Irish Open, Scottish Open carry added emphasis as The Open gears up for return on 2021 schedule

Rory McIlroy will kick off a fun three-week stretch for himself at Mount Juliet this week

After Novak Djokovic won his first-round match at Wimbledon on Monday, he was reminded in an on-court interview directly after the match that it had been 700 days since he had played in that tournament. Last year, Wimbledon was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. And that reminded me that it has been just as long since an Open Championship was played. Since Shane Lowry walked with his arms spread in triumph up the 18th hole at Royal Portrush in 2019, six majors have been played, none of them hosted by the R&A. Because of this reality, there could be more emphasis than ever placed on the weeks ahead of the 2021 Open at Royal St. George's. It's not uncommon for a few top players to play an event or two in Europe in the weeks ahead of The Open, but next week's Scottish Open field looks like a facsimile of the OWGR top 10 list. Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy will all be in attendance.