Korea’s Mi Jung Hur will return to The Renaissance Club, in North Berwick, in 2020 to defend her Scottish Ladies Open title. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

THE Renaissance Club will again host the European Tour’s Scottish Open and the Ladies Scottish Open in 2020, with both events returning to the picturesque East Lothian venue for a second successive season.

Both events will again be sponsored by Aberdeen Standard Investments – the 2020 edition of Scotland’s national men’s open will be played on July 9-12, followed closely by the women’s event on the same course from August 13-16.

Golf fans from East Lothian and beyond flocked to the Tom Doak-designed course for this year’s Scottish Open as the event attracted more than 66,000 spectators – the highest figure since the tournament began travelling to venues across the country in 2011, following a 16-year spell at Loch Lomond Golf Club.

This summer, fans enjoyed two weeks of world class golf as Austrian Bernd Wiesberger triumphed over a field including four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy and American stars Rickie Fowler Matt Kuchar and Justin Thomas to claim his sixth European Tour title.

Three weeks later, Korea’s Mi Jung Hur captured her third LPGA Tour title – a decade after her first – with a four-shot victory over an international leaderboard including Ariya Jutanugarn, Jeongeun Lee6 and Scotland’s Carly Booth.

In 2020, the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open will once again form part of the European Tour’s Rolex Series – the eight premium tournaments on the Race to Dubai – as well as taking its traditional slot in the week before The Open.

The Ladies Scottish Open, which is co-sanctioned by both the Ladies European Tour (LET) and Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), has also become established as a key event in the schedules of many of the world’s best female golfers.

The 2020 tournament will be played the week before the AIG Women’s British Open.

Founded in 2008, The Renaissance Club nestles on 300 picturesque acres along the Firth of Forth and is one of the newest additions to the world-famous stretch known as Scotland’s Golf Coast.

The European Tour will return to East Lothian when The Renaissance Club hosts the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open in 2020 just weeks before the Ladies Scottish Open also returns there for a second successive season. Picture by PAUL SEVERN

With a minimalist design that incorporates the natural features of the land, the course has quickly become established as another East Lothian golfing gem.

The Renaissance Club has proven a significant addition to the golf tourism offering in East Lothian, gaining worldwide acclaim for the quality of its layout and design.

As part of its commitments to hosting Scotland’s two national opens for the first time this year, the club continued to support the golf tourism industry in Scotland by targeting additional visiting golfers from around the world as well as introducing a reduced rate for Scottish Golf members through their seasonal tee time programme.

The club also worked with both VisitScotland and Scottish Golf to support and fund women and junior golf development initiatives and make its practice facilities available to Scottish Golf’s amateur squads during preparation for major events.

Martin Gilbert, chairman of Aberdeen Standard Investments, said: “We’re looking forward to returning to The Renaissance Club in 2020.

“The facilities Jerry and his team offer both sets of players, on and off the course are second to none. The feedback we’ve received is that the location works well with the golfing public as well as our colleagues.

“We’ve also listened to the professionals who played the course this year and collectively we will be implementing a number of changes based on their feedback.

“We look forward to welcoming back the world’s best players to Scotland’s golf coast, for what is sure to be another memorable two weeks of golf next summer.”

European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said: “Jerry Sarvadi and the team at The Renaissance Club proved to be wonderful hosts when they welcomed the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open for the first time this year, and we are delighted to be coming back to this beautiful part of Scotland once again.

“Golf fans in East Lothian have shown tremendous support for this event in recent years, firstly at Gullane in 2015 and 2018, and they turned out in force at The Renaissance Club this year.

“We’ll be working hard to make the event even bigger and better ahead of its return in 2020, and I thank our partners Aberdeen Standard Investments and VisitScotland for their continued vision and commitment in supporting this world class tournament.”

Jerry Sarvadi, the founder and chief executive of The Renaissance Club, said: “The 2019 events saw some of the world’s best players come to Scotland to compete in what ended up as very unusual, benign weather conditions for Scotland during the men’s competition and somewhat more normal conditions during the ladies’.

“We believe the 2020 event will only grow in stature, and we hope as many people as possible will come and watch the truly spectacular golf being played next year in July and August.”

Players from both the European Tour, LPGA and LET have given feedback about the private members club close to Muirfield to make both 2020 tournaments even better say organisers. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

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Padraig Harrington is back in Malaysia for the Maybank Championship as he continues to recover from a wrist injury. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

PADRAIG Harrington is teeing off his 2019 season in buoyant mood at the Maybank Championship as his recovery from a wrist injury exceeds expectations.

The next European Ryder Cup captain is making his first appearance in the Kuala Lumpur event.

But the two-time Open winner has previously enjoyed success in Malaysia, recording five top eight finishes in the Malaysian Open, including tied sixth on his last outing six years ago.

Those results also include two runner-up spots, with one coming at this week’s venue, Saujana Golf and Country Club, as he finished just behind fellow three-time Major champion Vijay Singh in 2001.

Harrington, who won the Open at Carnoustie in 2007 before becoming one of just seven players since the war to successfully defend the Claret Jug 12 months later – at Royal Birkdale – admitted he is still not fully fit.

Padraig, who did not realise he had broken a bone in a wrist in a slip before Christmas, until it was spotted in early January requiring a splint, said: “I wouldn’t say the wrist is 100 per cent –it might not be 100 per cent for about nine months, or at least another six or seven months. I’m working away at it.

“It’s interesting to come out here. I hit shots on the range here, I hit shots last week and the wrist is holding up, there’s no doubt about it.

“There’s a certain amount of mobility issues and I need to work on the strength of it, but in general it’s right on track. If anything, it’s probably ahead of expectations.

“Traditionally the Malaysian Open was my first event of the season, if you go back 20 years.

“It’s my first event this year and I’m looking forward to that good karma, let’s say.

“It’s a very good set up this year. The changes to the greens have substantially changed the way the course will play.

“The greens are firm. It looks like the changes are excellent, a really, really good challenge.”

Joining the 2008 USPGA Champion in the field is fellow European Tour and Ryder Cup stalwart Miguel Ángel Jiménez, who echoed Harrington’s praise for the recent changes at Saujana.

The flamboyant Spaniard has enjoyed great success in Asia over the years, with his 21 European Tour victories including five Hong Kong Open titles.

The 55-year-old is feeling as competitive as ever as he successfully balances life on the European Tour and the over 50s circuit, capturing his first two senior Major titles last year including the Senior Open on the Staysure Tour.

Jiménez – nicknamed The Mechanic on Tour – said: “There have been a few changes, the first couple of holes are different.

“The greens are all new. The golf course is in very good shape. I feel comfortable here. I like this kind of weather. It’s nice, I feel good.

“Good golf course, good design. I enjoy coming to Malaysia.

“I’m still playing well on both tours. Now I dedicate more than 20 per cent to senior golf.

“But I still like to play on the European Tour too. I play maybe six tournaments a year.

“I still have my category to play, and as long as I have my category I will keep playing. If I didn’t feel competitive I wouldn’t come here.

“When the moment comes that I don’t feel competitive, I won’t come. There is no point coming just to show up.”

The co-sanctioned Maybank Championship is an event much closer to home for Malaysia’s highest ranked player Gavin Green.

The 2017 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner has played in all three previous editions of the tournament and is relishing the prospect of chasing a first European Tour title, and his second on the Asian Tour, in front of a home crowd.

Green said: “It’s such a big one for me. I love playing in front of a home crowd.

“Maybank have helped me and been with me through the years. It would be really good to play well and finish as high as I can.

“I feel good, I’ve been playing well the last few weeks. I’ve just had a couple of hiccups here and there that disrupted the whole game, but it’s been good so far.

“I got my coach down for a couple of days and worked with him, trying to get ready for this event.”

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