With the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship set to celebrate its 25th staging this week, two-time champion Pádraig Harrington is set for a ‘Silver Jubilee’ celebration of his own as he makes his 25th straight appearance at the event played over the Old Course at St Andrews, Kingsbarns, and Carnoustie – three of Scotland’s storied links courses.
The three-time major champion, who also played in several editions of the Alfred Dunhill Cup – a three-man team event, held at St Andrews’ Old Course, where each team represented their nation – before the tournament evolved to include a Pro-Am element, said his appearance record is a direct result of his love for the event.
“It’s a nice record, I’ve always loved coming here,” Harrington told the DP World Tour.
“It’s been a no-brainer for me. Every year, I put it in on the calendar for sure. It’s one of the best weeks of the year.
“Alfred Dunhill do such a good job running this event. Great week of golf. Obviously fun with the amateurs. Super golf courses. What’s not to like? It’s one of my favourites of the year for sure.
“So, yeah, 25 years in a row, I’m proud of it. Wish I was a young guy and only playing my fifth year, but who knows, 25 and maybe a few more to follow.”
While he no longer plays with fellow professionals since the event transitioned to a Pro-Am in 2001, the team element remains and both of Harrington’s overall victories have come with the added bonus of winning the Pro-Am team prize as well, and he revealed that having a partner by his side has been a big source of motivation when he’s needed it.
His longtime event playing partner J.P. McManus was a source of inspiration on the course, he claimed.
“Winning here twice in 2002, 2006, [it was] incredibly special,” he said. “To be honest, both times I won, it was the amateur event that pulled me along. You get some highs and lows when you’re playing on your own, but when you’ve got a team-mate, you’ve got to dig deep and stick in there. So when things aren’t going quite so well, you focus on the team event. You know, you do your work a lot and that kind of lifts you up. So yeah, look, great memories.
“One of them I remember where we lost the lead a little bit. Our playing partners kind of caught us pretty quickly and they were overheard saying we have them sort of thing, which motivated us a lot more to win the team. And as I said, winning the team dragged me along to win the individuals. So, you know, very special day.
“I think I won the first one in a play-off with Eduardo Romero, rest his soul back in the day. I holed the 20-footer on the play-off hole, and yeah, exciting times. Every win is so exciting, but to win at the Home of Golf in St Andrews, to win the Alfred Dunhill, they just do such a good job here at the Dunhill Links. They really have, over the 25 years, run such an iconic event, one of the best events of the year, and an event I wouldn’t want to miss. As you’ve seen, I’ve played it 25 times.”
Harrington’s only victory this season has come in a successful defence at the U.S. Senior Open, though a T18 finish in the PGA Championship at Aronimink was perhaps his most impressive. And the 15-time DP World Tour winner still believes that he’s got the necessary skillset to compete with the DP World Tour’s top brass on links courses and in the format that he’ll be competing in this week. And a third win at the event, however unlikely he feels it may be, would see him draw level with Tyrrell Hatton as the record holders for victories at the Dunhill Links.
“It would be a big deal,” he said. “I’m at that age that to win a regular tournament would be something special. I think I’d be oldest guy in Europe that won at this stage. It’s a hard ask. It’s not impossible.
“I think I tend to try a little too hard when I turn up to regular events. But maybe Dunhill is the right one for me in the sense of playing with an amateur will help me relax during the week, focus on different things and chill out and enjoy it more, and that might be what it takes for me to get the best out of my golf.”
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