The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship returns this week, so we thought we would take a look at five of the key themes to look out for.
Once, twice…three times a winner?
England’s Tyrrell Hatton made history by becoming the first man to successfully defend the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last year. The 26 year old’s 2016 victory was his first European Tour win after graduating from the European Challenge Tour three years earlier. He tied the course record at St Andrews with a 62 in the third round, before sealing the title. Returning in 2017 for a defence of his crown, the Englishman did exactly that by making history in 2017 when he posted rounds of 68-65-65-66 to retain the trophy. Will he make it three in a row this week?
Major appeal
Brooks Koepka has enjoyed a meteoric rise to the pinnacle of golf, going from a Challenge Tour star in 2013 to a three-time Major champion in short order. The American won the U.S. Open in 2017 before successfully defending his crown earlier this year at Shinnecock Hills. He then added the US PGA Championship to his repertoire two months later to ensure he currently holds two of the four Major Championships. The only reigning Major winner in the field, Koepka made his first Ryder Cup appearance on European soil last week, contributing 1 ½ points to USA’s 10 ½ total.
Ryder Cup represent
Koepka and Hatton are not the only representatives from The 2018 Ryder Cup on show in Scotland this week as they are joined by three further players and five vice-captains. Koepka’s American teammate Tony Finau will make his first appearance in the tournament after proving to be one of the visitors’ brightest lights at Le Golf National.
Joining Hatton from Team Europe are Tommy Fleetwood, who secured four points from five matches and Thorbjørn Olesen, who dominated his singles match against Jordan Spieth on Sunday. American Vice-Captain Matt Kuchar will also tee it up for the first time at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and he will be joined by Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington, Robert Karlsson and Graeme McDowell, all part of Thomas Bjørn’s backroom staff at Le Golf National.
Challenge Tour alumni
The European Challenge Tour will be well-represented at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, with four of this season’s winners set to tee it up. Kim Koivu, who has already secured his European Tour card for next year, is one of the most successful Challenge Tour players this year. The Finn won the Belt and Road Colorful Yunnan Open in April before securing two wins in the space of three weeks at the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge and the Rolex Trophy. Liam Johnston, a two-time winner this season with the Andalucia - Costa del Sol Match Play 9 and the Kazakhstan Open Presented by ERG titles to his name, will play the event in his home country for the second successive year.
The remaining two Challenge Tour winners – Tom Lewis and Richard McEvoy – have enjoyed incredible years. McEvoy won the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge before triumphing the very next week on the European Tour at the Porsche European Open – his first win in 285 starts. Lewis, meanwhile, won his first title in seven years when he secured the Bridgestone Challenge crown before returning to the scene of this first professional win, the Portugal Masters, to become the first man to win the event twice.
Three courses
The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is the only tournament on the European Tour’s International Schedule to be played across three courses. 168 professionals are paired with 168 amateurs and play each course in a rotation over the first three days - the Old Course St Andrews, the Championship Course Carnoustie and Kingsbarns Golf Links - with the final round being played over the Old Course. The cut is made after three rounds so the 60 leading professionals and ties play in the final round, along with the 20 lowest scoring pro-am teams, regardless of the professional’s individual score.
