The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Koepka confirms he will play at St Andrews next month
Three-time major winner for Dunhill
Reigning double US Open and US PGA champion Brooks Koepka returns to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship next month.
Koepka, who won the US Open for the second straight year at Shinnecock Hills in June, has now won three of the last six major championships and says he is “delighted” to be coming back to St Andrews.
He will be joined by fellow American and world No 15 Tony Finau, who this year finished tied 10th in the Masters, fifth in the US Open and ninth in the Open at Carnoustie.
Both are members of the US Ryder Cup team which takes on Europe in Paris the week before the Alfred Dunhill Links.
Koepka said: “I’m so delighted to be coming back to the Alfred Dunhill Links, and of course to play once again at St Andrews.
“Last time I played in the Dunhill it was with my dad Bob, and it was a few days I will never forget.
“Being able to do that at the Home of Golf in such a prestigious competition with the great Scottish galleries was a unique moment for both of us.”
Koepka and Finau will face some tough competition.
Making his debut will be American Matt Kuchar, seven-time winner on the US PGA Tour, who finished runner-up to Jordan Spieth in the 2017 Open Championship at Birkdale.
And Koepka will be renewing competition with England’s Tommy Fleetwood, who finished second to him at Shinnecock, after his final round 63 equalled the lowest round in US Open history.
Among the entries for the championship, which takes place from October 4-7, are major champions Martin Kaymer, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Louis Oosthuizen and Graeme McDowell, plus Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, winner of the Senior British Open in July.
Tyrrell Hatton is aiming to become the first man to win the trophy three straight times, and the field includes young Englishmen Matthew Fitzpatrick, Eddie Pepperell and Matt Wallace, who finished tied 19th in the US PGA Championship, his first major, which included a memorable hole in one.
The championship is played over three of the world’s best-known links courses – the Old Course at St Andrews, Carnoustie, venue for July’s Open Championship, and Kingsbarns Golf Links.
With a prize fund of $5 million, the Alfred Dunhill Links, which raises substantial funds for charity each year, incorporates two separate competitions – an individual professional tournament for the world’s leading golfers and the team championship, in which the pros are paired with amateur players.
Celebrities taking part include Keane frontman Tom Chaplin, Linkin Park’s David Farrell, Ronan Keating, Brian McFadden, Huey Lewis, Tico Torres, Sir Steve Redgrave, Michael Vaughan, Kevin Pietersen, Shane Warne, Brian O’Driscoll, Sir Tony McCoy and Ruud Gullit.