Forget Stanley Baxter and Parliamo Glasgow. A courtesy car driver and a touch of Parliamo Edinburgh raised a mystified chuckle from Jon Rahm.
“I'm trying to get used to the accent,” smiled the former Masters champion after being transported from Auld Reekie to the links of the Renaissance in East Lothian for this week’s Genesis Scottish Open.
“The lad that drove me from the airport, he was very kind, and I could not understand 90 percent of what he told me on that hour’s drive.”
Funnily enough, a lot of readers will probably think the same when they attempt to decipher this correspondent’s regular haverings in print.
Rahm is making his first appearance in the Genesis Scottish Open since 2022. The following season, he jumped on board the LIV gravy train as men’s professional golf descended into the kind of warfare that could’ve featured trenches, barbed wire and mortar rounds.
A lot has happened since then. The financial backside is set to fall out of the LIV empire with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) pulling the plug on the eye-popping levels of funding it was throwing at the breakaway series.
As far Rahm himself? Well, he’s kissed and made up with the DP World Tour – he’s also paid some hefty fines – after a stalemate that threatened the Spaniard’s Ryder Cup eligibility. LIV and let live, eh?
Here at the Renaissance, Rahm, who is ranked 11th on the global pecking order, forms part of a shimmering field that features six of the world’s top-10 and 14 of the top 20.
With the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale looming on the horizon, this Scottish showpiece ushers in the start of an extremely robust, two-week examination. It’s one Rahm is relishing.
“I think it's a great test for next week,” he said. “You're only playing the type of golf you need to be playing. You're also playing a world-class field. As far as strength of field goes, it does feel like you have two majors in a row without it (the Scottish Open) being a major. It's that good.”
Another man happy to be back in this parish is the 2020 champion, Aaron Rai. A lot has happened to him too since winning on Scottish turf.
Earlier this season, he won his first major title when he landed the US PGA Championship in terrific fashion.
As far as career progression goes, it was a giant leap that could’ve featured a crackling commentary from Neil Armstrong.
His Scottish Open success, though, remains a pivotal moment. “It was the kick start to my career,” he said of that success in the Covid era.
“It was just validation of what I was doing as a golfer and showed I can compete at the highest level.”
He certainly proved that with his major moment at Aronimink. Long before he announced himself on the global stage, of course, Rai was making his mark as a young ‘un here in East Lothian.
He cut his competitive teeth in the Wee Wonders, the junior series that was the brainchild of the well-kent and highly-respected Gullane head professional, Alasdair Good.
“Massively important,” said Rai of those formative years. “He (Good) played a huge role in my development as a junior golfer.
"We've stayed in touch ever since I finished playing in the Wee Wonders which is almost 20 years ago. Coming back to this tournament and seeing him each year is really nice for me. He's become a family friend over time.”
Rai may have been just a boy of 10 when he first played in Scotland, but those initial experiences of links golf have stuck with him.
“Controlling the ball flight was massive and I could see that straightaway,” he said. “Even at a very young age, I really liked the style of golf and felt like it started to suit how I played the game, even as a junior.
"That lay a good foundation for me to play here as a professional as I got into my early 20s.”
While Rai’s links golf education started at a young age, the reigning Genesis Scottish Open champion Chris Gotterup packed his into something of a crash course.
The American missed the cut in his first links outing in 2024 but returned to the Renaissance in 2025 and won. The following week, he finished third in The Open.
From being outside the world’s top-150 prior to his Scottish Open success, Gotterup is now perched in the top-10 after three more PGA Tour wins this season.
“Having four wins since then is crazy,” he said of this stunning rise to prominence. “I feel like everyone's asked, ‘what have I done differently?’ But I don't think I've done much differently. If I knew, I would have done it before now.”
It’s a funny auld game.
