Steve Palmer's Scottish Open final-round tips and best bets

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 7am Sunday

Best bets

Tommy Fleetwood to win Scottish Open
3pts each-way 13-2 BoyleSports

Matthew Jordan to win 8.24am threeball
2pts 7-4 bet365, BoyleSports

Romain Langasque to win 7.07am threeball
1pt 5-2 Coral, Ladbrokes

Story so far

Rory McIlroy leads the Scottish Open by a shot going into the final round – and the Northern Irishman is in for an early wake-up call for the second day running.

A threat of thunder meant tee-times were brought forward by several hours for round three, and the same will be the case for Sunday, with McIlroy out in the final threeball at 8.57am.

Strong winds are forecast to be whipping across the Renaissance Club on Sunday – possibly causing suspensions in play – so the DP World Tour have opted to give themselves as much time as possible to complete the round. With the Open Championship next week, the Scottish Open must be concluded by sunset Sunday.

McIlroy, a best-price 9-1 pre-tournament, is no bigger than 6-4 with 18 holes to play. Tom Kim is alone in second place, with Tommy Fleetwood tied for third spot.

Leaderboard
-13 Rory McIlroy
-12 Tom Kim
-11 Brian Harman, Tommy Fleetwood
-10 Eric Cole, JT Poston, Byeong Hun An, Scottie Scheffler, Shane Lowry
-9 Max Homa, Tom Hoge, Harry Hall

Best prices
6-4 R McIlroy, 11-2 T Kim, 13-2 T Fleetwood, 15-2 S Scheffler, 14 B Harman, 16 S Lowry, 33 E Cole, B H An, 40 JT Poston, M Homa, 70 bar

Scottish Open final-round preview

Rory McIlroy looked like he might kick clear of the Scottish Open field when going four under par through ten holes of his third round, but he was one over par to the clubhouse from there and the tournament is wide open going into a breezy Sunday.

A cool, windy denouement is expected, and the front nine should play much more difficult than normal, so there is scope for many leaderboard changes in the early stages of Sunday morning. The layers dangling the best-price 6-4 McIlroy are probably right to tempt his fans.

The leader is clearly in fine fettle, driving his ball with typical aplomb for most of the week, but gusts of up to 41 mph are forecast. Everyone will be struggling for control and some colourful scorecards can be expected.

McIlroy has got better at playing in the wind as his career has gone on, but he makes no appeal at short odds with some high-class pursuers just behind.

The three biggest dangers to McIlroy may turn out to be Tommy Fleetwood, Scottie Scheffler and Shane Lowry – a trio who will be relishing the chance to show off their ability to handle strong breezes. Fleetwood is only two shots behind McIlroy, while Scheffler and Lowry are three off the pace.

Scheffler and Lowry must be greatly respected, but preference is for Fleetwood, who has earned a place in the final threeball and has been in imperious form for weeks.

Fleetwood was a playoff loser in the Canadian Open last month, then finished fifth in the US Open, closing with a spectacular 63. The Southport man will be playing close to home next week in the Open Championship at Hoylake and he may end up doing so off a morale-boosting Renaissance Club victory. Each-way terms are a fifth the odds, the first three places.

The players look set to play the majority of their round in a stiff breeze and Fleetwood has all the tools for survival. The 2019 Open runner-up was fourth in the Open last year and has been a regular contender in the Dunhill Links Championship. He was a playoff loser in the 2020 Scottish Open at the Renaissance.

Links master Matthew Jordan can boss Billy Horschel and Andrew Putnam in their 8.24am threeball, while former Amateur champion at Carnoustie, Romain Langasque, looks the value option against Wyndham Clark and Joost Luiten at 7.07am.

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