This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
With a number of Americans crossing the Atlantic a week early to prepare for the Open Championship, the Scottish Open had both big names and a strong field. The John Deere Classic had no big names in a very weak field. But in the end, the two tournaments did have one thing in common: surprise winners.
Min Woo Lee, an Australian ranked 240th in the world, defeated Matt Fitzpatrick and Thomas Detry on the first playoff hole in Scotland. The tournament was played at a links-like course, the Renaissance Club, but it's nothing like what the golfers will see this week at a true links course in Royal St. George's.
Lucas Glover, 41 years old and winless for a decade, won the John Deere Classic by two strokes over Kevin Na and Ryan Moore.
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Scottish Open
Min Woo Lee
The 22-year-old Australian won for the second time on the European Tour to secure a berth in the Open, which will be his first major. Lee had tied for 28th at the WGC-Workday in Florida earlier this year, showing he could hang with the world's best golfers, but then was sidelined for almost three months. Entering the week, he had made the cut in only half of his 10 starts in 2021. But he was coming off a top-20 at the Irish Open, so he had started trending in the right direction. Still, this biggest win of Lee's career was a stunner, especially in such an
With a number of Americans crossing the Atlantic a week early to prepare for the Open Championship, the Scottish Open had both big names and a strong field. The John Deere Classic had no big names in a very weak field. But in the end, the two tournaments did have one thing in common: surprise winners.
Min Woo Lee, an Australian ranked 240th in the world, defeated Matt Fitzpatrick and Thomas Detry on the first playoff hole in Scotland. The tournament was played at a links-like course, the Renaissance Club, but it's nothing like what the golfers will see this week at a true links course in Royal St. George's.
Lucas Glover, 41 years old and winless for a decade, won the John Deere Classic by two strokes over Kevin Na and Ryan Moore.
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Scottish Open
Min Woo Lee
The 22-year-old Australian won for the second time on the European Tour to secure a berth in the Open, which will be his first major. Lee had tied for 28th at the WGC-Workday in Florida earlier this year, showing he could hang with the world's best golfers, but then was sidelined for almost three months. Entering the week, he had made the cut in only half of his 10 starts in 2021. But he was coming off a top-20 at the Irish Open, so he had started trending in the right direction. Still, this biggest win of Lee's career was a stunner, especially in such an elite field. He's now up to a career-best-by-far 61st in the world rankings.
Matt Fitzpatrick
The Englishman was bidding for his first title of 2021 and, while he came up short, he will carry positive vibes into Royal St. George's. He's never come close to contending in the Open before – his tie for 20th in 2019 was his best showing – but this offers him hope that this year will be different.
Thomas Detry
The Austrian also got one of the three available Open berths from the Scottish Open, along with England's Jack Senior, who tied for 10th. Detry, who was ranked 100th entering the week, recently missed the cut at the PGA and U.S. Open. But he was also runner-up in Germany last month and had a top-10 in Dubai in January. At 28, he's no longer considered young, but this will be his first British Open.
Ian Poulter
The 45-year-old roared up the leaderboard on Sunday with an 8-under 63 only to miss the playoff by a single shot. He was close to a lock for the Ryder Cup team already, according to European captain Padraig Harrington, and this may have cinched it. Poulter is back inside the top-50 at No. 50 OWGR.
Lucas Herbert
The Australian was coming off a huge win at the Irish Open and came close to doubling up, finishing in a three-way tie for second. The 25-year-old Herbert will move into the top-50 OWGR for the first time (49th). The Open will be his seventh major. He's made four cuts, including the 2018 Open.
Ryan Palmer
Very few people could've predicted a top-5 finish for Palmer, who has not had much success in Europe through the years and hadn't had a top-10 anywhere in the world since January. That said, Royal St. George's is a different course from the Renaissance Club altogether, and making the cut at the Open would be considered a good week for the 44-year-old Palmer.
Jon Rahm
Rahm was in contention much of the week but ended in a tie for seventh. No matter, he's well positioned to contend for a second straight major.
Justin Thomas
Thomas had bookend 65s to finish in an impressive tie for eighth. It's a good sign for him heading into the Open, but Thomas will still have to up his links game to contend this week.
Xander Schauffele
Schauffele tie for 10th in Scotland. This will be only his fourth Open Championship, but he was co-runner-up to Francesco Molinari in 2018 at Carnoustie. If you can survive Carnoustie, you can thrive at Royal St. George's.
Scottie Scheffler
Heading into his first Open, Scheffler had a great and somewhat surprising week with a tie for 12th in Scotland. He was top-20 at the Masters and then top-10 at both the PGA and U.S. Open, but Royal St. George's will be a different animal for this Texan.
Rory McIlroy
A week after a poor result at the Irish Open, he missed cut by a stroke at the Renaissance Club. Of course, it's entirely possible he finds his form this week and contends at the Open. If anyone can do it, it's McIlroy. But it's not looking that way.
Garrick Higgo
The 22-year-old South African has now gone MC-MC-T41-MC since his surprising win at the Palmetto Championship. Some regression was anticipated, but he's not looking great heading into the Open.
John Deere Classic
Lucas Glover
Glover has been struggling for a few years to regain the hallmark of his game: his laser-like iron play. At the Deere, he ranked third in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and fourth in SG: Tee-to-Green. He had shown recent flashes – fourth at the Valero, eighth at the Charles Schwab – but a win, even at the Deere, came out of the blue. Glover had already qualified for the Open Championship and will be making his 10th start; he tied for 20th at Royal Portrush in 2019. He began the week ranked No. 115 in the world and is now 79th, with his playing status now secure through 2022-23.
Ryan Moore
Moore has not played a lot the past couple of years – just 25 total starts in 2020 and 2021. And when he did play, he didn't play well, so much so that he was ranked almost 250th in the world coming into the week. But he's often done well at the Deere, and his co-runner-was his first top-10 in 20 months. Since Glover and fellow runner-up Kevin Na were already exempt into the Open, Moore secured the lone spot from the Deere.
Kevin Na
Na won the Sony Open the second week in January and hadn't had another top-10 until now. He's often a good option in weaker-field events, and this shared runner-up just adds further evidence. Na had already qualified for the Open, but he withdrew citing the rigorous COVID protocols in the UK.
Adam Schenk
Schenk had a one-stroke lead on the back-nine but ended up three strokes behind Glover and tied for fourth. He surely won't be happy with that development as he still seeks his first PGA Tour win, but this was his best result ever on Tour. In 2019, Schenk tied for seventh at the Valero and for sixth at the Deere. Those had been his most recent top-10s.
Sebastian Munoz
Unlike Schenk, Munoz knows what it takes to win on the PGA Tour. But he too couldn't get the job done. Munoz began Sunday with the lead but disappointingly shot even par while so many went low, and he ended up in a tie for fourth. He then got on the Deere charter headed for England.
Hank Lebioda
Lebioda notched his third straight top-5 with a tie for fifth. It's got to end sometime, but you have to wonder if this is just a hot streak or a real breakthrough. Lebioda is now up to a career-high 163rd in the world rankings.
Daniel Berger
Berger was the only top-25 guy in the field. He never was in the mix, tying for 34th. He's in the field at Royal St. George's.
Brian Harman
Harman was the 2014 Deere winner and one of the favorites to take the 2021 title, but he surprisingly missed the cut, just his second all year. He now heads to the Open, where he's rarely played well.
