Ryder Cup stars at St Andrews
Dunhill Links features heroes and legends
With hardly a day to let the epic Ryder Cup victory sink in, nine of Europe's victorious team will be in action at St Andrews tomorrow for the Dunhill Links championship.
Every one of them, (captain Sam Torrance is a late withdrawal) is assured of a rousing welcome when they step on the tee at one of the three venues staging the event, even though the field is packed with champions and celebrities.
Thomas Björn, Darren Clarke, Niclas Fasth, Pierre Fulke, Padraig Harrington, Paul McGinley, Colin Montgomerie, Phillip Price and Lee Westwood as well as vice-captain Ian Woosnam will be bidding for the top prize in the $5million tournament
Open Champion Ernie Els and defending champion Paul Lawrie are among the world’s other top golfers who will play, alongside Retief Goosen, Michael Campbell, Nick Faldo, José Maria Olazábal and Vijay Singh.
Joining them will be sporting legends Boris Becker, Ian Botham, Zinzan Brooke, Sir Bobby Charlton, Johan Cruyff, Kenny Dalglish, Kapil Dev, Darren Gough, Alan Hansen, Gavin Hastings, Franz Klammer, Gary Lineker, Michael Lynagh, Nigel Mansell, Tom Okker, Sir Steve Redgrave, Barry Richards, Marco van Basten and Gianluca Vialli.
Conceived as a celebration of links golf, 168 teams of one pro and one amateur will play 54 holes over the Old Course at St Andrews, the Championship Course at Carnoustie, and Kingsbarns. The top 60 pros and 20 amateurs complete the fourth round at St Andrews on Sunday.
