What is Scottish Open's future under new PGA Tour schedule?
BBC Sport Golf Correspondent Iain Carter joins Golf Today to discuss the currently super-busy British sports scene that includes the Scottish Open and the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
Video Transcript
And we welcome in BBC Sports Ian Carter.
Ian, thank you so much for joining us.
This is a really busy time in the UK when it comes to sports, but where does the Scottish Open fit into that landscape?
I, I, I think in S- in Scotland, it's, it's very prominent.
But, across the whole of the UK, a, a little thing called Wimbledon is, is dominating the headlines on a domestic front, and of course, the World Cup, where England are, are, are still in and competing in a big match against Norway coming up at the weekend.
That's dominating the sporting agenda.
But there is, I think, a, a real feeling of anticipation, certainly among golf fans, because this week is always, you know, the perfect hors d'oeuvre, if you like, to the main course that's gonna come next week with the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
Ian, I think most people agree that the Scottish Open as a co-sanctioned event on the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour has been a home run, but where do you see this event in 2028 with the PGA Tour and its evolution to the Championship series?
That is the million-dollar question, or a $20 million question, probably, to be more accurate.
I, I You know, this was a question I, I asked several of the players myself today, Rory McIlroy, Bob McIntyre included.
You know, where does an event that is unique in the sense that it is co-sanctioned between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, it offers the leading players from both tours the perfect date and the perfect environment to get themselves ready for the Open Championship, and in its own right, it stands alone as a very prestigious title.
Now, how do you marry all of those different factors into what looks like a bit of a straitjacket for the Championship series, or the Challenger series, whichever one it falls into, when we get to the, the new setup in 2028?
And it feels to me, under its current guise, it's gonna be a very different, difficult square to circle, if you like.
and certainly, you know, talking to Rory McIlroy, he said, "Look, the Scottish Open needs to be protected in this environment."
And, Bob McIntyre said, "They're gonna have to make exceptions," because the date works for everyone, but as it stands at the moment, it doesn't fit the criteria that you would want.
This is a $9 million event.
Bob McIntyre said, "In a place like Scotland, it would be absurd to have a $20 million event."
You can go through all the different factors that will make the Championship series events, and they don't tick all the boxes that the Scottish Open ticks.
Now, over the last few years, having LIV players alongside players from the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour at major championships has been normalized, but this week is a little bit different.
What impact, there's seven LIV players in the field this week, what impact do they have on this event?
Well, I, I, I think it adds to the luster.
And Rory McIlroy said it again today.
If you've got Jon Rahm in the field, then the event is better for it.
And, you know, you can extrapolate that further through the LIV players who are involved here.
It's something we've kind of got used to on the DP World Tour.
You know, there was a strong contingent in Munich last week.
And, you know, given the upheaval that is going on on the previously Saudi-funded, Saudi-funded circuit, these players are naturally looking to exploit the membership options that they do have with the DP World Tour.
And mechanisms have been found to be able to get these players into the field.
So I think it offers an interesting pathway.
You know, look at what Patrick Reed is doing this year.
He is playing the DP World Tour's schedule.
He will finish in the top 10 here.
He will be eligible for the PGA Tour as of right because of that kind of promotion, that goes from DP World Tour to PGA Tour for the start of next season in America.
And I think that that may be a pathway that will be attractive to a number of other LIV players who are potentially fearing for the future of that setup.
Ian, it's been a quiet year for Rory McIlroy outside of the Masters and Augusta National, of course.
What do you make of where he is at the moment?
I think it's interesting to see.
I think he's obviously playing this more reduced, schedule.
He's basically based himself in Wentworth since the US PGA.
Obviously, came back over for the US Open, didn't play the Travelers.
Went and played some recreational golf with Shane Lowry and Luke Donald down in Cornwall at, at Centennadock, and has been kind of enjoying that, that kind of side of life.
He's had a, a practice round at Royal Birkdale as well.
But the competitive reps haven't been the same, and I, I think it's very difficult to see exactly where his game is at.
He's sort of been on the fringes of competing in the big events that he has played, other than, of course, the Masters, where he made a very big noise, didn't he, in, in April.
I, I, I get the feeling that he is targeting not just the majors, but the big majors, the ones that he wants to w- You know, he I, I think the Open Championship obviously is huge for him, but I think it's grown even, even greater for him now.
I think he wants to be a multiple winner of the Claret Jug, and that is probably one of his biggest driving forces right now.
Seems obvious why this event is such a good run-up to the Open Championship next week, but you've talked to the players the last few years at this event.
Specifically, what are they trying to do?
What are they trying to prepare for this week looking ahead to Royal Birkdale this year?
They're getting, they're getting themselves, familiar with the unique links turf, the seaside turf.
You know, Shinnecock Hills was kind of regarded as sort of a bit linksy, but actually it's not a links golf course.
It's a links-like golf course.
It's got proximity to the coastline, but it plays completely different to a links where you can run the ball and find different ways to take angles and undulations to try and maneuver your, your golf ball around.
And it is a completely different form of the game that is typically played on the PGA Tour.
So certainly those American players, but also those who've been playing on the European, continent on the DP World Tour, they're all looking to get used to those surfaces, the different grasses, the fescues, the, the fact that the greens can be very firm, but not that fast.
You know, that is different to the kind of golf that they routinely play.
So it's getting used to that.
For the American players, I think it's shedding some jet lag as well.
Scottie Scheffler was very keen to tell us he's still a bit fuzzy in the head since making the journey across the Atlantic.
Get that all out of the way, bed in the links style, make sure that you're, you know, cognizant of the, of the sea breezes that come in much heavier than they might feel at an inland, inland course in continental Europe or in the United States.
So all of those different unique characteristics that we get from links golf, they can tick so many boxes in the course of a, a week like this, as well as get competitive reps.
Fuzzy in the head.
Rex and I don't even have jet lag, and yet- we don't, we don't have an excuse, for that one as well.
You- I'm with you on that.
As, as you look ahead to next week at The Open, what do you think the biggest storyline is gonna be at Royal Birkdale?
I th- I think that's r- really, really hard to, to tell.
I mean, the, the week is gonna start like it's never happened before with this last chance qualifier, which is, you know, a small select bunch of people who've come very close to making it into the field, and they're playing a shootout over 18 holes to get one player in to complete the field.
So that's gonna be fascinating.
How will, will that work?
I think there are discussion points off the course as, as well in terms of fan behavior.
The last time The Open was in the northwest of England at Hoylake, you know, Brian Harman got a fair amount of abuse, and I think it's worth making that point because there was obviously an awful lot made of the crowd behavior at Shinnecock Hills on, on Long Island in the recent US Open, and we are not, immune to that on this side of the pond.
And in- interestingly, the R&A have issued today an, an, an open commitment that, that fans are being asked to join to be able to behave in a respectful way.
So I think that's gonna be an agenda off the course.
There are all the machinations going on in the world of golf, which will bubble along as well.
And then I think you're looking into the trends that of, of, of the year so far.
obviously we in the UK are looking for a third major winner from this year after McIlroy and Aaron Rai, and Tommy Fleetwood is top of the list there because he's the, the local guy.
But what about Scottie Scheffler?
So many near misses this year.
Defending champion, he said he's gonna find it really hard to hand that trophy over on Tuesday.
How does he go?
How does someone like a, a Xander Schauffele go?
A Patrick Reed?
You know, there are a lot of players who've got lots of storylines around them, and of course it's the final men's major of the year, and it all goes into that melting pot.
