Scottish Open Tips 2026: Three Names to Back for FRL Leader

It is absolutely gorgeous weather in the UK and the players teeing off for the First Round of the Scottish Open, should be doing so under blue skies and barely a breeze.

Our resident golf tipster Jamie Worsley is here with three picks he fancies to take advantage of these good conditions in his Scottish Open FRL Tips, which you can check out below...

You can read Jamie's full Scottish Open Preview here..

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Tomorrow's opening round of the Genesis Scottish Open is set to be blessed with largely pleasant conditions for the field, but there could just be a slight advantage for those out very late in the day at The Renaissance Club. 

Play begins at 7.00am on Thursday, when it will be a touch cloudy with a steady 9mph breeze. The sunshine soon breaks through, resulting in temperatures of around 20°C, whilst we could see gusting winds of up to 17mph later in the morning. 

Conditions will remain bright and warm for the second wave, who get underway at 12.15pm, and they should also benefit from the wind dying down to a mere 5-6mph in the afternoon. 

Although this may not be enough to result in a significant bias, there is a window there of three hours or so where the afternoon starters – especially those out after 1.30pm – could get to play in the calmest weather of the day. 

With that, I've focused my attention on this small section of the draw and come up with three players who can get off to a fast start in Scotland. 

Ludvig Aberg 

Start time: 1.54pm 

First up is Ludvig Aberg, who has twice finished inside the top 10 at The Renaissance Club in three visits. Every part of his game is thriving at present, and as one of the best first-round performers in the field, he has every chance of going low in the benign afternoon conditions. 

Ludvig was in superb form during the spring, as he reeled off eight straight top-25s from the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the beginning of March to the PGA Championship at the end of May. He recorded a top-five finish in each of those mentioned events, and hit similarly lofty heights at the RBC Heritage, THE PLAYERS Championship, and the Texas Open. 

It's his irons that have excelled this year, ranking 11th in SG: Approach, and he has been especially potent with the long irons, leading the PGA Tour in proximity over 200 yards. The driver continues to be a major strength, sitting 20th in SG: Off-the-Tee and, also gaining strokes in both short-game categories, he's doing everything to at least a solid standard. 

Currently ranked 12th in first-round performance, this quality has often been evident on day one. He topped the leaderboard in round one of the RBC Heritage back in April and was 2nd after 18 holes of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, alongside three further top-10s. 

Aberg missed the cut on his debut at this venue in 2023 but was a different animal the following year, opening with a six-under 64 to finish Thursday in 3rd place. Rounds of 64 and 65 then saw him hold both the 36 and 54-hole leads before he slipped to 4th after a 73 in round four. 

An 8th-place finish last year, where he again fired three rounds in the 60s, proved he can go low here. If this does indeed turn out to be a favourable draw, there are few as capable of taking advantage.  

Alex Fitzpatrick 

Start time: 2.05pm 

Having only finished outside the top 25 twice in 15 appearances, Alex Fitzpatrick has been hugely impressive in his breakthrough season. With his links pedigree there for all to see at the 2023 Open Championship, finishing 17th on debut, he should relish returning to this brand of golf with his newfound level of form. 

Fitzpatrick's maiden DP World Tour victory at the Indian Open back in March feels a lifetime ago considering what he's done since. That memorable win alongside big brother Matt at the Zurich Classic came just a month later, earning him a PGA Tour card in the process, and he's gone from strength to strength from there. 

A 75th-place finish at the PGA Championship is the only minor blot on his record over his last seven starts. He's secured four top-10s in the elite-field Signature Events, the best of which was a 4th-place finish at Quail Hollow in the Truist Championship, while he also hit the top 25 on his U.S. Open debut at Shinnecock. 

Few players are hitting the ball as strongly at present, with the Englishman ranking 4th in SG: Approach and 9th in SG: Off-the-Tee across the previous three months. Although he has been taking a little time to get into stride, I'm hoping this return to links golf can spur him into a fast start. 

Fitzpatrick was 7th at the 2016 Boy's Amateur – an event held both here and at Muirfield – but hasn't been able to transfer that to this championship, missing the cut on each attempt. However, that 17th-place finish at Royal Liverpool still sits fresh in the memory, and with a 9th-place finish at Royal County Down at the 2024 Irish Open another positive, I'm confident he can turn that poor record at The Renaissance Club around. 

Joakim Lagergren 

Start time: 2.05pm 

I'm going to take a punt on links-loving Swede Joakim Lagergren at huge odds. He arrives in Scotland after finishing 4th at the Open d'Italia just two weeks ago and, handed what is hopefully a favourable tee time, he can build on that tomorrow. 

Lagergren had picked up four top-25s this season prior to his impressive display in Italy, including a 15th-place finish in Qatar – an event where links performers often go well. The putter remains his most reliable club, ranking 16th in SG: Putting, though he did appear to strike the ball strongly in Turin. 

His five-under 66 in round one there was enough to sit 8th at the end of the day, which was his third first-round top-10 of the season, following similar efforts at the Qatar Masters and Kenya Open. 

Two top-25s at the Scottish Open each came before the move to The Renaissance Club, where he has only recorded a best of 35th in 2021. That said, he was 13th entering the final round in 2023, before a 76 saw him slide down the leaderboard to 54th. 

Furthermore, Lagergren has an impeccable record in this part of the world at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He was 2nd there in 2021 and has three additional top-five finishes: 3rd in 2019, 4th in 2015, and 4th in 2016. 

Runner-up finishes on linksy courses in Qatar and the Netherlands also bode well, and whilst this often erratic player is not always easy to get right, it's on this type of setup where he is most likely to outperform his odds.