ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP: TEAM EVENT
2019 2016 2014
Tommy Fleetwood & Ogden Phipps II
Haotong Li & Allen Zhang
Jamie Donaldson & Kieran Mcmanus
Danny Willett & Jonathan Smart
Florian Fritsch & Michael Ballack
Peter Lawrie & Kieran Mcmanus
Thomas Levet & David Sayer
Alexander Noren & Ernesto Bertarelli
Nick Dougherty & Chris Evans
Robert Karlsson & Dermot Desmond
Soren Hansen & Kieran Mcmanus
John Bickerton & Bruce Watson
Scott Strange & Robert Coe
Padraig Harrington & JP Mcmanus
Henrik Stenson & Rurik Gobel
Fred Couples & Craig Heatley
Sam Torrance & Daniel Torrance
Padraig Harrington & JP Mcmanus
Brett Rumford & Chris Peacock times during the year do I get to go in a hut and eat a chicken slider and some chilli con carne half way through the round? You can have a few cups of tea on the way round as well.”
“It’s nice to have Luke as a partner,” he continues. “We had a laugh and were trying to put a good score on the board. I was really interested in what Luke does work-wise, how it all comes together. I was asking him earlier about filming, how long it takes, things like that. It was interesting. If you flip it, I can’t sit on stage with him while he is working so it’s really cool.”
Sadly for Beef and Wilson, a disappointing combined better-ball score of 70 on day two at Carnoustie put paid to their chances in the team event. Despite shooting 60 at Kingsbarns in round three, they finished three shots shy of making the top 20 and earning a coveted spot on the Old Course for the final day.
Unfinished business
consequence to Europe’s top players. However, this is to underestimate the element of ‘team’ that separates the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship from the usual calendar run of individual strokeplay tournaments. Winning on the Old Course on a Sunday while playing alongside a close friend or relative is a prospect that is just as enticing for the professionals as it is for the amateurs.
In 2007, the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship was Rory Mcilroy’s second event as a professional. By finishing third in the individual event and earning €211,000, the Northern Irishman became the then-youngest player to ever earn his European Tour card. Since then, Mcilroy has finished second on three occasions, each time playing alongside his father Gerry.
This year, when Rory asked Gerry what he desired for his 60th birthday, the older Mcilroy replied that he wanted to pair up at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship again. As such, Rory was happy to reveal that “I’m taking the team part of the tournament almost as seriously as the individual part.”
As this year’s team event reached the closing stages, the Mcilroys were in touching distance of victory and the perfect birthday present for Gerry. Standing in their way, however, were Tommy Fleetwood and his partner Ogden Phipps II, the co-founder of a private equity firm based in New York City.
“We have been great friends for a long time,” explained Phipps just
“You have to embrace it. I feel like I’m concentrating on the team more than my own score a lot of the time”
after the final round finished. “This is our eighth year playing together. Tommy was trying his hardest for me today and it’s fun to be a part of. We are great friends off the golf course and we talk about the Dunhill all the time. We love to play this week together.”
Too far back to mount a realistic challenge in the individual event, Mcilroy and Fleetwood threw the kitchen sink at each other over the closing stages, both desperate to win alongside their respective partners. In blustery conditions, Fleetwood closed with an incredible five birdies and an eagle to shoot 29 on his own ball over the final nine holes.
That left Gerry Mcilroy with a long eagle putt from just off the 9th green, his final hole, to win the team event. It slid narrowly past. As both teams finished on 39-under-par, Fleetwood’s superior individual score was enough for the victory. For Rory, it was another near miss at the Home of Golf, but despite the obvious disappointment, the four-time Major Champion was quick to reflect on the wider context. “He’s played really, really well,” Rory said, referring to his father. “He’s had a great time, as we both have. It’s been fun to get back here and this is probably the first time we’ve been in contention to win the team event, as well, so it was good fun.”
For Fleetwood and Phipps, having come close in the team event in the past, it was the triumphant ending they were both striving for. The Englishman took to Instagram afterwards to reveal exactly what it meant to him: “I’m so incredibly proud of how my friend @ophipps7 has played this week. We’ve had several years together and now we’ll have this win forever!!”
Golf is one of the few sports in which anyone can compete against anyone. No matter what your age, sex or physical ability, golf’s unique handicapping system levels the playing field and allows for genuine competition. No other event quite captures this spirit as well as the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. What’s more, by pairing the pros with normal golfers, the camaraderie it creates highlights the very best of what our sport is able to offer.