Even on a poor day at The Renaissance Club, Scottie Scheffler put himself right in the mix. But the score was not the only thing that got Scheffler’s attention. The new routing at North Berwick had him thinking as much as swinging. And after one par save, he admitted the layout was hard to keep straight.

"Cut, slice. It was actually the 2nd," Scheffler joked after his round. "I fortunately — fortunately or unfortunately, however you want to look at it, I hit a good shot off the 3rd tee, and just overall to the fairway, so I hit a similar shot there to get the ball in the fairway from that pot bunker — I don't know whether you call it a bunker but out of that bunker specifically."

Scheffler bogeyed that par-4, 2nd Hole. The world No. 1 opened the 2026 Genesis Scottish Open with a steady two-under 68, leaving him three shots behind the leader.

He further added during the same interview, per GolfMagic: "So the next one there on, I guess what hole is that, 16? Sorry, the nines are confusing. Just a big 'ole slice out of the bunker. It was unfortunate, the ball ends up in there but I was able to hit a really nice shot there and still make par there. That was nice."

That confusion makes sense. This year’s event flipped most of The Renaissance Club’s routing. Only holes 8, 9, 17 and 18 stayed in place while the rest of the course swapped sides. The old front nine now plays as holes 10 through 16, the old back nine now opens the tournament, and the famous par-3 6th has become the 15th.

Scheffler, however, had no complaints about the putting surfaces. He suggested pin locations may have made things a little harder, but he also said the greens are in better shape than they have been in the last couple of years.

"It could be pin location, maybe… that would be the first thing I could think of," Scheffler said. "But the greens, I think are in better condition than they have been in the last couple years, so that's been good to see some improvement there."

Others have reacted to the changes, too

Scheffler wasn't alone in adjusting to the new-look Renaissance Club. Jon Rahm, back at Renaissance for the first time in four years, had been publicly enthusiastic about the redesign earlier in the week.

“Haven’t given me a reason yet as to why they changed it,” Rahm said, per Golf.com.

"Also think it's quite a thrilling finish," Rahm said Tuesday. "Obviously you don't have the par-5 on 16, that gave quite a bit away, but with the right wind you have a possibly reachable par-4, a very tricky short par-3, a long par-4, and then 17 and 18. I still think it gives it a good variety and a very exciting finish. I think it could be a really good change."

Viktor Hovland also welcomed the routing change before the round. He was even expecting it to produce a more exciting finish than the old layout ever did.

Rahm struggled to a 73, while Hovland backed up his praise with a 68 and sat tied for 27th at two under after the opening round.

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Written by

Md Saife Fida

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar