The Closing Swing gets under way this week with the second Rolex Series event of the year at the Genesis Scottish Open. Here are your five things to know.
Return of the Rolex Series
The Genesis Scottish Open is the second of five Rolex Series events in the 2024 DP World Tour schedule and provides the ideal build-up to next week’s Open Championship at Royal Troon.
The Rolex Series, one of the most important initiatives in the DP World Tour's history, has included Scotland’s national open since its inaugural year in 2017.
The opening event of the year saw Rory McIlroy claim a record-breaking fourth Hero Dubai Desert Classic as he successfully defended his title on a dramatic afternoon at Emirates Golf Club, and the Northern Irishman now looks to make it two successive title defences in a row as he arrives at The Renaissance Club as defending champion.
The Rolex Series will continue at the BMW PGA Championship in September before it heads to the Middle East in November for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship - which together combine to create the newly established DP World Tour play-offs.
Start of the Closing Swing
The Closing Swing marks the final of five Global Swings on the 2024 Race to Dubai, the first of three distinct phases which precedes the historic ‘Back 9’ from September 2024 to October 2024; and two ‘DP World Tour Play-Offs’ in November 2024.
Running from the Genesis Scottish Open to the Danish Golf Championship, the Swing features five counting events with 3,000 Race to Dubai Ranking points on offer at all but the importance of the Genesis Scottish Open is highlighted with 8000 Race to Dubai Ranking Points available at the third Rolex Series event of the year.
There are a host of strong incentives for the ultimate Swing Champion, who will each earn $200,000, qualify for each of the 'Back 9' events and also earn an exemption into the next Rolex Series event. In the case of the Closing Swing, this means a chance to gain exemption into the BMW PGA Championship.
While points accrued in the Major Championships (in the case of the Closing Swing this means the 152nd Open Championship) will count on the Race to Dubai Rankings, they will not count in the Swing Rankings.
McIlroy defends
Rory McIlroy will make his first appearance since his runner-up finish at the U.S. Open this week as he returns to the scene of his dramatic and historic victory in East Lothian last year.
The World Number Two entered the final round with a one-shot lead, but needed to fight all the way on a dramatic day in high winds at The Renaissance Club, producing a brilliant birdie-birdie finish to break home hearts and seal his second consecutive Rolex Series title.
A tee shot to five feet on the 17th helped move him into a tie for the lead with home favourite Robert MacIntyre, and the Northern Irishman then hit a two iron to 11 feet at the last before nervelessly holing his putt to sign for a 68 and become the first player to win back-to-back Rolex Series titles, and also the first player in history to win the Scottish Open, The Open, and the Irish Open.
McIlroy added a third Rolex Series win earlier this year at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and claimed the Wells Fargo Championship on the PGA Tour in May. Since then, he hasn't finished worse than tied 15th, which includes a tied 12th at the US PGA Championship and a runner-up finish to Bryson DeChambeau at the U.S. Open.
Inside the field
The world's best are once again at the Renaissance Club for the 42nd edition of Genesis Scottish Open.
Defending champion McIlroy headlines the field and is joined by Major winners Wyndham Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Brian Harman and Justin Thomas, while a plethora of Ryder Cup stars including home hero Robert MacIntyre, Ludvig Åberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Nicolai Højgaard and Viktor Hovland also feature alongside victorious 2023 Ryder Cup Captain Donald – the winner of Scotland’s national open in 2011.
And after Ewen Ferguson claimed his third DP World Tour title at the BMW International Open last week and MacIntyre earned his first PGA Tour title at the RBC Canadian Open last month, all eyes will be on a strong contingent of Scottish players - particularly after MacIntyre's Sunday 64 in this event last year. With Connor Syme, Calum Hill, Grant Forrest, Richie Ramsay and Scott Jamieson all in the field too, there are plenty of home hopes to root for as they try to become the first winners of the Genesis Scottish Open since Colin Montgomerie in 1999.
Ugo Coussaud (International Swing), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Asian Swing), Bernd Weisberger (European Swing) secured exemption into the Genesis Scottish Open through their performances earlier on this season in the ongoing phase of the Global Swings.
Open Qualifying Series
Following the KLM Open and Italian Open presented by Regione Emilia-Romagna, the Open Qualifying Series culminates at the Genesis Scottish Open, which presents the final chance players have to earn one of three places that are available to those not already exempt.
Guido Migliozzi and Joe Dean earned their places into the field of the final Major of the year in The Netherlands, while Tom McKibbin and Sean Crocker finished as the two highest finishers not already exempt in Italy.
Earlier in the season, Dean Burmester, Darren Fichardt and Dan Bradbury secured their place through the Joburg Open, while Joaquin Niemann, Rikuya Hoshino and Adam Scott earned the three places at the ISPS Handa Australian Open.
