[PHOTO: Stephen Pond]
The DP World Tour’s Dunhill Links Championship styles itself in the same manner as the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, with pros paired alongside amateur partners competing on three heralded courses—the Old Course, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns. Unfortunately, this year’s edition even copied Pebble’s traditionally fickle weather.
With the St Andrews’ area in Scotland receiving the equivalent of a month’s worth of rain in 36 hours, the third round that had been postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to wet weather was pushed back once more to Monday as flooding on the tournament courses left organisers scrambling.
The event has officially been reduced to a 54-hole affair with the third and now final round scheduled for Monday, UK time. All pros will play when the golf finally resumes with only the top 30 and ties competing for the team competition after a 36-hole cut was created to help get play completed on Monday.
In the individual competition, Matt Fitzpatrick continues to claim the 36-hole lead, having shot a five-under 67 at Carnoustie on Thursday and a eight-under 64 at Kingbarns on Friday, with the Old Course still to come. His 13-under 131 is one stroke better than Nacho Elvira and Grant Forrest as the Englishman seeks his ninth career DP World Tour title on the heels of helping Europe claim the Ryder Cup.
Fourteen players are within five stroke of Fitzpatrick, including defending champion and recent BMW PGA Championship winner Ryan Fox (who is four behind) and Billy Horschel, the top American player in the field.
Fitzpatrick is aiming to claim two titles on Monday. In addition to his play in the pro event, he is partnered with his mother, Susan, in the pro-am, with the pair one shot off the lead held by Julien Guerrier and Stephane Connery. The partnership is a special one, as Matt alluded to before the tournament began on Wednesday.
“I think the thing about my mum is she was just always so supportive and she’d take me here, there, everywhere to go play a tournament or for a golf lesson,” Matt said. “She sacrificed her own weekends and time to go and take me and my brother around when we needed to go for various things. I think that’s such a… goes without saying, such a huge thing for her to do to give us that opportunity. I wouldn’t say this is like a repayment, playing at Dunhill, but this certainly is a nice thing to be able to play with her.”
One of the more notable team pairings starting the week was that of Peter Uihlein, a LIV Golf member who received a sponsor’s exemption into the event, and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund and chair of the LIV Golf League. While Uihlein is five shots behind in the pro competition, the team finished tied for 72nd and did not make the cut for the final 18 holes.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
