Steve Palmer's Scottish Open first-round preview and free golf tips

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the first round of the Scottish Open the Renaissance Club.

When to watch

Sky Sports Golf and Main Event, 8am Thursday

Best bets

Brandon Stone to win 12.55pm threeball
2pts 8-5 BoyleSports

Mackenzie Hughes to win 12.25pm threeball
2pts 11-10 BoyleSports, Hills

JB Hansen to win 1.45pm threeball
1pt 5-2 general

First-round preview

Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris and new US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick comprise the marquee threeball on the opening afternoon of the Scottish Open (1.15pm), followed soon after by the all-star trio of Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama and Tommy Fleetwood.

Pick of the threeball options, though, may be in three low-profile groups, with Brandon Stone, Mackenzie Hughes and JB Hansen nominated as value options.

Stone could take some confidence from the JP McManus Pro-Am on Tuesday, having finished mid-division in a top-class field. That effort saw the South African build on promising DP World Tour form figures of 5-15-46.

Stone is a former Scottish Open champion - he almost closed with a 59 when winning in 2018 - and is much preferred over Anirban Lahiri and Connor Syme (12.55pm).

Mackenzie Hughes, who finished sixth in the Open last year and has been in steady PGA Tour form, can boss Max Kieffer and Jaekyeoung Lee in the 12.25pm contest.

JB Hansen finished third in the 2013 Scottish Open and is worth chancing at a juicy price against Jorge Campillo, who was poor in the final round of the Irish Open on Sunday, and Sebastian Munoz, a rare visitor to the UK.

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