Rose Wins Scottish Open, Finally Becomes Open Favorite

It took a resounding win in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, on top of a win at the Quicken Loans National two weeks ago to move ahead of links golf skeptic Rory McIlroy, but Justin Rose dropped from around 16-1/18-1 to 12-1 favorite after conquering Royal Aberdeen. He posted a -16, 268 total for his first victory in Scotland.

Rose's odds before clinching the title Sunday:

The links played marvelously, offering the players different winds or in the case of Sunday's finale, almost no wind. While way too narrow with too many long walks back to tees because the players are just so much more fit these days, the course held its own and provided the kind of links experience that should benefit those who played. If nothing else, just four days of the vagaries has to help players here get that shock out of their system when they arrive at Hoylake for The Open.

This is my second Scottish Open and the event was impeccably run, with golf knowledgable galleries who turned out in impressive fashion Sunday despite early morning rain. The infrastructure and logisitics on a pretty tough site in Royal Aberdeen appeared to work well and the course proved to be a fine venue. The vistas for spectators aren't as good as at Castle Stuart, but few venues are as ideal for spectating as the 2016 host.

A few images from the weekend at Royal Aberdeen: