European Tour Scottish Open 2016 Golf Betting Odds

The PGA Tour’s Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia was canceled for this week because heavy flooding badly damaged areas of that part of the country and left half the course in White Sulphur Springs underwater. Thus all those PGA Tour players who were using that event as a warm-up for next week’s British Open are out of luck. But there are a handful of top American players competing this week in the European Tour’s Scottish Open in preparations for the British Open in that country. Your favorite on betting odds is Sweden’s Henrik Stenson at +700.

Taking a Closer Look at the European Tour Scottish Open 2016 Golf Betting Odds

The Scottish Open is one of the richer golf tournaments on the European Tour. The tournament, a last chance for European Tour players to earn a spot in The Open Championship, traditionally takes place the week before The Open Championship. Since 1986, the tournament has been one of the biggest events on the European Tour and has been played over some of Scotland’s finest links and parkland courses. This year’s tournament is at Castle Stuart Golf Links. The Scottish Open has produced 30 different winners from 14 different countries. Of those 30, eight have been major champions.

Last year the tournament was held at Gullane Golf Club and won by American Rickie Fowler, but he’s not playing this year; neither are big names such as Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth or Rory McIlroy. Fowler shot a final-round 68 last year, with birdies on three of his final four holes, to pass Matt Kuchar and win by one shot. It was Fowler’s first victory on European soil. He took the outright lead for the first time with his final shot of the tournament, a tap-in putt from inside two feet.

Kuchar was on the practice range, preparing for a playoff after shooting a 68. France’s Raphael Jacquelin was the only one who could force a playoff, but he needed an eagle 2. That almost happened, with his approach from 120 yards spinning back to a foot from the cup. Jacquelin shot 70 to tie for second place with Kuchar. Jacquelin earned a British Open spot as did overnight leader Daniel Brooks and Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg.

Stenson has struggled of late on the PGA Tour in missing a few cuts and withdrawing from the U.S. Open. But he just won on the European Tour, taking the BMW International Open two weeks ago. It was Stenson’s first European Tour victory since the 2014 DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. He now has won a European Tour event in four of the last five European Tour seasons, dating back to the 2012 season. (Did not win in the 2015 season). It was first Swedish victory of the 2016 European Tour season.

The last time Castle Stuart hosted this event, American Phil Mickelson won at 17 under, beating South African Branden Grace in a playoff. Grace is +1000 this week and Lefty is +1400. Seven days after that 2013 win, Mickelson became the first player to win the Scottish Open and then go onto win The Open Championship. Grace, having won on links before, at the 2012 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, will be hoping to tie his good friend and countryman Louis Oosthuizen with an eighth career win on the European Tour. Grace is now in the Top 10 of the world rankings for the first time in his career.