With the Old Course having staged the Open Championship back in July, European golf fans are treated to a second helping of St. Andrews as the Tour returns to Scotland for the 15th edition of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Starting Thursday, St. Andrews shares hosting duties alongside Carnoustie and Kingsbarns. The event has a pro-am format so each pro and his amateur partner play one round at each venue. Those who survive the cut head back to the Old Course on Sunday to decide the destiny of both the main tournament and the amateur prize.
As well as the famous amateurs from sport, the big names you might catch a glimpse of in the historic towns’ watering holes over the week include Bill Murray, Hugh Grant, Andy Garcia, Huey Lewis and Michael Phelps.
Take note of the prize money on offer.
This week’s purse of $5,000,000 matches that of the European Tour’s flagship event, the BMW Championship at Wentworth.
It’s five times the amount of some of the events played earlier in the summer so, in other words, it’s a very important week for fantasy managers.
Courses
St Andrews – Par 72; 7,307 yards
Carnoustie – Par 72; 7,412 yards
Kingsbarns – Par 72, 7,150 yards
All three are links courses so look for those who thrive in such conditions. Carnoustie usually plays as the hardest so bear that in mind if one of your picks has played there early and is lagging behind as he might come on strong over the final three days. Overall, all three are set up with accessible pin placements so scoring tends to be very low. On Saturday last year, there were 14 rounds of 65 or better, including two 62s.
Winning scores, winners and stats
2014 -17 Oliver Wilson (DD: 64, DA: 89, GIR: 64, Scr: 1, PA: 95)
2013 -23 David Howell (DD: 68, DA: 93, GIR: 10, Scr: 32, PA: 8)
2012 -22 Branden Grace (DD: 26, DA: 112, GIR: 10, Scr: 46, PA: 6)
2011 -22 Michael Hoey (DD: 15, DA: 120, GIR: 29, Scr: 7, PA: 7)
2010 -17 Martin Kaymer (DD: 32, DA: 40, GIR: 5, Scr: 10, PA: 26)
Conclusions: Driving Accuracy isn’t important! Hitting greens, scrambling and putting is!
Winners by nationality
Since this tournament came onto the schedule in 2001, 11 of the 14 editions have been won by GB & Ireland players which makes sense given their links backgrounds. The full breakdown is: England (5), Scotland (3), N.Ireland/Ireland (3), Sweden (1), Germany (1), South Africa (1). That said, in this year’s Open Championship at St. Andrews, the top five comprised two Americans (Zach Johnson and Jordan Spieth), two Aussies (Marc Leishman and Jason Day) and a South African (Louis Oosthuizen).
Weather
It’s certainly going to feel chilly in Scotland this week with temperatures struggling to hit 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Expect to see lots of bobble hots being worn. At least we won’t witness the winds that caused the suspension of this year’s Open Championship. According to the forecasts, they should be modest and not go much higher than 10mph but, beware, that could change.
The Leading Contenders
The German has always supported this event and has a win (2010) and a runner-up (2008) to his name. He’s also finished T7 and T12 in the last two Open Championships at St. Andrews (2010 and 2015) so is high-class performer over the Old Course. Kaymer arrives on the back of a play-off loss at the Italian Open (1st in greens in reg) so all the planets look aligned for a title challenge.
Fresh from his T18 at the Tour Championship, Koepka heads back across the Atlantic to what is familiar territory for him. The American is playing in this event for the third time and is 2-for-2 with a T9 last year. He also took T10 in the Open Championship two months ago and has even won a Challenge Tour event in Scotland. His form has dipped since a run of 18-10-5 at the final three majors of 2015 but a bit of authentic links air back in his nostrils might provide the spark.
The only non-European winner of this championship, the South African put his name on the trophy in 2012 after leading from pillar-to-post following an opening 60 at Kingsbarns. He’s a superb player on links courses and that helped him perform so well in the final two U.S. majors of 2015 when he made the top four at both Chambers Bay and Whistling Straits. Grace was also T20 in the Open at St. Andrews. The only concern this week could be a bit of rust as he hasn’t played since T47 at the Wyndham Championship in August.
Since his breakout win at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio and missed cut at the following week’s PGA Championship, we haven’t seen Lowry on the course. That’s a slight worry but is surely trumped by his record in this event which shows a T6 last year and a T3 in 2013. Quite simply, you always want him on the team anytime the Tour visits a links venue.
The Englishman announced on Twitter this week that he has a first baby on the way so there’ll be an extra spring in his step in Scotland this week. He arrived early so is clearly keen to create some more great memories there having finished T6 in July’s Open Championship. Willett was also runner-up in this event in 2010 and T3 in the Italian Open two weeks ago so he’s an absolute must for the European Tour fantasy team this week.
There’s plenty of good golf coming out of Schwartzel but even he himself hopes, rather than expects, to string four good rounds together. We saw a classic example of that in Germany last week when he led at halfway but had to settle for T19 after a third-round 75 did too much damage. His record in this event is patchy but includes top 10s in 2011 and 2013 although the cold weather forecast won’t exactly be to his liking.
In Germany last week, the Austrian joined that unwanted club of players who have gone from first-round leader to missing the cut. It’s still hard to fathom how he followed a 64 with a 76 as he’s such a solid player so has he lost the faith of gamers after that capitulation? Some might swerve him but Wiesberger has made the top 15 in this event twice in the last three years and is 7th on the Race To Dubai so deserves another look.
There is plenty to like about Donald this week. Firstly, he hasn’t missed a cut since THE PLAYERS in May and that run includes a pair of top 7s at the Travelers Championship and also the Scottish Open at Gullane. He followed that with a T12 in the Open at St. Andrews so the former World No.1 has been strong on links courses this year. He’s played this event just four times but his finishes read: 9-7-23-3. A T39 at the Deutsche Bank Championship was the last time we saw him in action.
The Welshman returned to form with a top five in last week’s Porsche European Open, finishing 7th for greens in regulation). He’s played in this event 12 times and kicked off with T9 back in 2001. He’s added top 10s in 2008 and 2011 although there are five missed cuts in there too so that hit-and-miss record possibly makes him a borderline pick.
After a rather difficult relationship with St. Andrews earlier in his career (let’s be blunt, he hated it), Westwood finally fell for the Old Course’s charms in 2003 when winning this tournament. He’s since added five top 10s (2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009) although this is his first appearance in the event since T30 in 2011. The Englishman has missed just one cut in his last nine events but his results sheet is littered with midfield finishes so is today’s Westwood still worth investing in?
In the last couple of months, Fitzpatrick has finished runner-up in the Omega European Masters and banked top threes at the Czech Masters and Italian Open. He was in the top three for greens in regulation in all those events and that will serve him very well in this tournament. He’ll be playing in the event for the first time but a strong links pedigree combined with his latest form suggests another big week for the former U.S. Amateur champion.
The Next Rung
An was a popular pick in Germany last week after coming in off a win in his native Korea but faltered on the weekend (73-69) and finished T19. His iron play (45th for GIR) wasn’t sharp enough so he’ll need to get it crisper here. This is his debut in the event while there isn’t much encouragement to be found in his Open form at St. Andrews (missed cuts in both 2010 and 2015).
Pieters has form figures of 1-1 heading to Scotland, the sort of numbers we usually associate with Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day. True, they weren’t the most celebrated events (Czech Masters and KLM Open) but his confidence will be through the roof. The big-hitting Belgian has played in this event just once but shot 65-67 on the weekend to post T18 last year so there are good grounds to pick him and bump some of the bigger names off the team this week.
Fleetwood has thrived in this event since making his debut in 2011 and has a T2 in 2014 along with top fives in both 2011 and 2013. He even shot a 62 at St. Andrews 12 months ago. All that course form didn’t help him in this summer’s Open Championship at the Old Course and, to be honest, he’s been in a bit of a flunk since then, missing five of his last six cuts. He presents a classic tournament v current form dilemma.
The Dutchman is 5-for-7 in this event although a T9 in 2011 is his only top 20. He actually isn’t that great a fan of links golf despite some decent results on such tracks and they include T4 in the Scottish Open at Gullane in July. Luiten has played twice in September, finishing T23 in his home KLM Open and T30 in last week’s Porsche European Open.
Soren Kjeldsen
The little Dane banked his fifth top 10 of the season (you can add another six top 20s on top of that) when T9 at last week’s Porsche European Open in Germany and is up to 14th on the Race To Dubai. He’s only managed a single top 10 in 13 starts in this event (T8 in 2006) so, although he won the Irish Open on a classic links earlier this year, there have to be doubts whether these particular venues suit him. Note, he missed the cut at St. Andrews in this summer’s Open after carding 75-73.
Warren deserves respect in any event played in his native Scotland. In his last five home-soil tournaments, he has three top fours while in the Alfred Dunhill Links he’s made seven of his last eight cuts with four top 25s. The best of those was a T5 in 2011. True, he missed the cut in the Porsche European Open last week after shooting 69-77 but expect him to get back on track here.
Still no top 10 anywhere since February but the signs of promise for G-Mac continue to grow after rounds of 68-70-70-70 gave him T36 in Germany last week. He’s always worth considering on the links and boasts a second (2004) and a third (2011) in this event. That latter result came on his most recent appearance in the tournament.
A former runner-up at the Dunhill Links (2008), Fisher has also finished T11 (2010) and T22 (2012) in this tournament. A more recent visit to this part of the world resulted in a T7 in the Scottish Open two months ago. The Englishman also ended a run of three missed cuts on the spin with a top five in last week’s Porsche European Open so he offers some current form too.
The big-hitting American is available for the European Tour Fantasy game and must be considered a worthwhile contender for a pick. In two starts in this event he’s finished runner-up in 2013 and T18 last year. He also finished T12 in the European Open last week (3rd for GIR) so back at venues he loves, Uihlein could make a real splash.
The Swede made a real impact in America this year, winning the Memorial and making it through three legs of the FedExCup playoffs. He also made waves, for a brief while at least, on his last trip to St. Andrews when taking the early lead on day one of The Open after playing his first nine holes in just 29. However, his form dipped in the playoffs and he really needs his putter to heat up again.
If it’s links form you want, Pepperell is very much on the shortlist. This year he’s finished runner-up in the Irish Open, T4 in the Scottish Open and also T5 at the recent KLM Open. He also briefly topped the leaderboard in round three of this year’s Open so clearly enjoys St. Andrews. In this event he was T26 on debut in 2013 but missed the cut last year. Don’t be surprised if he has a big week.
Piercy jets in from Atlanta having contested the Tour Championship (T25 out of 30). His very presence in that event shows he’s been in good form and that’s highlighted by a win in July’s Barbasol Championship and T3 in the BMW Championship two weeks ago. Hopefully he’s banished all memories of his only other visit to Scotland when he shot 74-88 to miss the cut by a mile in the 2013 Open at Muirfield.
Dubuisson has an erratic record in this event with missed cuts in 2010, 2014 and 2015 but in 2012 he cracked the top five after riding an opening 62 at St. Andrews. His form this year has been a mix of disappointment and brief returns to form so he remains hard to predict. The Frenchman’s very latest form is T27 at the Czech Masters at the end of August.
RCB is usually pushing strongly for a place on any fantasy team given his consistency in regular European Tour events. He’s banked six top 13s in his last 11 starts although his very latest form has shown a drop off with T74 at the Open d’Italia and a missed cut in the European Open last week. His record in this event casts further doubts as he’s crashed out after three rounds in four of his last five visits. Before we write him off, though, the Spaniard did take fourth place in 2009.
Who’s On The Team
Despite the odd shock winner which might suggest the relaxed pro-am format dampens the competitive fires, the trophy is littered with top names.
Overall, 11 of the 14 champions have played on either a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup team so, in terms of a star pick, Martin Kaymer has excellent claims.
Peter Uihlein appears to be hitting form again and is worthy of making a 10-man line-up despite the impressive field.
I’ll update this page on Tuesday and reveal my full team.
One To Fade
Charl Schwartzel remains difficult to trust and chilly Scotland might find him out again.
2015 Fantasy Race to Dubai
Dave Tindall is our newest contributor, but he’s been a fixture in Europe. In addition to his weekly previews of European Tour events on Mondays, he’ll share his selections and analysis for the Fantasy Race to Dubai at EuropeanTour.com.
Format:
Pick 10 golfers. Players accumulate points based on Race to Dubai (R2D) points earned. Star player’s points are doubled. Unlimited team changes and unlimited star player changes are available each week.
Last week
A very strange week, highlighted by star pick Bernd Wiesberger leading after round one and then missing the cut. Only 5 of the 10 made the cut but many managers suffered the same fate. Current position: 1,423.
Team Tindall (Team name: YESSIR!)
Branden Grace
Shane Lowry
Danny Willett
Bernd Wiesberger
Luke Donald
Matt Fitzpatrick
Marc Warren
Peter Uihlein
Eddie Pepperell
Star Player: Martin Kaymer
Has a win and a second place in this event. Runner-up in Italy on last start (1st for greens in regulation).
The Rest
- Branden Grace: The 2012 winner was superb in the majors this year and loves links golf.
- Shane Lowry: T6 last, T3 in 2013 and riding high in confidence after breakthrough WGC win.
- Danny Willett: Expectant father was T6 in Open at St. Andrews. 2nd here in 2010, T3 in Italy last time.
- Bernd Wiesberger: Bizarre second round last week but plays well in this event so worth another go.
- Luke Donald: Three top 10s in four starts here and has found a groove in recent months.
- Matt Fitzpatrick: Strong on the links and has three top three finishes in last five Euro Tour starts
- Marc Warren: Loves a home game. Three top fours in last five starts in Scotland. T5 here in 2011.
- Peter Uihlein: Runner-up in this two years ago and T18 in 2014. T12 in Germany last week..
- Eddie Pepperell: Excellent form on the links this year and T5 at the KLM Open.
