By Will Pearson, europeantour.com
at St Andrews
David Howell will launch his defence of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship alongside Edoardo Molinari and a pair of A-list actors when the action gets under way in Scotland on Thursday.
Played across the world famous Old Course, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns layouts, the US$5 million Dunhill Links is a unique Pro-Am event and a celebration of links golf which incorporates two separate competitions.
First and foremost there is the small matter of one of the most prized trophies on The European Tour in the individual professional tournament, but in addition there is also the team aspect in which some of the game’s best are paired with luminaries – and amateur golfers – from the world of sport, entertainment and business world.
In 2013, Englishman Howell won his first European Tour title in seven years by beating American Peter Uihlein in a sudden-death play-off and kicks off his bid to defend the title at 1112 local time at Carnoustie in Angus and in the company of celebrated actor Hugh Grant plus Molinari’s partner, Hollywood superstar Greg Kinnear.
Elsewhere, World Number One Rory McIlroy, playing in his first Dunhill Links since 2011 when the Northern Irishman finished runner-up to compatriot Michael Hoey, once again has his father Gerry by his side as they tee off at 0933 at Carnoustie with former Masters Tournament champion Charl Schwartzel and South African wine merchant Jeremy Ord.
Like McIlroy, Martin Kaymer is arriving back in this golfing mecca on the back of another glorious Ryder Cup triumph at Gleneagles last week and the 2010 Dunhill Links winner tees off at 0944 in Carnoustie with amateur partner Patrick Roeseler and South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen – who has manager Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler for company.
Colin Montgomerie will be making his 599th appearance on The European Tour when he tees it up at 0955 at Carnoustie alongside Yahoo founder Jerry Yang plus Padraig Harrington and Irish business magnate JP McManus.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee might be having aLost in Translation moment of his own in hitting the links with big-name actor Bill Murray as the pair take on Carnoustie from 1006 on Thursday with Danny Willett and Northern Irish actor Jamie Dornan, who is set to hit superstardom with the upcoming release of the eagerly-anticipatedFifty Shades of Grey film adaption.
Sir Nick Faldo makes his second appearance of the year on The European Tour this week following the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open in July, and he tees it up alongside his son Matthew plus Ryder Cup star Victor Dubuisson and his adopted father Jean-Pierre Rouvet.
The last of the four Gleneagles stars at the Dunhill Links this week, Stephen Gallacher, meanwhile, plays with businessman Sir Martyn Arbib – the man who the Scot played with when he was victorious here ten years ago. That pair play with Joost Luiten plus Dutch businessman Wijnand Pon from 1101 at Carnoustie.
In a high profile fourball, victorious European Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley returns to playing ways withSex and the City andDesperate Housewives star Kyle MacLachan plus former European Number One Robert Karlsson, who hasHomelandandBand of Brothers actor Damian Lewis for company from 1123 at Carnoustie.
At St Andrews on Thursday, meanwhile, promising Dutch star Daan Huizing will be playing with compatriot and footballing legend Johan Cruyff plus former Germany star Michael Ballack and Marcel Siem from 0955.
Other celebrities in the star-studded field included footballers Sir Bobby Charlton, Luis Figo, Ruud Gullit, Alan Hansen and Jamie Redknapp, plus former England cricket captains Michael Vaughan and Sir Ian Botham, multiple Olympic gold medal winner Sir Steve Redgrave, Formula 1 World Champion Damon Hill and many more.
For the first three rounds, groups will alternate between St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie, with the final round being a professionals-only affair on the revered Old Course.
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