Also in the field will be 1985 Open champion Sandy Lyle. Lyle will always be remembered for his famous bunker shot at the last hole at Augusta to win the 1988 Masters, but his biggest ever prize-money was the £159,506 he won for being tied 3rd in last year’s dunhill links championship.
They will be backed by a strong group of Scottish pros including Alastair Forsyth, currently the leading Scot on the Volvo Order of Merit and winner of the 2002 Carlsberg Malaysian Open, Andrew Coltart, twice winner on the European Tour, and Stephen Gallacher, nephew of former Ryder Cup Captain Bernard Gallacher, currently 39th in the Volvo Order of Merit.
The Scots will be teeing off in one of the strongest fields of the year on the European Tour. In addition to Irish Ryder Cup star Padraig Harrington, who is returning to Scotland to defend his 2002 dunhill links championship title, will be World No 2 Ernie Els, winner of last week’s Omega European Masters, World No 5 Vijay Singh, three-time major championship winner Nick Price, England’s greatest golfer of the modern age Nick Faldo, currently enjoying a golfing resurgence, and Spanish ace Jose Maria Olazabal, the 1994 US Masters champion.
Entries have not yet closed, but among the current entry list are Scots Gordon Brand Jnr, David Drysdale, Euan Little, Doug McGuigan, Andrew Oldcorn, Gary Orr, Dean Robertson, Raymond Russell, Murray Urquhart and Simon Yates.
The tournament, conceived as a celebration of links golf, is played over three of the world’s best known and respected links courses - The Old Course at St Andrews, the Championship Course at Carnoustie and the highly regarded Kingsbarns Golf Links - from Thursday September 25 – Sunday, September 28,
Joining the professionals will be a plethora of talented amateur golfers including Samuel L Jackson, star of over 50 Hollywood films including the cult Quentin Tarantino hit Pulp Fiction.
Jackson is joined by: Ian Botham, England's most outstanding all round cricketer and Laureus World Sports Academy member; Zinzan Brooke, legendary All Blacks rugby powerhouse; Sir Bobby Charlton, English football's most respected luminary and Laureus World Sports Academy member, Kenny Dalglish, footballer and manager who played 102 times for Scotland; Andrew Flintoff, England cricket’s most explosive all-rounder; Alan Hansen, former Scotland player and now TV pundit; Gary Lineker, former England striker, now TV presenter; Michael Lynagh, Australian rugby union legend; Nigel Mansell, former British Formula One world champion; Sir Steven Redgrave, five-times Olympic rowing gold medallist and winner of the 2001 Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award; Tico Torres, drummer of top rock band Bon Jovi and Clay Walker, America’s multi-million album selling country singer.
168 teams of one professional and one amateur are to contest the first three rounds, with one round being played at each of the three links courses in rotation. Two competitions are played concurrently – Professional Individual and Team.
The team score will be the best net score of the two players at each hole. After 54 holes the field reduces to the leading 60 professionals and ties plus the 20 leading teams, all of whom play the final round over the Old Course at St. Andrews. A list of entries in this year’s championship will be released in September.
Prize money will be US$5million (approx. €4,336,192 / £3,022,000) with US$4,800,000 (approx. €4,162,745 / £2,901,100) rewarding the leading 70 pros based on their individual scores, and a further US$200,000 (approx. €173,440 / £120,890) for the professionals on the leading 20 teams. First place in the individual competition will be an end of season bonanza of US$800,000 (approx. €693,765 / £483,550).
Play will be in four-ball groups and in order to accommodate as many players as practical, all four rounds will start from both the first and tenth tees at all courses.
Eligibility for the 168 professional field will be as follows:
· The top 50 from the Official World Rankings at August 25, 2003
· The leading 12 players from within the top 20 of each of the final 2002 Asian PGA Tour Order of Merit, the final 2002 Australasian Tour Order of Merit, and the 2002/2003 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, who are not otherwise qualified from the Official World Golf Ranking
· 20 sponsor invitations
· Balance of the field will be completed in accordance with the 2002 European Tour Exemption Category List
The dunhill links championship will be televised live on SKY SPORTS TV, the Golf Channel in the USA and Japan, on M-Net in South Africa and in another 120 countries.
Entrance to the dunhill links championship is complimentary on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the tournament. A ticket price of £15 (concessionary £8) will be charged for Sunday. Under 16’s and students are free. Parking is free. A free bus service will operate between courses.