Let’s not kid ourselves. Helped, of course, by its pre-The Open slot on the schedule, the Scottish Open has always attracted strong fields. Payne Stewart, for instance, strutted like a peacock when the event was played under the Bell’s banner. Ernie Els was a regular when it was sponsored by Barclays, as was Phil Mickelson, who lifted the title when the tournament was then sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management for a spell. There can be no denying, though, that the status of the event has been elevated to a new level through it first earning Rolex Series recognition then becoming co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, as well as Genesis, the premium luxury Korean car brand, coming on board as the title sponsor as part of a partnership that also involves VisitScotland. Even without world No 1 Scottie Scheffler in the field, last year’s tournament officially boasted the fifth strongest field - it was only behind three of the majors and The Players Championship - in golf in 2024 and this year’s edition, which gets underway on Thursday at The Renaissance Club in East Lothian, is set to be meaty, too. Spearheaded by Scheffler, the line up contains the top five players in the current Official World Golf Ranking, with the game’s current dominant force being joined on Scotland’s Golf Coast by Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa. Add in J.J. Spaun, Sepp Straka and Ludvig Aberg and you’ve got eight of the top ten. Oh, and let’s not forget that the defending champion is a certain Bob MacIntyre. In Schauffele (The Open), McIlroy (The Masters), Scheffler (PGA Championship) and Spaun (US Open), the field contains the four current major champions and that could well be a first for an event that was launched in 1972 at Downfield, where the winner was Neil Coles. Scottish Open offer - use the code GOLF50 to get our brilliant Scottish Golf Courses You Must Play newsletter for half price {{cta('186439453527')}} “Having a Scot defending and how it all panned out last year, I think we are even more excited about this year’s tournament,” admitted Rory Colville, the DP World Tour championship director for the $9 million event. “Everything is shaping up for it to be another spectacular week at The Renaissance Club.” The three stagings so far with Genesis as the title sponsor have been memorable. Schauffele, who has gone on to become a multiple major winner, won in tough conditions in 2022 before McIlroy finished birdie-birdie the following year to pip MacIntyre and land a first success on Scottish soil. As for 12 months ago, it was one of those magical moments for Scottish fans as MacIntyre holed a 23-foot birdie putt on the last green to become the first home winner since Colin Montgomerie did the trick at Loch Lomond in 1999. “For me, to hear Flower of Scotland ringing around the 18th green last year as we were setting up for the prize-giving was just something truly incredible,” admitted Colville, a proud Scot himself. “Look, it caught everyone’s attention globally, I think, because of his reaction and also because he had come so close the year before. Yeah, it was fantastic.” It wasn’t only MacIntyre’s reaction that made the moment so special. American Sahith Theegala, who’d hung around to watch the finish, was captured on video celebrating up on the clubhouse balcony as a putt that was probably heard across Scotland dropped. “That was significant for the tournament and for Genesis,” declared Graeme Russell, another proud Scot who is the company’s brand advisor. “The TV audience for the Genesis Scottish Open is truly global and reaches important audiences and customers around the world.” While the players are the star attractions, the fans are equally important to all the parties involved in the event, which, after being moved around the country for a spell, is being staged at The Renaissance Club for the seventh year in a row. A Fan Zone is constantly being improved, with KT Tuntsall, the Grammy-nominated, Brit-award winning artist performing on the Fringe by the Sea pop-up stage after play has finished in the third round on Saturday. “We are creating a new kids’ viewing area as part of ‘The Stadium’ at the sixth hole,” said Colville of what has become one of the tournament’s main hubs. “It will be a dedicated area for kids to get close to the action and hopefully have some interaction with the players. “On the pro-am day again, we are going to give kids the opportunity to walk the sixth hole and engage with the professional and then have a putt on the sixth green, something we did last year and it created some wonderful moments, including Rory McIlroy with a youngster who holed a nice putt. Those are key things for us and the Stephen Gallacher Foundation remains a core part of the event, so lots of fun things for the kids to get involved in.” Adults, too, because, if a fan predicts the first player in the event to make a hole-in-one at the sixth, the player will not only win a Genesis GV60 but the fan will win a VIP trip to the Genesis Championship in Korea, including business class flights and accommodation. According to Russell, it’s important to use the Genesis Scottish Open to attract new fans to the sport. “There is an opportunity to engage the next generation of golf fans through the Genesis Scottish Open,” he observed. “I think what we are doing at the ‘Stadium Hole’ this year will create an exciting spectator experience and bring the fans as close to the players as you possibly can at the right point in time and create some electricity.” That atmosphere was electric as MacIntyre holed his winning putt 12 months ago and we can expect more of the same as the Genesis Scottish Open takes centre stage in the summer’s golf offering in the sport’s cradle.