PGA Tour has released the initial full field of the Genesis Scottish Open. Rory McIlroy will travel to the Renaissance Club in Scotland—tucked between Muirfield and North Berwick—to defend his title. Former champions, Xander Schauffele, and Min Woo Lee will also make the overseas trip to East Lothian. They make up 18 of the top 30 players in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) traveling to Scotland.

However, barring the few LIV Golfers who are still inside the top 30 in OWGR, a handful of PGA Tour pros have decided to skip the pre-Open Championship trip. Here are the big five names missing from the loaded field in the Tom Doak-designed layout. 

Scottie Scheffler will skip another tournament

Scottie Scheffler has been absent from the greens since his sixth win of the season at the Travelers Championship. The two-time major winner has fastidiously chosen his schedule after becoming a father a few months back. Last year, the 28-year-old tied for 3rd at the Renaissance Club. He tied for 23rd position a week later in the Open Championship.

Notably, Scheffler didn’t sound too happy about playing a tournament a week before the U.S. Open. But it was the Jack Nicklaus-hosted Memorial, so Scheffler couldn’t skip even if he wanted to. However, the Genesis Scottish Open, seemingly, didn’t create that dilemma for the world’s no.1 golfer.

Patrick Cantlay is likely recovering from his injury 

Patrick Cantlay has only teed off in 15 events this year, only three have been non-signature events. The world no.8 pulled out of the John Deere Classic with an undisclosed injury citing ‘abundance of caution’ before the major as the reason to take the week off. Cantlay will book the flight directly to Royal Troon. The eight-time PGA Tour winner has teed off at the Renaissance Club twice in his career, missing the cut last year. 

Tony Finau will miss the Genesis Scottish Open 

The six-time PGA Tour winner looked rejuvenated in the last month. After three back-to-back top-10s in June, Tony Finau decided to save the energy for the last major. The 34-year-old has skipped the next two PGA Tour events after the Pinehurst appearance, and the Genesis Open field doesn’t include the Salt Lake City-born star’s name.

Actually, Tony Finau has never teed off in the Genesis Scottish Open, and this year it won’t be any different. Notably, the 34-year-old has confirmed his presence at the 3M Open, at the end of this month. 

Cameron Young chose to take the week off ahead of the Open Championship

The 27-year-old has seven runner-ups from the 69 events he played on Tour. Cameron Young has teed off at the Renaissance Club only once in his career, missing the cut in the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open. Every year since the Wake Forest alum has kept the week ahead of the last major free of any professional appearance. 

This year, too, Young didn’t tee off before the Masters. However, that option was unavailable given the PGA Tour had two Signature events before the PGA Championship and the Memorial.

Sam Burns follows in the footsteps of his good friend

Scheffler’s close friend and also a new father, Sam Burns, skipped the Genesis Scottish Open. The five-time PGA Tour winner last played at the Travelers Championship, settling for a T55. Burns has six top-10s this season, four of which came before the Masters. The 27-year-old has missed the cut in the season’s first two majors, and tied for 9th at Pinehurst last month. 

The Louisiana State alum has signed up for the Genesis Scottish Open major twice, tying for 19th last season. Burns went on to miss the cut at Royal Liverpool a week later. Notably, the Louisiana State alum like Finau, is listed on the 3M Open field. 

Aside from them, Big Cat will also miss the Genesis Scottish Open. Tiger Woods confirmed from Pinehurst No.2 that the Open Championship will be his only and last tournament of the year. It’s a ‘pick-your-poison’ situation for the 15-time major champion. Teeing off a week before the final major will mean he would certainly miss the Open Championship. The Genesis Scottish Open kickstarts on July 11.