Scottish Open (golf)

Scottish Open

Tournament information
Location	Scotland
Established	1935, re-established 1972, 1986
Course(s)	Gullane Golf Club
Par	70
Length	7,133 yards (6,522 m)
Tour(s)	European Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	£3.25 million
Month played	July
Tournament record score
Aggregate	262 Peter O'Malley (1992)
To par	−20 Ian Woosnam (1987)
Current champion
Rickie Fowler

Gullane

Location in Scotland

The Scottish Open is one of the richer golf tournaments on the PGA European Tour. The 2015 championship was played at Gullane Golf Club near Edinburgh. 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, which is itself frequently played elsewhere in Scotland.

History

1935 and 1936

In 1935 Gleneagles hosted a Scottish Open Championship held on the King's course. Total prize money was £750.^[1] The R&A objected to use of the term "Championship" being used for a tournament organised by a private enterprise.^[2] Percy Alliss won the tournament by 4 strokes from Jack Busson with an aggregate of 273.^[3] The 1936 tournament was sponsored by Penfold and known as the Penfold Scottish Open. Penfold had sponsored tournaments in Wales and England from 1932 to 1934. The tournament was played at Ayr Belleisle Golf Club. Total prize money was again £750. After 72 holes Jimmy Adams and Tom Collinge tied on 287.^[4] In the 36-hole play-off, Adams had rounds of 68 and 69 and won by 11 strokes.^[5] It was intended to hold the 1937 Penfold Scottish Open at Carnoustie just before the 1937 Open Championship which was to be played there. The R&A objected to the arrangement and the event was cancelled.^[6] Penfold resumed their sponsorship with the Penfold Professional Golf League in 1938.

1972 and 1973

The first Sunbeam Electric Scottish Open was held in 1972 at Downfield Golf Club near Dundee. Neil Coles beat Brian Huggett at the second hole of a sudden-death play-off, holing a 12-foot putt.^[7] Total prize money was £10,000 with a first prize of £2,000. Sunbeam Electric had sponsored the Sunbeam Electric Tournament in 1971.

In 1973 the event was played on the Old Course at St Andrews. Graham Marsh won by 6 strokes from Peter Oosterhuis.^[8] Total prize money was increased to £15,000 with a first prize of £2,500.^[9]

Both 1972 and 1973 tournaments were broadcast extensively on ITV.^[10][9]

1986 revival

The event returned to the European Tour calendar in 1986, replacing the Glasgow Open which had been held from 1983 to 1985. The tournament was held at Haggs Castle Golf Club in its first year back, before moving to Gleneagles until 1994. It was then hosted at Carnoustie for two years, but it was to disappear from the calendar again following the 1996 season.

Its place on the European Tour schedule from 1997 was taken by the Loch Lomond World Invitational, which had been first held the previous year. From 2001, it was decided that the Loch Lomond event would be known as the Scottish Open, and all prior editions would be granted Scottish Open status which resulted in the anomaly of having two champions in 1996.^[11]

From 2001 until 2010, the Scottish Open was played at Loch Lomond Golf Club. Some concern was expressed that the host course, which is very different from the links courses on which the Open Championship is played, puts European Tour players at a disadvantage in the subsequent major, compared to their leading rivals from the PGA Tour, who traditionally spend a week practising for the Open on links courses in Ireland.

There was a possibility that the event would move to the Dundonald links course in Ayrshire, but in 2006 the company's chief executive Keith Williams commented, "From our point of view, we would also perhaps regard Dundonald as being three years away from hosting a championship of this calibre."^[12]

On 24 January 2011, it was announced that the 2011 Barclays Scottish Open would be held at Castle Stuart Golf Links, near Inverness, due to the financial difficulty being suffered by Loch Lomond. Play was reduced to 54 holes (three rounds) in the 2011 tournament due to heavy rain causing flooding and landslides at Castle Stuart.^[13] The European Tour announced in September 2012 that the Scottish Open, now sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management, would be played at Castle Stuart in 2013 and move to Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in 2014.^[14] In July 2014 the Tour confirmed that the tournament would be played at Gullane Golf Club in 2015 and at Castle Stuart Golf Links in 2016.^[15] While in April 2016, it was announced that the tournament would head to Ayrshire for the first time in its current guise, with Dundonald Links – host of the Ladies Scottish Open in 2015 and 2016 – the chosen venue.^[16]

The prize fund was £10,000 in 1972, and by 2008 it had increased to £3 million, making it the largest in a European Tour event that is not co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour.^[12]

Winners

Year	Winner	Country	Venue	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open
2015	Rickie Fowler	United States	Gullane Golf Club	268	−12	1 stroke	Raphaël Jacquelin Matt Kuchar
2014	Justin Rose	England	Royal Aberdeen Golf Club	268	−16	2 strokes	Kristoffer Broberg
2013	Phil Mickelson	United States	Castle Stuart Golf Links	271	−17	Playoff	Branden Grace
2012	Jeev Milkha Singh	India	Castle Stuart Golf Links	271	−17	Playoff	Francesco Molinari
Barclays Scottish Open
2011	Luke Donald	England	Castle Stuart Golf Links	197^	−19	4 strokes	Fredrik Andersson Hed
2010	Edoardo Molinari	Italy	Loch Lomond Golf Club	272	−12	3 strokes	Darren Clarke
2009	Martin Kaymer	Germany	Loch Lomond Golf Club	269	−15	2 strokes	Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño Raphaël Jacquelin
2008	Graeme McDowell	Northern Ireland	Loch Lomond Golf Club	271	−13	2 strokes	James Kingston
2007	Grégory Havret	France	Loch Lomond Golf Club	272	−14	Playoff	Phil Mickelson
2006	Johan Edfors	Sweden	Loch Lomond Golf Club	271	−13	2 strokes	Luke Donald Andrés Romero Charl Schwartzel
2005	Tim Clark	South Africa	Loch Lomond Golf Club	265	−19	2 strokes	Darren Clarke Maarten Lafeber
2004	Thomas Levet	France	Loch Lomond Golf Club	269	−15	1 stroke	Michael Campbell
2003	Ernie Els (2)	South Africa	Loch Lomond Golf Club	267	−17	5 strokes	Darren Clarke Phillip Price
2002	Eduardo Romero	Argentina	Loch Lomond Golf Club	273	−11	Playoff	Fredrik Jacobson
The Scottish Open at Loch Lomond
2001	Retief Goosen	South Africa	Loch Lomond Golf Club	268	−16	3 strokes	Thomas Bjørn
Standard Life Loch Lomond
2000	Ernie Els	South Africa	Loch Lomond Golf Club	273	−11	1 stroke	Tom Lehman
1999	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	Loch Lomond Golf Club	268	−16	3 strokes	Sergio García Michael Jonzon Mats Lanner
The Standard Life Loch Lomond
1998	Lee Westwood	England	Loch Lomond Golf Club	276	−8	4 strokes	Robert Allenby Dennis Edlund David Howell Eduardo Romero Ian Woosnam
Gulfstream Loch Lomond World Invitational
1997	Tom Lehman	United States	Loch Lomond Golf Club	265	−19	5 strokes	Ernie Els
Loch Lomond World Invitational
1996*	Thomas Bjørn	Denmark	Loch Lomond Golf Club	277	−7	1 stroke	Jean van de Velde
Scottish Open
1996*	Ian Woosnam (3)	Wales	Carnoustie	289	+1	4 strokes	Andrew Coltart
1995	Wayne Riley	Australia	Carnoustie	276	−12	2 strokes	Nick Faldo
Bell's Scottish Open
1994	Carl Mason	England	King's Course, Gleneagles	265	−15	1 stroke	Peter Mitchell
1993	Jesper Parnevik	Sweden	King's Course, Gleneagles	271	−9	5 strokes	Payne Stewart
1992	Peter O'Malley	Australia	King's Course, Gleneagles	262	−18	2 strokes	Colin Montgomerie
1991	Craig Parry	Australia	King's Course, Gleneagles	268	−12	1 stroke	Mark McNulty
1990	Ian Woosnam (2)	Wales	King's Course, Gleneagles	269	−15	4 strokes	Mark McNulty
1989	Michael Allen	United States	King's Course, Gleneagles	272	−8	2 strokes	José María Olazábal Ian Woosnam
1988	Barry Lane	England	King's Course, Gleneagles	271	−13	3 strokes	Sandy Lyle José Rivero
1987	Ian Woosnam	Wales	King's Course, Gleneagles	264	−20	7 strokes	Peter Senior
1986	David Feherty	Northern Ireland	Haggs Castle	270	−14	Playoff	Ian Baker-Finch Christy O'Connor Jnr
1974–85: No tournament
Sunbeam Electric Scottish Open
1973	Graham Marsh	Australia	Old Course at St Andrews	286	−2	6 strokes	Peter Oosterhuis
1972	Neil Coles	England	Downfield, Dundee	283	−5	Playoff	Brian Huggett
1937–71: No tournament
Penfold Scottish Open
1936	Jimmy Adams	Scotland	Belleisle Golf Club, Ayr	287	n/a	Playoff	Tom Collinge
Scottish Open Championship
1935	Percy Alliss	England	Gleneagles Hotel	273	n/a	4 strokes	Jack Busson

* – Two events held in 1996
^ – Shortened to 54 holes due to weather

References

1. "The Scottish "Open" – Practice play at Gleneagles". The Glasgow Herald. 17 June 1935. p. 20.
2. "Golf – Scottish "Open" qualifiers – Callum and Alliss lead". The Glasgow Herald. 19 June 1935. p. 12.
3. "Great finish by Alliss – Final round of 66 at Gleneagles – Record aggregate in Scots Open championship". The Glasgow Herald. 20 June 1935. p. 20.
4. "Collinge-Adams replay – Tie in the Penfold tournament". The Glasgow Herald. 18 June 1936. p. 20.
5. "Record-breaking win – Adams's rounds of 68 and 69". The Glasgow Herald. 19 June 1936. p. 4.
6. "Scottish tournament cancelled – Result of R. and A. Club objection". The Glasgow Herald. 2 January 1937. p. 15.
7. "Golf – Coles wins title putting like a demon". The Times. 3 July 1972. p. 11.
8. "Marsh in line for Open win". The Glasgow Herald. 2 July 1963. p. 5.
9. "Golf –Scottish Open moves to the Old course". The Times. 12 January 1973. p. 7.
10. "Golf – Rich plum beyond reach of sponsors". The Times. 12 July 1972. p. I.
11. "Scottish Open: Historic yet new". BBC Sport. July 13, 2001. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
12. "Scottish Open will become one of Tour's richest tournaments". The Scotsman. July 17, 2006. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
13. "Bad weather suspends golf's Scottish Open". BBC News (BBC). 9 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
14. "Scottish Open to moves to Royal Aberdeen in 2014". BBC Sport (BBC). 19 September 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
15. "Scottish Open: Gullane and Castle Stuart host next two tournaments". BBC Sport. 13 July 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
16. McEwan, Michael (25 April 2016). "Dundonald Links to host 2017 Scottish Open". bunkered.

External links

• Coverage on the European Tour's official site

Coordinates: 56°01′59″N 2°50′17″W / 56.033°N 2.838°W