Five things to know ahead of the 2020 Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open
Return of the Rolex Series
The Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open is the second of the European Tour’s Rolex Series events this season, following on from the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA in January.
Next week, the Rolex Series will continue at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Renaissance: A different challenge awaits
With a different routing, several new tee boxes and easterly winds forecasted for the week, the challenge facing players at this week’s Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open will be a stark contrast to last year’s record-breaking event.
With the exception of four unchanged holes (the eighth, ninth, 17th and 18th holes) the course where Bernd Wiesberger lifted his sixth European Tour title will likely be a very different prospect.
“It’s definitely going to be more challenging,” said Jerry Savadi, CEO of Renaissance Club.
“When you got into there last year the rough was wide open and trampled, this year it’s going to be rough.
“We’ve added some length with four new tees, providing options for the officials at the Tour, who will set up the course. It means they can go back if they need to or they can go forward.
“The reason for the rerouting was to try and have the finishing holes out near the water for television. There’s a couple of longer walking distances but it worked well at the Ladies Scottish Open in August so we’re doing it again.”
Wiesberger defends
Defending champion Bernd Wiesberger will be aiming to create history this year as he bids to become the first player to record consecutive victories at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open.
After setting a tournament low score of 22 under with Frenchman Benjamin Hebert, Wiesberger triumphed in a play-off to claim the second of three wins in 2019, before going on to finish a career-high third on the Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex.
Inside the field
A series of Rolex champions join Wiesberger at Renaissance this week, including Tommy Fleetwood, Danny Willett and Lee Westwood - who lifted the most recent Rolex Series title in Abu Dhabi.
Westwood and Wiesberger are two of seven former Scottish Open winners competing, including Brandon Stone, Edoardo Molinari, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell and Thomas Bjorn,
Also in the field is Neil Fenwick, who hails from Edinburgh, and will be making his first Tour start after earning a place through the Tartan Tour – the development Tour started by Lawrie this summer to help young Scottish professionals continue to play golf through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Golf for Good
The European Tour’s Golf for Good initiative continues this week with the launch of #Medals4Heroes, a mini-medal competition that will pair everyday heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic with professionals going head-to-head on Tuesday of tournament week.
As it stands, almost €1 million has been raised for local, national and international charities since the launch of Golf For Good at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Lee Westwood.
