Two-time Open champion Padraig Harrington, along with nine other members of Europe’s Ryder Cup team, will have an early chance to make up for the disappointment of their defeat in Valhalla as they bid for the prestigious Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews next month.
Harrington and Ryder Cup players Paul Casey, Soren Hansen, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Robert Karlsson, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood and Oliver Wilson, who were all members of the team beaten by the United States, are among the entries for the event which takes place at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns from October 2-5.
Also playing will be defending champion Nick Dougherty and Ross Fisher, both of whom narrowly missed out on automatic Ryder Cup qualification, and two time winner this year, Darren Clarke, who had been hoping for a wild card pick from captain Nick Faldo.
Scottish golfers have a tremendous record in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and former winners Paul Lawrie (2001), Stephen Gallacher (2004) and Colin Montgomerie (2005) will be in the field again, as will former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance, who won the team championship with his son Daniel in 2003.
As usual the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship has a strong international flavour. Also playing will be South Africans Ernie Els, the 2002 Open champion and twice winner of the US Open, and two-time US Open winner Retief Goosen. Plus New Zealand’s Michael Campbell, the 2005 US Open champion.
Harrington, the popular Irishman, who made history when he became the first European to win two Open Championships in a row since James Braid in 1906, and then also added the US PGA title, said: “I am very much looking forward to coming back and trying to make it a hat-trick of Dunhill victories. I always enjoy the Dunhill. I find it good fun playing with the amateurs, but it’s also one of the most important and valuable tournaments on the European Tour. My victory two years ago set me off on a terrific run which saw me win my first European Tour Order of Merit title, then go on to win the Open at Carnoustie and then Birkdale.”
Defending champion Nick Dougherty said: “To win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship you have to beat one of the best fields of the year. It’s one of the biggest events on the European Tour which attracts the stronger players. I am really looking forward to returning to St Andrews this autumn and hopefully I will be able to carry my good form of last year into the championship. Victory at St Andrews changed where I felt I was in the golfing world and has helped me to rethink my own personal goals in my career.”
Personalities from the world of entertainment include film and TV stars Hugh Grant, Samuel L.Jackson, Kyle MacLachlan, John O’Hurley, Dougray Scott and Luke Wilson.
Also taking part are music legends Don Felder from the Eagles, Ronan Keating, Huey Lewis and Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres.
Three of Britain’s sporting knights – Sir Ian Botham, Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir Steve Redgrave - lead a locker room full of sporting heroes including Dutch football maestro Ruud Gullit and former England player Jamie Redknapp, South African rugby’s Morné du Plessis and former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick, while cricket is represented by India’s Kapil Dev, England’s Mark Nicholas and Michael Vaughan and South African Shaun Pollock.
The championship, which takes place from October 2-5, was conceived as a celebration of links golf and 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.
The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship has a unique format. With a prize fund of US$5 million, it incorporates two separate competitions - an individual professional tournament for the world's leading golfers and a team event in which they are paired with some of the most celebrated amateur golfers.
168 teams of one professional and one amateur contest the first three rounds, with one round being played at each of the three courses in rotation. The two competitions are played concurrently – individual professional 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. Play will be in fourball 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.
Entrance to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship will be FREE at all three courses on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. A ticket price of £15 (concessionary £10) will be charged for the final day’s play over the Old Course on Sunday, October 5. Entry for under 16s and students is free. Tickets are available through the ticket hotline on 0870 010 9021 or at the entrance gates. There is free parking for spectators and a free shuttle bus service will be in operation between the courses on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.