The competition was the second of four invitational World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) events of the 2001–02 season.

John Higgins, the top-ranked Scottish player, won the tournament, defeating the defending champion and world title holder Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–6 in the final.

[1] The 2001 competition was the second of four invitational World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) events of the 2001–02 season and was held from 18 to 23 September at the Thistle Hotel in Glasgow, Scotland.

[3] Sponsored by the cigarette brand Regal,[2] it had a total prize fund of £200,000,[4][5] and was televised on BBC Scotland and Eurosport.

[4] The field included the tournament's defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan and former Scottish Masters victors Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty and Matthew Stevens.

[7] John Higgins, Scotland's highest-ranked player and world number three,[5][6] thought about withdrawing from the tournament because his wife was due to give birth to their first child imminently.

[4] The breakdown of prize money for the tournament was as follows:[4][9] The first round of the competition took place from 18 to 19 September and was played as best-of-nine frame matches.

[4][12] Marco Fu, the world number 17,[6] defeated two-time ranking event winner Peter Ebdon 5–2.

Hendry won frame four after White missed the yellow ball and made two half-centuries to level the match at 3–3.

[15] Stephen Lee, the world number eight, took 76 minutes to whitewash Wallace 5–0 and outscored his opponent 392–61.

He used his post-match press conference to threaten a withdrawal from England's World Cup team unless Ebdon apologised for his celebrations after his 13–12 victory over Lee in the second round of the 2001 world championship, saying, "The way he reacted anyone would have thought he had won the title or was going to pick up the FA Cup.

[20] O'Sullivan said afterwards he had anticipated a tighter match after both players made errors: "I'm happy with the centuries and I don't want to give the title up without a fight.

[22] Higgins said after the game that with the impending birth of his child his mindset was not "100 per cent on practice", while Hendry expressed frustration that "I had 20 chances to go 4–3 up but I couldn't take them.

[23] Post-match, O'Sullivan said a lack of pre-tournament form made him consider withdrawal, but his father advised him to go holidaying beforehand.

[24][25] Higgins commented on his chances of winning the tournament, "Ronnie has won his fair share in Scotland so it's about my turn but I'll have to raise my game a few notches to beat him.

Higgins had a 60–0 advantage in frame 15 that he kept to win the match 9–6 and the tournament after O'Sullivan was unable to pot a red ball into the top-left corner pocket.

[26][27] The win ended Higgins' streak of five successive losses to O'Sullivan extending back to the 2000 Irish Masters.

He added that he felt he played better than he had in the Champions Cup, and was happy to reach the final of the Scottish Masters.

[32] O'Sullivan made the highest break of 134 in the third frame of his semi-final game with Fu,[32] which earned him £5,000 prize money.