2022 Scottish Open Odds & Sleeper Picks: Aaron Rai Among 4 Longshots To Bet

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The PGA TOUR heads overseas with the co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open ahead of next week's final major of the year, the Open Championship at St Andrews.

That makes for an interesting handicapping exercise, given just how different golf can play on the British Isles. Using past playings of the Scottish Open or Open Championship, however, can get dicey. This week’s course is the Renaissance Club, which is far from a by-the-book links-style setup.

Luckily, this is the fourth consecutive time this event has visited this venue, giving some background information to the betting public. Because the PGA TOUR is co-sanctioning the event for the first time, the event has attracted one of its best fields, nabbing 14 of the top 15 players in the world.

Despite that top-heavy field, there should be plenty of room for a dark horse to emerge. With many PGA Tour stalwarts facing the conditions of Scotland for the first time in a year, those more familiar with that style of play should be poised to compete for a win on Sunday.

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Aaron Rai +6600 (BetMGM)

The English-born Rai has used his background playing in the elements to earn some impressive finishes in recent tournaments at similar venues. He won this event in 2020, besting Tommy Fleetwood in a playoff. When a one-off European Tour event was dubbed the “Scottish Championship” in the fall of 2020, Rai finished third.

Just last week, he finished in a tie for ninth place at the Irish Open. In 2021, He finished T12 in the Irish Open. The year prior, he was solo second at that event. In his only appearance at the Open Championship last season, Rai finished T19 with four rounds of 70 or better.

Quite clearly, he’s demonstrated a level of comfort on his native side of the pond. This week, he should factor in as a contender.

Min Woo Lee +10000 (BetRivers)

Although this year’s field at the Scottish Open is much tougher than last year’s edition of this event, it's hard to ignore the reigning champion priced at odds of 100-1.

Min Woo Lee survived a three-man playoff to earn his third professional victory last year at just 22 years old. He returns after making more of a name for himself stateside this season. He’s struggled to make cuts on a weekly basis on TOUR, yet he clearly has the “it factor” when the courses get more difficult.

Lee finished T14 at the Masters in April and was T27, thanks to a spectacular Saturday 69, at The Country Club for the U.S. Open.

Returning to a course where he has already won, I like Lee’s chances to play his best this weekend.

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Ian Poulter +10000 (DraftKings)

Poulter, as one of the early defectors to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf events, was not originally expected to play in this event. The DP World Tour has taken less of a hardline on players who have played in the LIV events, with legal action from Poulter and two other players causing a stay on their potential suspensions.

That allows Poulter into this week’s field at a venue where he has fared well. He is the only player in this week’s field to have finished in the top 15 in each of the last three years at the Renaissance Club. His finishes of T6 and T4 the last two years prove that he is plenty able to compete here.

While the Scottish faithful might have a word or two for Poulter as he walks the fairways this week, everything we’ve ever seen from Poulter suggests that could be more of a boon for his play than a hindrance.

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Callum Tarren +35000 (BetRivers)

Unlike many other English-born players who find their way to the PGA TOUR, Tarren doesn’t have much professional golf experience in his home country. His path to the big leagues was a winding one, leading him from Radford University to China to the Korn Ferry Tour prior to this year.

His rookie season started dismally, with a missed cut or disqualification in each of his first eight PGA Tour events. Since then, however, he has really settled into form. Tarren has made six of his last eight cuts, with two top 10s on the PGA Tour this year and one top 10 on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Last week, he was T6 at the John Deere Classic, still riding some momentum after his dalliance among the leaders at the U.S. Open (before a Saturday 78 torpedoed his week).

His lack of links (or links-adjacent) experience might be concerning, yet I’m not worried about a player from England struggling with that test.

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