Genesis Scottish Open 2023 First-Round Leader Bets

The Genesis Scottish Open will begin Thursday, July 13, from The Renaissance Club in Scotland, and even with it not being a designated event, plenty of big names are in the field.

Some of the players include defending champion Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who has +700 odds to win this week.

Scoring at The Renaissance Club will depend on the weather, especially the wind. A year ago, Schauffele won the event at 7-under. Two years ago, Min Woo Lee won at 18-under. If there’s no wind, it could turn into a birdie fest. If the wind picks up, it could play like an Open Championship.

So, who could post the best score in Thursday’s first round? Below are my first-round leader bets for the week.

Genesis Scottish Open: First-Round Leader (FRL) Bets

Scottie Scheffler +1600 First-Round Leader

This is a strategy to attack most weeks when it comes to selecting the player with the best odds to both win the event and to be the first-round leader. Scheffler is +700 to win the tournament and +1600 to lead after the first round, which presents some solid value.

Scheffler also leads the PGA Tour in first-round scoring average this year (67.76)

Min Woo Lee +4500 First-Round Leader

He won this event in 2021 with an 18-under score, so he certainly has the ability to go low at this course. And he enters in great form – four top-20 finishes in his last five starts worldwide.

The 24-year-old has played well in a number of events this season against some of the PGA Tour’s best.

Ludvig Aberg +5500 First-Round Leader

The 23-year-old is from Sweeden, so he’s played plenty of golf in Europe, which will certainly help him out this week. He’s played a ton of PGA Tour events since finishing school at Texas Tech as the No. 1 ranked player in the PGA Tour University rankings, which gave him full status on Tour.

Aberg seems to be settling into playing on the PGA Tour and with his talent, he can go low in any given round.