The only annual regular event in golf that is co-sponsored by the PGA Tour and DP World Tour is the Scottish Open, and the 2026 version tees off at 2 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday from North Berwick. It’s the fifth year in a row both Tours sponsor this, and it was a smart change to make back then, with so many good USA players often heading over to Europe anyway two weeks ahead of the British Open, which is next week.

What is perhaps most unusual about this year’s event is that there are seven players from LIV in the field, led by Spain’s Jon Rahm, who is a +1500 third favorite to win it for the first time. And I think he will be mega-motivated for the rare chance to face off against stars from the PGA Tour for the first time outside of a major championship since the 2023 Tour Championship. The majors are each run by independent organizations and haven’t placed any bans on LIV players like the PGA Tour has.

There are seven LIV guys in this year’s field – also Tyrrell Hatton (could see him contending, too), David Puig, Tom McKibbin, Laurie Canter, Victor Perez, Adrian Meronk – and they are competing as DP World Tour members. Earlier this year, they paid outstanding fines for leaving for LIV and were given conditional DP World Tour membership back.

It was crucially important for Rahm to get that so he could be eligible for the 2027 Ryder Cup (must be a DP World Tour member to play for Europe). Rahm actually has talked about investing his own money to keep LIV afloat. This is a great British Open tune-up for the LIV guys, especially because it’s a typical 72-hole stroke-play event with a 36-hole cut, things that don’t exist in LIV.

Rahm has been dominating LIV in 2026 with two wins and four runners-up in nine starts but missed the cut at the U.S. Open in his last worldwide start. In two career outings at the Scottish Open, he has been seventh (2021) and T-55 (2022). I think a Top 10 at +155 works this week, but a win would not surprise me. Rahm’s eight PGA Tour wins this decade are still third-most on the Tour in that span. He is among the last to tee off in Round 1 at 9:05 a.m. ET on Thursday.

The top three finishers at this event get into next week’s British Open if not already qualified, and normally the victor would also earn a PGA Tour card through at least the 2027 season. But the LIV guys are not eligible for that.

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Seven of the world top 10 are teeing it up this week (Rahm is 11th). Will No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (+550) finally win for the first time since January? He has been close so many times, including four runners-up since then – dropping two of those in a playoff.

Those four second-place finishes are most by a PGA Tour player since the 2021-22 season. Scheffler hasn’t won this tournament but has been eighth and third his past two trips. I do wonder if he’s more focused on defending his British Open title next week.

Americans have won this event only six times, but the defending champion is rising American star Chris Gotterup … who also happens to come off a win Sunday at the John Deere Classic (35 players from there are teeing it up here). The 26-year-old is +2700 to repeat, which no one has ever done in the Scottish Open. Gotterup’s three wins this year are tied for the PGA Tour lead with England’s Matt Fitzpatrick (+2000).

No doubt the biggest Horse for the Couse is No. 2 Rory McIlroy (+1000), but being from Northern Ireland you’d expect he thrives in conditions like Scotland. McIlroy has a win (2023) runner-up and T-4 in his past three starts here and is the only golfer to finish top five at the past three. McIlroy tries to become the first golfer in history to win the Masters and Scottish Open in the same year.

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The Renaissance Club hosts for the eighth year in a row and is a par 70 at 7,282 yards. The course record is 61, which Gotterup tied in Round 2 last year. CBS has weekend coverage from noon-3 ET with the time difference.