As The Open Championship draws ever nearer, players only have one more week to fine tune their games before heading over to Royal Portrush.
The final chance to gain some all-important links golf experience comes this week at the Genesis Scottish Open, where the PGA Tour and DP World Tour's best meet at The Renaissance Club to the east of Edinburgh.
While making a betting pick to win the Scottish Open is tough with so many high-quality names in the field this week, that has left plenty of value for those who possess more than enough ability to potentially crash the party.
US Open champion, JJ Spaun is priced at +6000 to win in Scotland while Justin Rose - runner-up at the 2024 Open - can be found at +9000. Alex Noren has the same odds despite possessing an impressive record in links golf throughout his career.
Depending on the weather and how hard the wins blows on Scotland's east coast, scoring can be fairly low at The Renaissance Club, so those who place accuracy and control over outright power could do well.
On the flip side, anyone who comes into the event in a rich vein of form might fancy their chances of translating a different kind of game onto the baked fairways and undulating greens, no matter what.
Below, we've noted down a couple of sleeper picks we believe could well be worth an each-way bet at the 2025 Genesis Scottish Open.
GENESIS SCOTTISH OPEN SLEEPER PICKS 2025
Prices via FanDuel Sportsbook (odds correct at time of publication)
Jordan Smith (+12000)
Smith is regarded as one of the top ball strikers on the DP World Tour and he will be keen to put in some low numbers again this week after narrowly missing out to Dan Brown in Germany this past weekend.
Smith finished at 20-under-par, two back of his fellow Englishman, which should light the fire in him to go and taste contention again. He missed the cut here last year but was T12th in 2023 so has some solid course form.
Laurie Canter (+17000)
Smith’s fellow Englishman, Laurie Canter is also worth a look this week at such high odds. The former LIV player has won twice on the DP World Tour over the past 13 months and carries solid form again into this week’s event, having finished 15-under-par and T7th at the BMW International Open last week.
He has little course form but back-to-back top-25s in The Open prove he has a game made for links golf.
Kristoffer Reitan (+17000)
The Norwegian has been one of the most in-form players on the DP World Tour over the past few months, claiming victory at the Soudal Open via an incredible final round comeback as well as runner-up finishes at the Hainan Classic and Austrian Alpine Open.
A T4th in his last start at the BMW International Open shows he is still playing some great golf and, in a field with more experience, I feel current play is going to be a big factor in the end result.
Looking at his stats, Reitan ranks inside the top-55 for every long and short game aspect, which tells me he is one to back on a course where all-round game is needed.
Richard Mansell (+30000)
Given that the Englishman finished in a tie for 10th at the Genesis Scottish Open last year and has registered a victory this year, I can't quite believe the odds I am seeing for Mansell in 2025.
As mentioned, he claimed a win at the Porsche Singapore Classic (a tournament I backed him at) and, after that win, finished T12th at the Turkish Airlines Open and T26th at the most recent BMW International Open.
The big factor for me this week is Mansell's final round at The Renaissance Club last year, where he matched the course record with a 61. It shows he can go low here and, if he can draw inspiration from that, I really fancy Mansell to claim a top-10 with what are extremely generous odds.
Aaron Rai (+7000)
Any time you can pick a former champion as a sleeper pick, I like to at least take a look as they have proved once before they know how to successfully plot their way around. Rai beat Tommy Fleetwood to the title in 2020 and has since proved it was certainly not a fluke with a T4th result last year.
The thing with Rai and links golf is, without exception, his results are dictated by his putting success during the week. All three of his top-10s here were born through at least 0.48 strokes gained on the field while his three missed cuts saw him lose at least 0.64 strokes on the greens.
Rai's extreme accuracy from tee to green always helps him when it comes to links golf, so if the Englishman can follow up his encouraging putting performance at the 2024 running (1.46 SG), there is every chance he spoils the party of one of the big names.
Brian Harman (+10000)
Brian Harman has to be known as a links-golf specialist at this point, with a Claret Jug in his back pocket and four top-25s in his past six starts at either The Open Championship or Scottish Open, otherwise.
He was T21st here last year despite suffering from an unusually poor week with his putter, though Harman remained accurate with his longer clubs - a key area to focus on again this week.
Recent form suggests he is back to his best with the putter and an eighth-place finish at the Travelers Championship on his most recent start should leave him feeling confident as he returns to a part of the world where he has very fond memories.
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