There’s always food for thought in this game. Sergio Garcia, for instance, put his failure to make it into The Open down to a lasagne he had for lunch during the 36-hole qualifier at West Lancashire last week.
Apparently, it gave him a dicky stomach. Vamos…to the on-course portaloos, presumably.
As for your correspondent? Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my own belly stood up to the rigours of a vast seafood paella while on holiday in Spain the other day.
It’s a faff the auld paella, isn’t it? A tasty faff, but a faff nevertheless. Shells here, tentacles there, legs and claws everywhere?
After the waitress had handed me an elaborate contraption to winkle out the crab meat, I embarked on a clumsy, muttering grapple with said crustacean that resembled a flustered Captain Birdseye trying to get to grips with a new tool from the bloomin’ Screwfix trade catalogue.
The fare on offer at the Renaissance Club this week should be easier on the eye at least. Yes, the Genesis Scottish Open has birled in again already.
The time seems to hurtle by at an alarming rate, doesn’t it? It’s accelerated by the fact that we live in such a crash, bang, wallop age.
The ticket ballot for the 2027 Open at St Andrews, for instance, got cracking yesterday, well over a week before the 2026 Open has even started.
These are such breathless times, I just about ran out of breath right there, halfway through typing the word ‘breathless’.
Anyway, it’s now 40 years since the Scottish Open reappeared on the European schedule in 1986, having been mothballed since 1973.
The domestic showpiece was staged at Haggs Castle and was, essentially, a rebranding of the Glasgow Open which had been played at the lovely southside course from 1983 to 1985.
Readers of a certain vintage may recall those days. Perhaps you tried your luck too in the competition that was promoted on the cover of the 1983 programme and lured all and sundry in with the chance to win a mink coat and a two-week holiday in Portugal.
The idea of Janice from Pollok, wreathed in her fancy fur while parading and perspiring around the sun-soaked Penina resort in gallus defiance of searing Algarve temperatures conjures up some wonderfully bamboozling imagery.
If you’re reading this, Janice, please get in touch.
There are no mink jackets on offer here in 2026, but the Genesis Scottish Open boasts a prize fund of $9 million and features a field that is as star-studded as one of Elvis’ jumpsuits.
A year ago, of course, all these stars – Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler et al – were outshone by Chris Gotterup. The underdog became the top dog.
At No 158 in the world at the time, it wasn’t so much a turn up for the books, more a Gotterup for them.
Since then, the American has established himself as one of the best in the world. His win in the John Deere Classic on Sunday was his third victory of a purposeful, profitable 2026 campaign. Giddy up Gotterup.
Can the Scots get galloping too? Robert MacIntyre, a thrilling Scottish Open champion in 2024, continues to carry the standard on the global stage although it’s been a topsy-turvy year for the Oban man.
For those behind him, there’s not been much to write home about in recent weeks. Calum Hill, Ewen Ferguson and Grant Forrest are the only Scots in the top-100 of the DP World Tour rankings. It’s been more solid than spectacular.
Connor Syme, meanwhile, had been nursing a niggling back injury and has made just five cuts this season which has left him languishing down in 174th place on the order of merit.
After a series of close shaves and near misses on the tour, Syme’s perseverance and patience finally paid off last year with a maiden win at the KLM Open. Fulfilment has turned to frustration, though.
But it’s only July. There’s a heck of a lot of golf to be played yet. All this golf lark, of course, has been a big area of discussion with the PGA Tour high heid yins creating a new-look schedule for 2028 and beyond.
Much of the narrative centred around balancing the schedules of the game’s best players. They’re a pampered old lot.
For the wonderfully enduring Padraig Harrington, meanwhile, the enthusiasm for playing shows no sign of diminishing.
At 54, he successfully defended his US Senior Open title on Sunday and heads for the Genesis Scottish Open for the latest leg of an exacting eight-week stretch of competitive cut-and-thrust.
Some of the elite young ‘uns would collapse at the prospect of such a demanding diary. You won’t hear Harrington complaining, though.
“Who wouldn’t want to do what I do?,” said the indefatigable Irishman, who has now won three US Senior Opens and defends his Senior Open title on this side of the pond at Gleneagles later this month.
“Every tournament I turn up to, it’s in the best condition that the golf course can be. Everything is looked after.
“For a normal person who’s into their golf, they would save all their money to have that one week’s holiday a year, and I get to do it 30 times a year. That’s not lost on me. I love playing golf. I love being out here competing.”
Now there’s some more food for thought, eh?
