Alfred Dunhill Links Championship: Who to watch

Players from 28 different nationalities plus a host of celebs are set to tee it up in Scotland for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Among them are a host of Major Champions, including Brooks Koepka who is bidding to become the first American winner of this tournament. Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick, Francesco Molinari and Bubba Watson also bring Major Championship-winning experience.

Joining Rose and Fitzpatrick are his fellow 2025 Ryder Cup-winning teammates Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, MacIntyre and Hatton along with Team Europe Captain and former World Number One Luke Donald.

With both Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy and Eugenio Chacarra – the top three ranked players on the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World in the field not teeing it up – an opportunity is presented to those further down the standings as we draw nearer to the DP World Tour Play-Offs, with the battle to preserve playing rights for 2027 on the agenda for others.

Fans of golf are unlikely to forget the dramatic climax to the Walker Cup earlier this month and one of the stars of Great Britain & Ireland’s comeback win against the United States at Lahinch is this week entering the professional ranks. Josh Hill, who was the lowest ranked player on either side, holed the winning putt in Ireland and is the latest in a line of players to make their professional debut at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. A graduate in sports management at the University of Tennessee, the 22-year-old made his debut on the DP World Tour at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in 2020 as a 15-year-old when he enjoyed a practice round alongside Koepka.

When it comes to the celebrities, singer-songwriter Ronan Keating, Keane’s Tom Chaplin, Linkin Park’s Dave Farrell and US rock legend Huey Lewis provide representation from the world of music.

Olympic rowing legend Sir Steve Redgrave will continue his record as an ever-present visitor, and he will be joined by other famous sportsmen including 11-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater, England cricketer Kevin Pietersen, Dutch football’s Ruud Gullit, and champion jump jockey Sir Tony McCoy.