Matt Fitzpatrick loves playing in Europe and thrives in the wind, which is why he has eight DP World Tour wins on his resume. John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Golf best bets: Outright picks for the Genesis Scottish Open

By Jack Dougherty | Last updated Jul 8, 2024 3:35 PM ET

After two straight runner-up finishes with our outright picks, Denny McCarthy found himself in a tie for second place in the final round of the John Deere Classic. He eventually fell back to a tie for seventh place, but we're banging at the door of an outright winner on a week-to-week basis. A winner is coming soon. Maybe we need to get out of the U.S. to find it.

Here are our three outright picks for the Genesis Scottish Open, the warm-up event for next week's Open Championship.

Matt Fitzpatrick (+4000 FanDuel)

We're bypassing the top of the odds board completely and skipping all the way down to Fitzpatrick at 40/1. The World No. 20 has been wildly inconsistent this season, but a return to The Renaissance Club might be just what he needs to get back in the winner's circle.

In five career starts at The Renaissance Club, Fitzpatrick has finishes of T2, T6 and T14. He missed the cut here last season, but that was in the midst of a poor stretch for him. The Englishman loves playing in Europe and thrives in the wind, which is why he has eight DP World Tour wins on his resume. Fitzpatrick is a better player than these odds indicate, and this is a perfect setup for him to grab his first win of the year.

Thomas Detry (+8000 FD)

Speaking of players who love The Renaissance Club, Detry also cracks our card at 80/1. The Belgian finished runner-up here in 2021 and followed it up with a T10 in 2022, which isn't surprising considering he played on the DP World Tour for five years before joining the PGA Tour in 2023.

Most of Detry's best finishes have come across the pond in Europe. He has a ton of experience on links courses with high wind gusts and slow greens, and he's been playing some great golf in America. Detry already has four top-eight finishes on the PGA Tour this season. He ranks sixth on Tour in strokes gained from putting and 28th in birdie average, so he has a chance to putt his way to a victory on these familiar greens.

Mathieu Pavon (+12500 FD)

We were surprised to see Pavon this low on the odds board. The Frenchman is coming off a solo fifth at the U.S. Open and a T16 at the Travelers Championship in his last two starts. He gained strokes from off the tee, on approach and from putting in each of those events, so he's starting to play some great all-around golf.

Pavon is another former DP World Tour veteran who recently joined the PGA Tour and won in Europe just last year. There's no way he should be priced behind players such as Rasmus Hojgaard, Erik Van Rooyen, Tom Hoge and Tom McKibbin.

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Jack Dougherty

Jack Dougherty has been writing professionally since 2015, contributing to publications such as GoPSUSports. com, Centre Daily Times, Associated Press, and Sportscasting. com

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