After a wonderful renewal of the British Masters at Close House, the European Tour heads to Scotland this week for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Held at three of the finest links courses anywhere in the world, the Dunhill Links is a pro-am event with each professional playing alongside an amateur partner.
There is a prize for the lowest pairing on Sunday but the main job of the amateurs is to keep their professional partner in good spirits as they do battle for a very well regarded title. With the end of season Race to Dubai playoff events just around the corner, everybody in the field will be on the hunt for vital ranking points while some players still have to secure their cards for next year.
This may not, however, be the best event for those looking to play themselves into form. Each team will play one round at St Andrews (Old Course), Carnoustie and Kingsbarns before those who make the cut go around the Old Course one more time. With low scoring the norm in this tournament, players who get off to a slow start may struggle to make the weekend and pick up the size of cheque they’re expecting. That said, those who start on Carnoustie will naturally find themselves towards the lower reached of the leader board as it is comfortably the toughest of the three venues.
Fisher to Put Recent Frustrations Behind Him
When you’re looking for players to back for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship there are two questions to ask. Does the player have strong links pedigree and will they cope with the relaxed atmosphere of a pro-am? You have to answer yes to both questions when considering the chances of Ross Fisher.
Some of Fisher’s best major performances have come at the Open and he finished runner up in this tournament last year. After a blistering start to the golfing season, Fisher’s gone off the boil a little but this should be the perfect event for him to get back to his best so back him to win at 50/1 with Bet365.
Kaymer Another with Impressive Event Form
Like Fisher, Martin Kaymer hasn’t found his best golf with enough regularity over the past few months. However, the German has been through these sort of troughs before in his career only to bounce back to claim some of the biggest prizes in the game.
Kaymer won this tournament back in 2010 and has finished 15th or better a further four times. There were good signs about Kaymer’s game at the British Masters and he showed during the Hero Challenge that he’s more than happy to play golf in a relaxed atmosphere. Kaymer can show his class this week and he looks good value at 40/1 with 40/1 with Coral.
Els to Shine Away from the Sidelines
After a career filled with major championships and duels with some of the best players of all time, Ernie Els was content to take a backseat last week at the Presidents Cup. The ‘Big Easy’ was a vice captain for the International team but he’ll have been itching to pick up his clubs. That may just motivate him to something special in Scotland where the two time Open champion is 250/1 with Betfred.