The Genesis Scottish Open will be held on Thursday, July 7, and finish on Sunday, July 10. Meanwhile, several LIV Golf players recently had their ban lifted.
It is the fourth and final major tournament of the season after the Masters, the PGA Championship, and the U.S. Open. It is also the final PGA Tour event before the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews.
“We are delighted to welcome Genesis as a title sponsor of a European Tour event for the first time,” European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said. “Genesis has a strong history of sponsorship on the PGA Tour through The Genesis Invitational, and their commitment to the Scottish Open will further enhance one of our premier events of the season.”
Members of both tours will be playing in the 2022 Scottish Open due to a modified qualifying system, and the same will also apply in the following with the Open Championship. Some of the players who have confirmed for this year’s Scottish Open are major winners, including 2021 Open Champion Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, and Matt Fitzpatrick. Morikawa won the Masters, Thomas won PGA Championship, and Fitzpatrick was the champion of the U.S. Open. Additionally, defending champion Min Woo Lee is looking forward to replicating his success in the 2021 Scottish Open.
The players who do not qualify for the Scottish Open or the Open Championship will participarte in the Barbasol Championship at Keene Trace Golf Club and the Barracuda Championship in Nevada. Each has 50 spots open for the players not eligible for the bigger events in the U.K. Barbasol Championship will take place on the same day as the Scottish Open, while Barracuda Championship is on the same day as Open Championship.
Protesting ban
DP World Tour members who played in LIV Golf’s inaugural tournament at the Centurion Club were initially charged £100,000 as a penalty. They are also banned from this week’s event.
However, the suspensions were temporarily lifted following a hearing, with the DP World Tour releasing a statement that Branden Grace, Justin Harding, Adrian Otaegui, and Ian Poulter would be able to play in the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. Due to their inclusion, the number of players who will be competing in the Scottish Open goes up from 156 to 160 players.
All four of them will head out in two groups as the first ones on either side of the draw. Harding and Otaegui will first be out on Thursday at 7:15 a.m., while Poulter will be with Grace at the same time on Friday.
Poulter was unconcerned about the potential backlash from other golfers by appealing the ban imposed on the DP World Tour players.
“I feel pretty good,” he said. “I feel like it was the right decision, and I look forward to the week.”
“The locker room are people I play against week in and week out, and if they object, that’s up to those guys. I haven’t had a problem with any of the players. I’ve seen Rory (McIlroy) this week, and I had a chat, I’ve seen Thomas (Bjorn), and we have a difference of opinion, but we’re still friends, which is nice.”