some sort of background little battle for promotion and positioning between the Irish and Scottish Open), but it didn't take long to get a reaction and a 'counterattack' from the top ranked Scot, Paul Lawrie, who said (quite rightly) that McDowell's comments were 'poor' and that 'he should know better', and then went on and had his own stab at the Irish event by adding that at least 'the Scottish Open has more money, a title sponsor and it's played on a links course'... 3xOUCH!!! Certainly can't argue too much with Paul's comments, which are all facts (although I recall seeing comments in the past questioning if this course really is a 'proper' links test), while GMac's comments reflect basically his personal opinion. Personally, I doubt there is anything more 'sinister' behind McDowell's outburst, other than the fact that he simply liked and fancied his chances much more at Loch Lomond, where he won the event in 2008...

Having said that though, that last plot is also now a matter of fact and may suggest that Graeme may have a point after all, as none of the top European golfers inside the top 25 in the world are present this year, and I'm sure that all this will make the Scottish organisers to have a good look at how to get things back on track next year...That leaves the 'internationals' Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els as the top ranked players in the field. Last year the event was won rather surprisingly by Jeev Milkha Singh, who beat Franny Molinari in a playoff, and these two will be very keen to get their game back on track this week, as their form has gone a bit flat this season... Great to see a strong local contingent, with Martin Laird flying in to join an increasing group of Scottish players who have shown much improved and more consistent form on the European tour over the last year or so. Somewhat surprised though to see that Russell Knox is not coming over, especially considering that he was born in Inverness... I think I'm going for a Scottish winner this year, but there are plenty of other top guys out there that have a great chance of shining come Sunday afternoon...


P.S. I've been finding it hard lately to get the time to write the ET and OWGR weekly posts and I can't see that situation improving in the near future. Although I will do my best to continue to post a brief OWGR weekly update, it will be great if someone else could step in from here on to write the weekly European Tour intros... Many thanks!

mystiroakey wrote:Well done Pmick. great win. Big fav at the start and didnt dissapoint!

Good call

my madness borders on genius

mystiroakey wrote:my madness borders on genius

Unless you try and talk about evolution and genetics.

you seem to have a bee in your bonnet about something Mac?

Are you projecting?

by the way you seen Super . Wheres he gone??

super is in Kaahlifoorniya as far as I know. And apparantly they don't have internet there.

Love the GMAC quote ... from the man who found this event too much for his schedule ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/sports/golf/european-tour-expanding-but-short-on-cash-finds-itself-at-crossroads.html?ref=sports&_r=0

Don't really understand GMac's point. The Scottish offers a decent purse (for the ET) and it's played on a links course. Is it appearance money you're after?

not entirely clear fom the link you provided but in another article he said the reason he didnt play castle stuart is because it is very different to muirfield in that it is wide open off the tee.

pedro wrote:Don't really understand GMac's point. The Scottish offers a decent purse (for the ET) and it's played on a links course. Is it appearance money you're after?

 decent- its massive isnt it!!

So it would appear that the "too one dimensional" and "very different to Muirfield" Castle Stuart turned out to be ideal preparation for the Open!! Where did Gmac finish yesterday?