2024 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship preview
With the world of men's professional golf still seemingly tearing itself apart, this week will be a refreshing change to the regular animosity between the warring factions, as tournament owner, Johann Rupert has got his way and as many as 14 LIV Golf members are in the field, alongside some of the best from the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR. Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka are the undoubted global headliners, but the supporting cast is stellar, and includes Scotland's Number One, Robert MacIntyre, LIV Golf stars Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch, David Puig, Patrick Reed, Louis Oosthuizen, Tyrrell Hatton, Dean Burmester, Eugenio Chacarra, Branden Grace, and Caleb Surrat. Defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick is one of 10 past winners in the field, and Tommy Fleetwood will attempt to finally break his duck in a tournament he has contended for on numerous occasions. Shane Lowry, BMW PGA Champion Billy Horschel and Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard are also some of the stars in arguably the best Alfred Dunhill Links Championship field in many years.
The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, and before it, the Alfred Dunhill Cup, has always held a somewhat unique position among regular tour events in that it manages to structure its field to be a 'world' event, bridging the divide between the many tours across the world. This week there are 14 LIV Golf League players, 10 from the PGA Tour of Australasia, 10 from the Sunshine Tour, and 5 from the Asian Tour, alongside the regular DP World Tour membership, and those players which hold dual membership with the PGA TOUR too. 20 of the world's top 100 players are playing this week, which is the most for 2 years, and slightly below average for the event, but of those 20, 5 are ranked inside the top 17, which is the most since 2011.
Professional golf has developed over the years thanks to entrepreneurial individuals, global brands and niche companies including Mark McCormack's IMG, Johnnie Walker, Dunhill, Volvo, BMW and Kerry Packer. It is at a time like this that the establishment would do well to remember that without these individuals and companies, the tours as we know them, particularly the DP World Tour, would not exist. Perhaps the Dunhill sponsored tournament at the home of golf can play a pivotal role in a future global tour in men's professional golf.
Rory and Rahm reunited
The European Ryder Cup teammates played alongside each other in the third round of the 2019 Dunhill on the Old Course, and despite the 'controversy' surrounding Rahm's appearance at this year's event, surely the DP World Tour will take the opportunity to pair them up again.
When they played together in 2019 it was McIlroy who got the better of Rahm, shooting 70 to the Spaniard's 73, and finishing in a tie for 26th whilst Rahm missed the cut. Back then it was Rahm's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship debut, now he returns as one of the superstars of the sport, a winner of two Majors and the captain of Legion XIII on the LIV Golf League.
Rahm is entered into the Dunhill in a bid to earn crucial Ryder Cup points for the 2025 Ryder Cup, which will be played at Bethpage State Park in New York.
Only 6 times in the history of Dunhill sponsored golf in St Andrews has the tournament attracted a greater number of Major winners, with 9 teeing it up this October, including Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Shane Lowry, Matt Fitzpatrick, Danny Willett, Padraig Harrington, Louis Oosthuizen, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy. 8 of the leading 30 golfers on the Official World Golf Ranking are entered for the championship next month, which is the most since 2011 when 10 including the world's top 3 were present.
Remarkably Rory McIlroy was ranked as World Number 3 back then (some 13 years ago), and he is currently also ranked as World Number 3. The Northern Irishman is the only player still inside the top 10 that was back then, showing the incredible level of golf he has played during his career.
There are so many storylines set to be written at this year's championship, and surely these two will be at the heart of many of them.
MacIntyre arrives at the home of golf hunting a unique double
Scottish Number One Robert MacIntyre was out on the Old Course yesterday afternoon alongside his father Dougie enjoying an early practice round ahead of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. The RBC Canadian Open and Genesis Scottish Open Champion has enjoyed the year of his career so far, and it all began 12 months ago yesterday.
As a nervous rookie MacIntyre made his Ryder Cup debut, and alongside the former US Open Champion, Justin Rose, earned a half against the 2023 US Open Champion Wyndham Clark, and in-form Max Homa. The pair then teamed up together the following afternoon to defeat Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth 3&2 in the fourballs, giving Europe, at the time, a 6-point lead over the Americans.
In the singles Bob shone and completed an unbeaten Ryder Cup debut by defeating US Open Champion Wyndham Clark 2&1, earning Europe's 16th point in a convincing victory over the USA. That week elevated Bob's global stature, and a consistent season on the DP World Tour, in which he finished in 13th place on the Race to Dubai, earning one of the ten PGA TOUR cards on offer to DP World Tour players.
This year was set to be a learning year for the Oban man, but it has proved to be far more than that, winning twice on the PGA TOUR in his rookie season. Firstly he claimed an emotional victory, alongside his father (caddie) at the RBC Canadian Open, becoming the first Scottish winner of that national open since Macdonald Smith, in 1926. Then just a few weeks later he returned to Renaissance Club and went one better than the runner-up place he earned in 2023, shooting a final round of 67 to win by one stroke over Adam Scott.
So now he comes to the home of golf, ranked 16th in the world, 6th on the Race to Dubai, and hunting down a unique double. No player has ever won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and Scottish Open in the same year, and for a Scot to do it would be incredible. In doing so he would also become the first Scot since Colin Montgomerie in 2005 to win the Dunhill, and just the fourth ever, including 20 years ago when Stephen Gallacher defeated Graeme McDowell in a playoff. 1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie won the first edition of the Links Championship, in 2001.
The previous 365 days have changed Robert MacIntyre's life, and elevated him into the top tier of professional golfers, and if what he has shown in those 12 months is anything to go by, do not be shocked if he joins an even more elite group of golfers in 2025.
Koepka returns to 'favourite course' looking to crown another great year
Brooks Koepka may not have won the LIV Golf League individual championship since he joined the breakaway league in 2022, but there is no doubt he has been its dominant player, winning five tournaments and being just the second player to win in all three seasons of the league's existence. This year he claimed victory in Singapore in April, and then in August he defeated Jon Rahm in a playoff to win at The Greenbrier, a third playoff win since he made the controversial switch following the 2022 US Open.
Koepka has played in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship four times, finishing in the top 10 in each of the last three occasions he has teed it up, including a runner-up finish to Thorbjorn Olesen in 2015. He is very much a contender this week. Due to the ongoing feud in men's professional golf, and the restrictions placed on those who have joined LIV Golf, this is the first non-major that Koepka has played in this year which counts for the OWGR, and his ranking has slipped to World Number 66, a ranking which is far below his ability, and form.
This week could be huge for the future of men's professional golf if all the stars are in contention on Sunday, and the prospect of McIlroy, Rahm, Koepka and MacIntyre all being in a battle for the title is something to savour.
Are the locals tired of 'past-it celebrities' playing in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship?
Feedback from locals on the SHANK Media platform suggests that they are very much fed up with the 'celebrity' element of this event, 23 years ago it was a pretty much unique event outside of the USA, with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am being the only other comparable event in world golf. The overwhelming sentiment seems to be that it is "Time for Dunhill to call a halt to this celebrity circus and make the event a proper golf tournament again"
This year sees Piers Morgan, Michael Douglas, Tico Torres, Bill Murray, Huey Lewis, Jamie Redknapp, Gareth Bale, Kelly Slater, Dave Farrell, John Elway, Ruud Gullit, Andy Garcia, Sir AP McCoy, Kathryn Newton, Kevin Pietersen, Michael Vaughan and Sir Steve Redgrave as the most high profile entrants. Sir Steve Redgrave has played in every single edition of the championship since it became the Links Championship in 2001, and there is little doubt that the buzz of the event has reduced in recent years, with the celebrities remaining the same each year, and getting older, and more detached from the youth of today. In St Andrews, that is particularly important with such a large University population.
2024 may see the event negate that due to the fantastic professional field it has attracted, and that has to be seen as the important element of the event, and to be honest that is what matters to our audience, However, the days of having Jamie Dornan or Justin Timberlake in the field appear to be over, so is it time for a change, and if so, what does that change look like?
Many hark back for the days of the Dunhill Cup. A unique event which pitted teams from nations around the world against each other in medal matches between 3 golfers, with groups played out over the Old Course and the knockout rounds over the weekend. It attracted some of the best golfers in the world, and pitted them against each other, with the best example being Seve Ballesteros against Greg Norman in 1988. I would say it is unlikely we will see a return to that format, but I would argue for a return to a Cup, with the following format.
Last week's Presidents Cup was yet another beatdown of the Internationals by the USA, so it is time to bring something new to the scene, a six-team matchplay competition unlike anything we have seen before.
USA, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia and The Americas would enter 24-player teams featuring 12 men and 12 women
The six teams would play in a single league over the first three days, with each team drawn to face three opponents Thursday to Saturday
The matches would take place at the Old Course, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie Thursday to Saturday
Each match would consist of 4 mixed foursomes, 2 men's fourballs, 2 women's fourballs, 4 men's singles and 4 women's singles with one match at the Old Course, one at Kingsbarns and one at Carnoustie
The leading two teams after Saturday would qualify for the final on the Old Course on Sunday
This would be a meaningful competition and would showcase the best of men's and women's golf, whilst continuing the celebration of Links golf, and providing the sport with another team event which players and fans looked forward to in equal measure.
A pro-am would take place on each of the three courses on the day prior to competition beginning, and it has been proven that single-day pro-ams, such as the BMW PGA Championship, attract much stronger celebrity fields. This would help bring out the younger audience at each venue, particularly St Andrews and Carnoustie.
To satisfy the needs of the DP World Tour membership, the tour could relaunch the Portugal Masters in the same week, creating a 3-week Iberian swing for those not playing the Dunhill Cup.
Imagination needs to be used to secure the future of this sport, it has not always been about 72-hole Strokeplay, or what is good for the tours. If it was then the Dunhill Cup would never have even got off the ground back in 1985. It is events like the Dunhill Cup and World Match Play Championship, both the brainchildren of Mark McCormack, which have moved golf forward globally in the last 65 years.
The draw for the 23rd edition of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship will be announced this evening, and then SHANK will announce which courses we'll be covering and when via our Facebook page. At the time of writing there has been no announcement made over the traditional fireworks on Saturday evening, they were cancelled in 2023 due to the devastating storm which saw the event finish on Monday in bizarre circumstances.
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