Steve Palmer's Scottish Open final-round preview, best bets, free golf tips

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event and Golf, 8.30am Sunday

Best bets

Xander Schauffele to win Scottish Open
4pts 10-11 general

Matt Fitzpatrick to win Scottish Open
1.5pts each-way 11-1 general

Story so far

The weight which came off the shoulders of Xander Schauffele when he won the Travelers Championship last month was clear to see - the Californian was getting hugely frustrated with his PGA Tour victory drought.

Yes, Schauffele won the Olympic gold medal last year, then the Zurich Classic pairs event alongside Patrick Cantlay in April, but he had not won an individual title on the PGA Tour since January, 2019, until getting the job done in the Travelers.

Schauffele was two-shot victor in the Travelers, then he won the JP McManus Invitational Pro-Am by a shot on Tuesday, and five days later the resurgent 28-year-old is in charge of the Scottish Open.

Halfway leader, Cameron Tringale, wobbled in round three at the Renaissance Club, while Schauffele took charge. The pre-tournament 20-1 chance is two shots clear and has become 10-11 favourite.

Leaderboard
-7 Xander Schauffele
-5 Rafa Cabrera-Bello
-4 Jordan Smith, Jordan Spieth, Ryan Palmer
-3 Cameron Tringale, Alex Smalley, Matt Fitzpatrick

Best prices
10-11 X Schauffele, 13-2 J Spieth, 11 M Fitzpatrick, 12 R Cabrera Bello, J Smith, 20 R Palmer, 40 bar

Final-round preview

Xander Schauffele has got that winning feeling back - and there is no reason to believe he will fail to complete three victories on the spin in the Scottish Open.

Schauffele was 19 under par for four rounds in the Travelers Championship, ten under par for two rounds in the JP McManus Pro-Am, and he is seven under par through three rounds of the Scottish Open.

Those efforts have followed closing rounds of 65 and 61 in the AT&T Byron Nelson, as well as two decent Major spins - 13th in the US PGA and 14th in the US Open - so Schauffele has emphatically rediscovered his A-game.

Schauffele, who finished tenth on his Renaissance debut last year, can be expected to crash back into the world's top ten by winning on Sunday. A sunny final round, with gentle breezes, is forecast, so the leader should be able to keep his scorecard relatively clean. He bogeyed his final two holes of round three, but they are two of the toughest on the layout.

Schauffele could have hand-picked some of his pursuers. Rafa Cabrera-Bello is a former Scottish Open champion - in 2017 at a different track - but the Spaniard is notoriously brittle in contention. Even more so Cameron Tringale, Jordan Smith and Ryan Palmer.

Jordan Spieth and Matt Fitzpatrick stand out as the biggest threats to Schauffele. Spieth enjoyed two eagles in a Saturday 66, while Fitzpatrick carded one at the 16th hole to revive his challenge. Fitzpatrick was a playoff loser at the Renaissance last year.

Punters are advised to concentrate on Schauffele, Spieth and Fitzpatrick. Risking large stakes the week before the Open may not be everybody's cup of tea, but a win stake on Schauffele and an each-way investment on Fitzpatrick, who arguably represents slightly better value than Spieth, could be a sensible Sunday portfolio.

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