The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is getting a lot of attention this year.
Fourteen LIV Golf League players are joining the event, adding to its already high profile. Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, and defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick were already set to play. They will now be joined by Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, and Brooks Koepka from Team USA.
But how did so many LIV golfers get in? Most aren’t even DP World Tour members. Koepka got an invite because he loves St Andrews Old Course. Rahm and Hatton are appealing sanctions from the DP World Tour, so they can still play on the tour and keep their Ryder Cup chances alive.
Fans might think it’s exciting to see such a mix of players.
Rahm needs to play in Scotland this week and at the Andalucia Masters later this month to keep his tour membership. Hatton is playing his fourth DP World Tour event this season to meet the minimum requirement for next year.
Patrick Reed didn’t meet last year’s event requirement but qualified through his top-10 finish at the Open de Espana last week. David Puig and Eugenio Chacarra also made it through different categories based on their performances in other tours.
Invites and Committee Decisions:
Other LIV golfers like Louis Oosthuizen, Dean Burmester, Caleb Surratt, Talor Gooch, Peter Uihlein, Branden Grace, Matt Jones, and Hudson Swafford got invites from the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Committee. Johann Rupert runs this committee; he’s a billionaire who believes unifying golf is best for the sport’s future.
By bringing together top players from both tours into one field, Rupert shows what golf could look like if there’s no deal with the PGA Tour. Every tournament organizer has the right to invite whoever they want to play.
What do you think about these changes? Do you like seeing more variety in tournaments?
