Alfred Dunhill Links Championship - The debrief

Everything you need to know from a wet week in Scotland at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

There was double joy for Matt Fitzpatrick (and mum), the stars came out to shine, the Horschels were going pink for breast cancer and it rained and rained and rained at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Here is everything you need to know from five days in the home of golf.

Fitzpatrick on cloud nine

Matt Fitzpatrick carded a closing 66 at St Andrews to finish at 19 under and claim his ninth DP World Tour title. An opening 67 at Carnoustie proved a good platform upon which to build and he followed it with a 64 at Kingsbarns to lead by one. He had to sit on that lead for two days as the weekend was washed out but it proved no problem as he cantered to a convincing win on the Old Course. "It's amazing," he said. "Winning is difficult. I had a chance a few weeks ago in Switzerland and that one hurt a lot. I felt like I had been playing better than I had in the summer. It doesn't get better than this. Winning at St Andrews, it's just a very special place. We've been coming here for a long, long time as well and it doesn't get better." And that was not the only reason he had to celebrate...........

Family affair brings double delight

It was not just solo success that Fitzpatrick was tasting as he and mum Susan also won the team event by five shots. The victory makes Matt just the second player to do the double after Pádraig Harrington, while Susan becomes just the second woman to win at the event following Maeve Danaher's success alongside Michael Hoey in 2021. And Susan was no passenger alongside her Major-winning son, contributing four eagles and eight birdies as they finished at 35 under with rounds of 64-58-59. "We played last year and didn't quite play so well and this year she's played fantastic and I played really solid as well," said Matt. "She's been wanting to play all year and she's been looking forward to it. To go out there and play as well as you did and as well as I did as well, it's amazing to win together. Couldn't ask for a better week," Susan added on Monday. "It's been such a great day today. I enjoyed the course and played at a great pace. It's been lovely so it's been another great week."

Rain, rain go away...........

The groundstaff are the unsung heroes at most events but last week they may as well have been wearing capes. With weather warnings issued in Scotland, the rain tumbled down leaving all three course waterlogged and unplayable on Saturday and Sunday.

But thanks to some incredible work, we played on Monday and got a 54-hole event. Not that Bob MacIntyre was fazed by any of it...

Horschels go pink for breast cancer

Billy and Brittany Horschel were not only making history as the first husband and wife pair to play at the event but they were also doing some good for charity in the process. "This month is Breast Cancer Aware Month and Ralph Lauren and their Pink Pony campaign, we are supporting it, so every birdie we make is US$1,000, so we made quite a few of them today," said Billy on Thursday. "We will be having pink the next three days as well. Doesn't matter what the weather looks like, we are going to bring some brightness to the weather the next few days." With their 17 birdies made over the week, they raised $17,000 - great work guys!

You can read our Player Blog with the Horschels HERE.

Stars come out to shine

One of the great things about the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is that stars of sport, screen and music come out to play and this year was no exception.