Smylie Kaufman has named his pick to win the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club this week, with one player backed to build on his top 10 finishes in the last two years at the event.
There is huge excitement heading into the Scottish Open as many of the world’s best make their final appearance before The Open Championship next week at Royal Troon.
Scottie Scheffler will not be involved in the coming days, but the likes of Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Ludvig Aberg will be teeing it up in North Berwick.
Of course, McIlroy is the defending champion and comes to Scotland with a point to prove after taking some time away from the game in the wake of his heartbreaking final round at the US Open at Pinehurst.
Smylie Kaufman tips PGA Tour star to win Scottish Open
But the man who played alongside him in the final round 12 months ago is being backed to build on two very impressive performances at the Scottish Open this time around.
Tom Kim started the final round at The Renaissance Club one shot back of McIlroy before falling away on Sunday. And speaking on The Smylie Show, Kaufman backed the 22-year-old to get across the line this week.
“That player’s Tom Kim, and I thought about saving Tom Kim for if he was going to play a Memphis, a Wyndham, he’s won there, but even a Memphis is a really good golf course for him, I thought about saving him for that week,” he said.
“But this week just makes way too much sense to not take Tom Kim; he finished second at the Travelers coming off just a crazy week. I think being the betting favourite for the Rocket Mortgage, he was either going to go out and win by four or he was going to show up and just not have the same energy from just a deflating play-off loss to Scottie Scheffler, ended up missing the cut. So we’re just going to chalk that up as a didn’t have it that week.
“But second at Travelers; we’re talking Memorial, he got in contention, didn’t have a great finish, 43rd; US Open found himself up there, T26; and you can’t forget the Canadian Open at T4. So Tom Kim for me, and we look at the course, has he had success there? Yes, 2022 finished third, last year finished sixth.”
That big win is coming for the South Korean
It should be said that Kaufman is only able to back a player once per season, so there is a chance that he would not have opted for Kim had he been able to pick from the full field.
But he definitely has the game to compete with the very best, ending up in a play-off with Scheffler at the Travelers Championship while impressing in Scotland in the past. And his form has definitely been heading in the right direction over the last few months.
Kim is going to win one of the sport’s biggest events sooner or later, so it would be no surprise if many were agreeing with Kaufman that he is a name to look out for this week.
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