Race for the Scottish Open Starts in Furious Pace

The Scottish Open may not be one of the four major Championships in golf, but it is fast gaining importance since it is one of the ways for European golfers to get into the Open Championship. Reigning champion Justin Rose prepares for his defence of the Scottish Open title and the 34-year-old Brit says that he is feeling confident of being successful in his attempts. Unsurprisingly, Betfair places the reigning titleholder as the favourites to win at 12/1 in the Scottish Open 2015 odds. Rose has been given a major boost following the news that Rory McIlroy will miss this tournament due to injury.

McIlroy would have been an overwhelming favourite, but he has withdrawn from the tournament after suffering a ligament injury.

Ross has been in fine form in 2015; a fact demonstrated by his Zurich Classic of New Orleans title back in April. Aside from this fine success, he has also managed to do well at the recent Masters tournament. Rose comes into the Scottish Open as the world No 7. He fought off intense pressure from Kristoffer Broberg to win the title last year. Links course has provided success for Rose this season and he says that it has helped boost his confidence immensely ahead of the tournament.

The first two rounds of the Scottish Open will feature Rose alongside Phil Mickelson, who won this title in 2013, and Marc Warren, who is a home favourite. Rickie Fowler, meanwhile, will be coming in with this Ryder Cup team mates Jamie Donaldson and Ian Poulter in the marquee group.

The importance of winning this title has been demonstrated by Warren. The 34-year-old has managed only one European tour wins in recent years. However, the exit of McIlroy has opened the door for an unlikely victory. The home advantage is likely to help Warren perform much better than he has done recently. The golfer, who is ranked 67^th in the world, says that this title is extremely important especially for those with Scottish nationality. It ranks so high that it can even be termed as a fifth major according to Warren.

The closest Warren has come to winning the Scottish Open was in 2012 and 2014. On both these occasions, he finished third in the rankings. Since he has done well in recent times, he feels that there is enough confidence in his game to go on and cross the final hurdle. Warren will be part of the Open that starts on July 9. He has three European tour victories in his career and he would want to improve on that record if he is to achieve a major jump in the world rankings before the end of the year.

Even though he is a home favourite, his lack of any Scottish Open title previously has placed him at a very long odds of 50/1 by Betfair. Rickie Fowler and Shane Lowry are some of the closest to figure alongside favourites like Phil Mickelson.

The absence of Rory McIlroy, who has never won this title, will undoubtedly be felt at the tournament, but other stars are prepared to use this Scottish Open as a tool to do well in the upcoming British Open. Even though many top golfers have chosen to skip this tournament, Rose feels that the schedule can be built with next week in mind. Returning as the defending champion causes a lot of pressure and Rose will have to overcome it in order to win back-to-back titles, which is something that has not been done in recent times.