The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, is the stage once again. The 7,282-yard, par-70, Tom Doak-design opened in 2001 and ranks 10th on the Golfweek's Best 2025: The top 50 classic courses in Great Britain and Ireland list.

There’s something about returning to this part of the world that has cleared up Rory McIlroy’s post-Masters haze.

The 2025 Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club began with ideal scoring conditions and plenty of early low rounds. But while the leaderboard buzzed with action, Thursday’s play took a turn when Rikuya Hoshino was forced to withdraw due to a neck injury late in his round.

SportsLine golf expert Eric Cohen just locked in his PGA Tour best bets for the 2025 Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club

Gotterup was giddy to see it. Rained out when he tried to play it ahead of last year’s Genesis Scottish Open, the American was intent on squeezing in a little bit more links golf. It’s why he didn’t hesitate to make the long trip over to Scotland, despite not having a spot in The Open Championship next week.

Sepp Straka had eight birdies in his round of 64, also joined by Nico Echavarria and Victor Perez atop the leaderboard alongside Knapp. Four other players were one shot behind, while Scottie Scheffler had to settle for a 67 and was three back.

The Norwegian golfer stressed that this golf course is really unpredictable, as the factor of luck is needed, but he also believes that greed can destroy what was previously built.

Viktor Hovland carded one of the few clean cards in the first round of the Scottish Open, but he doesn't want anyone to think The Renaissance is easy.

The action returns to the Renaissance Club for the 2025 Scottish Open with the event having as been held at the North Berwick course since 2019.