The end of March is always an exciting time on Tour, the EuroDov Cup is in the bag and the excitement levels are building as the first Order of Merit season looms on the horizon.

The drive to St Andrews in April has been accompanied with beautiful sunshine, hurricane winds and driving rain over the years, btu the excitement has never waned as the Tour’s most dedicated players start to plot their way to Scotland’s Golf Coast in August.

EuroDov Reporter has had their say on each individual players chances ahead of the 2025 season but where do the players all line up in their chances of winning the James Braid Quaich come August this year?

Let’s run through the full 16 right now.

David McColgan
Odds: 7/4
Notes: I suspect people are as tired of me writing this, as I am of writing, but it is hard to not see McColgan at the top of the list.

McColgan has made 28 appearances on Tour and only finished outside the top 5 twice and 24 of those appearances have been inside the top 3.

There is one question mark hanging over McColgan going into the 2025 season and that is his withdrawal from the King’s Cup and Lochgelly-Forrester Open, could a win in 2025 be his greatest yet with a reduced schedule?

Daniel Peck & Richard Mair
Odds: 2/1
Notes: This has to be the closest odds ever given on someone else to win the James Braid Quaich since the founding of the Order of Merit.

Peck and Mair have recorded 4th and 2nd place finishes in the Order of Merit and their games have all the tools to lift the Quaich.

Mair has won 3 events in 2 seasons and despite Peck never winning an event his two runner-up and three third place finishes in 2024 point to something exciting on the horizon.

Paul Gowens
Odds: 3/1
Notes: Just behind the SanWedge co-sanctioned pair is Paul Gowens. Gowens has made 11 appearances in 3 years and managed three wins in three different events, he’s also only finished outside the top 5 on 4 occasions.

He's yet to play a full season – St Andrews Open 2025 will be his debut in the event – and many commentators have questioned if he would have won it all in 2022 if he had played at St Andrews.
There is no denying he has the game, and no one will begrudge him the win come August if he can close it out.

Denis Duncan, Stuart Allan & Ally Greenshields
Odds: 4/1
Notes: This is a trio with very different stories, so let’s go one by one.

Denis Duncan has never been able to re-enact his 2021 season with 5 runner up finishes and a win. But despite talk of a challenging 2024 he managed four top 5 finishes on his way to a 5th place finish overall. With new sticks in the bag, and a positive winter under his belt, 2025 might just be his year.

Stuart Allan has promised for so long, he’s finished 4th, 2nd and 4th overall between 2021-2023 and despite a tough 2024 he cannot be ruled out. A powerful player who is mastering his game, and if he can find consistency over the year, he’ll find a route to the James Braid Quaich no problem.

Ally Greenshields has played two seasons in the Order of Merit and has managed a 5th and 9th place finish. Many people will argue he’s too high on the list here, but the truth is Greenshields is a fine player with all the tools to win, he just needs to find a way to for them to click all at once. He’s had two runner-up finishes – one of them by virtue of a countback, don’t rule him out in 2025.

Kevin Brannan, Grieg Baxter, Joel Morrison & Stuart Sutherland
Odds: 6/1
Notes: Ok there is a bit of a jump to this group, but truth is it could be a great bet.

Brannan, Baxter and Sutherland have all won Majors on Tour – many will say it’s a diss putting them down here. Brannan and Sutherland have both won events on the Order of Merit, Sutherland sweeping two just last year.

The truth is the all come into 2025 battling something, Brannan’s just had a 4 month lay-off after a broken wrist ended his 2024 season, Baxter returns to the OoM after 3-year hiatus and Sutherland is yet to play a full rota which undeniably costs him in the standings.

They all have the tools and wouldn’t be surprised to see one or more of them pop up with an event win, but should they go on to win the whole show they’ll be called an outside bet.

Ok, you are probably reading this and saying where is Morrison? And why is a player who hasn’t won on Tour this high in the standings. The truth is Morrison is a technically solid player; his confidence has grown year on year and if you take out his very limited 2024 season, he’s definitely a top half of the rankings player. I think he’s one win away from going on a rampage a la Sutherland in 2024, so watch this space.

Stevie Orr & Jim Robertson
Odds: 8/1
Notes: Much like Brannan, Robertson returns to the Order of Merit after missing half the season last year due to medical issues. He’ll be back, and everyone will be delighted to see him, but his golf game is going to need to be dusted down and refined again.

Expect a slow start in 2025, but he could surprise a few people if he returns with his steady drives and approaches.

Stevie Orr is probably the biggest boom and bust player on Tour. He’s made 12 starts on the OoM and recorded 2 wins but also finished outside the points 6 times! In 2023 he avoided relegation by virtue of a winner’s exemption. He’ll need to find greater consistency to challenge at the top end of the rankings in 2025.

Alan Duncan, Scott Gowens & Callum McNeill
Odds: 9/1
Notes: Ok so this feels brutal, we’ve got the 2023 St Andrews Open Champion, reigning Q-School winner and Montgomery Cup Major winner Callum McNeill.

Duncan has managed an 11th and 6th place finish in the Order of Merit, but in truth hasn’t really challenged for the top spot. Much like Orr, he struggles with high peaks, but really low troughs and he needs to find a balance to his game to compete regularly.

Gowens is in the Order of Merit 100% on his own merits. He came through a tough Q-School field that was taking lumps off each other and will probably be the tightest finish to Q-School ever. However, he’s now playing in the big league, and this will take some adjustment, adjustment I am confident he’ll make, but it’ll take a round or two, I am sure.

McNeill’s OoM debut was 7th place finish in 2022, but he avoided relegation in 2023 thanks to players dropping out and in 2024 a 10th place finish was massaged by a 4th place at the Tour Champs. He has what it takes to win, he’s got a much-coveted Major star to his name, I can’t see him pushing for a second one through the OoM in 2025, but we all love a good under dog story.

Well, there we have it folks, EuroDov Reporter’s run down of the runners and riders for 2025 and their chances of holding the James Braid Quaich in August.

The Order of Merit starts on April 6th at the Home of Golf, St Andrews as the players take on the Eden Course and the honour of the St Andrews Open.