Scottish Open: Phil Mickelson confirms Gullane appearance

Phil Mickelson won the Scottish Open and the Open Championship in Scotland two years ago

Phil Mickelson will make his sixth consecutive appearance at the Scottish Open when the tournament is held at Gullane Golf Club for the first time.

The American will play the East Lothian course on 9-12 July as preparation for the Open Championship at St Andrews.

He lifted the Claret Jug at nearby Muirfield in 2013 a week after winning the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart.

The 44-year-old finished joint runner-up behind Jordan Spieth at the Masters earlier this month.

He will hope his recent form at Augusta continues into the summer and to Gullane, where fellow Masters runner-up Justin Rose will be defending his Scottish Open title before they head further up Scotland's east coast for the Open.

Five-time major champion Mickelson said: "I'm happy to be coming back for the Scottish Open again this year and looking forward to playing Gullane.

"I've heard a lot about the course - saw it when I was practising at Muirfield before the Open a couple of years ago and am really looking forward to playing it.

"Winning the Scottish Open was a breakthrough that really helped me the next week at The Open Championship.

"But I have many great memories of playing the Scottish over the last 10 years or so and I'm sure I'll add to those in these two weeks in July."