American stars strengthen Scottish Open line-up in East Lothian

The Renaissance Club near Gullane will welcome four of the top five and 12 of the top 20 players in golf’s world rankings with the addition of numbers nine and 11, Burns and Horschel respectively.

Molinari and Willett join a group of 10 major winners including all four current champions – Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm, who defends his US Open title this week.

Burns will make his second appearance at the event, following a top-20 finish on his debut at Renaissance Club last year. The 25-year-old has taken his tally of PGA Tour titles to four with two wins this season, lifting the Valspar Championship trophy for the second time in March, before overhauling a seven-shot deficit and going on to defeat world number one Scheffler in a play-off at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

“I enjoyed teeing it up at the Renaissance Club last season and this year the Genesis Scottish Open is shaping up to be another great week, especially leading in to The Open at St Andrews,” said Burns, who finished equal fourth at last week’s RBC Canadian Open.

Horschel also looks set to arrive in East Lothian in fine form, after winning his seventh PGA Tour title at the Memorial Tournament.

The Scottish Open, co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and PGA Tour for the first time, returns to The Renaissance Club from July 7-10, in the week before the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews.