Strong field set for Scottish Open and LPGA plays another major at Evian

GENESIS SCOTTISH OPEN

Site: North Berwick, Scotland.

Course: The Renaissance Club. Yardage: 7,282. Par: 70.

Prize money: $9 million. Winner's share: $1.62 million.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m. to noon (Golf Channel), noon to 3 p.m. (CBS).

Defending champion: Chris Gotterup.

Race to Dubai leader: Patrick Reed.

FedEx Cup leader: Scottie Scheffler.

Last week: Chris Gotterup won the John Deere Classic and Michael Hollick won the BMW International Open.

Notes: The field is one of the strongest of the year for not being a $20 million signature event. It includes Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, playing in the same field outside of the majors for only the second time since March. ... What makes the field so compelling is having Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton from LIV Golf taking part under the European tour guidelines. ... Another European tour member in the field is Patrick Reed, competing against PGA Tour players for the first time outside of the majors. Reed leads McIlroy in the Race to Dubai. ... Phil Mickelson in 2013 is the only player to win the Scottish Open and the British Open in the same year. ... The Renaissance Club is located next to Muirfield. The R&A has not returned to historic Muirfield for the British Open in 13 years as it seeks to have the largest galleries possible. ... Brooks Koepka and Padraig Harrington are playing on sponsor exemptions. Also receiving an exemption is Charley Hoffman at No. 544 in the world.

Next week: British Open and Corales Puntacana Championship.

Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/ and https://www.pgatour.com/

AMUNDI EVIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Evans-les-Bains, France.

Course: Evian Golf Resort. Yardage: 6,479. Par: 71.

Prize money: $9.1 million. Winner's share: $1.365 million.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 6-11 a.m. (Golf Channel), 11 a.m. to noon (Golf Channel app); Saturday-Sunday, 4-10 a.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Grace Kim.

Race to CME Globe leader: Nelly Korda.

Last tournament: Haeran Ryu won the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.

Notes: The Evian Championship was a regular LPGA event until it was changed to a major for 2013, giving the LPGA five majors. ... Nelly Korda won the first two majors and tied for eighth in the Women's PGA Championship at Hazeltine. ... Grace Kim won her first major last year at Evian in a stunning playoff. She made eagle on No. 18 in regulation, chipped in for birdie after going into a creek in a playoff, and won with an eagle. ... Jeeno Thitikul will try again to win her first major championship. Thitikul and Ai Miyazato of Japan are the only players to have been No. 1 in the women's world ranking without ever having won a major. ... Lexi Thompson used to routinely skip this major. She is not eligible this year. ... Sponsor exemptions went to top American amateurs Farah O'Keefe, Asterisk Talley and Kiara Romero. ... Also receiving an exemption was Maria Jose Marin, the Augusta National Women's Amateur champion.

Next tournament: ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open on July 23-26.

Online: https://www.lpga.com/ and https://ladieseuropeantour.com/

KAULIG COMPANIES CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Akron, Ohio.

Course: Firestone CC (South). Yardage: 7,248. Par: 70.

Prize money: $3.5 million. Winner's share: $525,000.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 1-2 p.m. (Golf Channel app), 2-4 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Charles Schwab Cup leader: Stewart Cink.

Last week: Padraig Harrington won the U.S. Senior Open.

Notes: This is the final year for the tournament to be held at Firestone Country Club. That ends a relationship with the PGA Tour that dates to the Rubber City Open in 1954. ... The winner of the Kaulig Companies Championship gets an exemption into The Players Championship. ... The tournament moves next year to Newport Beach, California, under a new title sponsorship. ... Stewart Cink won the first two majors of the year and was runner-up in the third one. ... Padraig Harrington won the U.S. Senior Open and is skipping this major to play in the Scottish Open. He will be playing the British Open next week, followed by the Senior British Open. ... Cink and Harrington have combined to win the last five majors on the PGA Tour Champions. ... It was 20 years ago when Cink lost on the fourth playoff hole to Tiger Woods at Firestone. ... Zach Johnson tied for ninth in the John Deere Classic last week. He is in the field at the Kaulig Companies Championship.

Next tournament: Senior British Open on July 23-26.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions

ISCO CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Louisville, Kentucky.

Course: Hurstbourne CC (Championship). Yardage: 7,056. Par: 70.

Prize money: $4 million. Winner's share: $720,000.

Television: Thursday-Sunday, 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Previous winner: William Mouw.

FedEx Cup leader: Scottie Scheffler.

Race to Dubai leader: Patrick Reed.

Last week: Chris Gotterup won the John Deere Classic and Michael Hollick won the BMW International Open.

Notes: This is the 11th tournament for the opposite-field event in Kentucky. It is held the same week as the Scottish Open, meaning the winner gets into the PGA Championship but not the Masters next year. ... NCAA champion Preston Stout is playing for the second straight week on a sponsor exemption. The senior at Oklahoma State tied for 15th in the John Deere Classic last week. Stout is the No. 1 amateur in the world. ... Miles Russell, the high school senior, is playing on a sponsor exemption. ... Lucas Glover (U.S. Open) is the only former major champion in the field. ... Jackson Koivun missed the cut at the John Deere Classic last week in his professional debut. He is in the field this week. ... Max Homa was runner-up at the John Deere Classic, which got him into the British Open. He decided to stick to his commitment to the ISCO Championship ahead of next week's major. ... Hurstbourne is the third course since the tournament began in 2015.

Next week: British Open and Corales Puntacana Championship.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/ and https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/

THE BLUE CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Berthoud, Colorado.

Course: TPC Colorado: Yardage: 8,022. Par: 72.

Prize money: $1 million. Winner's share: $180,000.

Television: None.

Previous winner: Neal Shipley.

Points leader: Doc Redman.

Last tournament: Drew Nesbitt won the Memorial Health Championship.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour

Epson Tour: Four Winds Invitational, Blackthorn GC, South Bend, Indiana. Previous winner: Leah John. Online: https://www.epsontour.com/

NBC Sports: American Century Championship, Edgewood Tahoe GC, South Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Television: Friday, 3-6 p.m. (Peacock); Saturday-Sunday, 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC). Defending champion: Joe Pavelski. Online: https://www.nbcsports.com/american-century-championship/

Challenge Tour: German Challenge, Wittelsbacher GC, Neuburg an der Donau, Germany. Previous winner: J.C. Ritchie. Online: https://www.europeantour.com/hotelplanner-tour/

PGA Tour Americas: Explore NB Open, Mactaquac GC, Fredericton, New Brunswick. Previous winner: David Perkins. Online: https://www.pgatour.com/americas

Japan LPGA: Minebea Mitsumi Ladies Hokkaido Shimbun Cup, Makomanai CC (Soranuma), Hokkaido, Japan. Defending champion: Kotoko Uchida. Online: https://www.lpga.or.jp/en/

Korea LPGA: High1 Resort Ladies Open, H1 CC, Jeongseon, South Korea. Defending champion: Shinsil Bang. Online: https://klpga.co.kr/

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Scottie Scheffler tees off the first playoff hole of the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, Monday, June 29, 2026, in Cromwell, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

LONDON (AP) — Reform UK leader Nigel Farage announced Tuesday that he will quit his Parliament seat and seek re-election in an effort to clear his name over financial allegations linked to millions of dollars' worth of donations.

“I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money," Farage, a prominent ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, said in a broadcast statement that did not take questions.

Farage faces a probe by Parliament’s standards watchdog over a 5 million pound ($6.7 million) gift he received from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire. Opposition lawmakers seek another investigation over donations from George Cottrell, an aristocratic crypto-gambling entrepreneur who served a prison sentence for fraud in the U.S.

The probes could have led to Farage being suspended or expelled from Parliament. He will pre-empt that process by triggering an election for his Clacton seat in eastern England.

“The people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions,” he said. “This will be a people versus the establishment by-election.

“I will fight to win.”

Even if Farage wins, the standards inquiry is likely to resume.

Scrutiny of Farage’s finances had spurred speculation about the future of a politician some considered a favorite to be prime minister after the next national election.

Farage’s anti-immigration party has only eight of the 650 lawmakers in the House of Commons but consistently leads opinion polls over the governing Labour Party and the main opposition Conservatives.

Reform UK was the big winner in local and regional elections in May that led to the ouster of Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the hands of his own Labour Party.

But the party has lost three consecutive special elections that it hoped to win, a possible sign its support may be sagging. The most recent loss was to Labour’s Andy Burnham, who is likely to succeed Starmer as prime minister within weeks.

Parliamentary standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg is investigating the 5 million pound donation to Farage from Christopher Harborne, a British businessman based in Thailand. Farage says the money was a personal gift that he used to fund security and came before he was elected to the House of Commons.

Losing Farage would be a serious blow to a party whose rise has echoes of Trump’s nationalist, anti-immigration playbook. Farage has capitalized on — critics say stoked — concerns about migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, which he has called an invasion.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage gestures as he makes a statement to the media at the party headquarters in Millbank, central London, Tuesday July 7, 2026. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage makes a statement to the media at the party headquarters in Millbank, central London, Tuesday July 7, 2026. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage makes a statement to the media at the party headquarters in Millbank, central London, Tuesday July 7, 2026. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage makes a statement to the media at the party headquarters in Millbank, central London, Tuesday July 7, 2026. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage looks on as he makes a statement to the media at the party headquarters in Millbank, central London, Tuesday July 7, 2026. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage gestures during a fireside chat at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (Arc) annual conference, at Olympia London, Wednesday June 24, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)