Alfred Dunhill boasts outstanding field
BY Bruce Young | European PGA Tour | 2007 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship | Preview | 03 Oct 2007
The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is played this week over three of the finest courses in Scotland and brings together one of the strongest fields in European golf.
The Pro-Am format, coming at this late stage of the season, has regularly attracted players looking to not only compete for a significant purse but to repay many of their friends and family with the chance to play the now celebrated event.
When first staged on 2001, there was much discussion as to the validity of the event in the European schedule. One of the biggest concerns early on was the timing of late October and the associated weather but a decision to bring it forward a couple of weeks helped in that regard. As the quality of the field each and every year would suggest, it has developed into a very popular event and is a nice combination of fun and serious golf.
The tournament brings together regular European Tour event winners and Members but in an innovation that has added significantly to its worldwide interest, it will also include several players who have performed with distinction on regional Order of Merits.
The courses involved are St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarn which are played in rotation over the first three days before a cut is made and the final round played back at St Andrews. With two of the three courses part of the Open Championship rota, these are venues of the highest order and play a key role in the regard in which the tournament is held in European golf.
The two time winner and leader of the European Tour Order of Merit, Padraig Harrington, is likely to be the favourite once again given his liking for the course and the format where he plays with good friend JP McManus. Harrington is the second highest ranked player in the world in this event after Ernie Els and despite a somewhat rollercoaster run of form in recent weeks, he still deserves to be the favourite.
Els has not won the event but has often performed well. He arrives in Scotland after a generally good run of form in recent weeks. He played well on Sunday at the Presidents Cup but there have also been plenty of top tens in 2007.
Lee Westwood is a previous winner of the event and is now back to where he was in terms of his form compared to the level he was playing at four or five years ago. It is hard to see Westwood not being in the mix on Sunday.
Justin Rose has not played here in recent years but has become a world class player in the last two years and at number 13 in the world, is one of the top players in this week’s event. He has not yet won a USPGA Tour event but won on the European Tour (in Australia) late last year and has been in very consistent form in recent months.
This is such a strong field that any one of twenty players could win and not create too much of a surprise. A couple of players outside the more favoured group however are Bradley Dredge and Soren Kjeldsen and both are good chances. Dredge finished runner up to Harrington last year and has been in good recent form. Like Dredge, Kjeldesen played well in this event last year and has recorded several very good finishes in recent weeks.
The Australian contingent is large but is perhaps headed by Nathan Green. Green has been on holiday in London for the past week or so and will play his first stand alone European Tour event since his win at the New Zealand Open last year. Green has played the event on two previous occasions finishing 29th in 2004.
Brett Rumford, Steve Elkington, Peter O’Malley, Marcus Fraser, Wade Ormsby, Kurt Barnes, Adam Bland, Jarrod Moseley, Peter Senior, Peter Fowler, Peter Fowler, Scott Strange, David Diaz, Matthew Millar and Terry Price make up the rest of the Australians while New Zealander Michael Campbell is the only Kiwi in the field.
The tournament is worth US$5 million.
