Hollywood stars all set for golf's greatest stage

A blue chip collection of Hollywood’s finest actors and global rock stars are among the celebrity amateurs who will be playing in next week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Michael Douglas, star of blockbuster films such as Romancing the Stone, Wall Street, Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction, Disclosure, The War of the Roses and Traffic, is the latest Hollywood name to confirm he will be at St Andrews, in what will be his sixth appearance in the Championship.

In his career he has won three Golden Globes and two Oscars, first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, and then as Best Actor in 1987 for his role as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street. Most recently he has appeared in the Ant Man trilogy and Behind the Candelabra.

He says the greatest moment in his golfing career was when he played with winner Colin Montgomerie on the final day on the Old Course in the 2005 Alfred Dunhill Links.

Other big Hollywood names competing

Michael will be joined by fellow Hollywood stars Andy Garcia, Bill Murray and Kathryn Newton, who will team up with a world-class field of golf pro’s in the prestigious event to be played over three of the greatest Links courses: the Old Course St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, from October 3 – 6.

Kathryn Newton, from Orlando, has been golfing from an early age and showed enormous promise and was contemplating turning professional. Her high school team won the CIF Championships and her record of five-under-par in a nine-hole match still stands. Her best handicap has been plus two.

She initially wanted to play in the 2012 US Women's Open as an amateur but had to withdraw from the qualifier after getting the lead in Paranormal Activity 4. She is an ambassador for the R&A and is passionate about encouraging young people to take up golf, particularly girls.

Rock stars all set to tee off

Also playing is a super group of rock giants, past and present. Keane’s Tom Chaplin, Linkin Park’s Dave Farrell and Mike Rutherford of Genesis and Mike and the Mechanics, will be sharing the fairways with cult US rock legends Huey Lewis and Bon Jovi’s Tico Torres.

Tom Chaplin, singer-songwriter and lead vocalist of British rock band Keane, which has sold more than 13 million records, began to play when his grandfather, who was a golf mad headmaster, designed a course in the grounds of the school. This is his seventh Alfred Dunhill Links appearance and he says: “Playing St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns is the greatest honour any amateur golfer can have. Three very different tests at stunning and historic venues.”

Also in the field is broadcaster and journalist Piers Morgan who was a writer and editor for several British newspapers. He is currently host of the global news/opinion show Piers Morgan Uncensored on YouTube.

And Peter Jones, best known as a panellist on UK TV series Dragons' Den and on American TV show American Inventor. Passionate about entrepreneurship, he started the PJ Foundation in 2005 to help educate and encourage young people.

Two different competitions running side-by-side

With a prize fund of £3.7 million, the Alfred Dunhill Links incorporates two separate competitions - an Individual Professional event for the world's leading golfers and the Team Championship in which the professionals are paired with amateur golfers, creating a unique atmosphere.

Last year’s winner Matt Fitzpatrick, the 2022 US Open champion, won both the Individual title and the Team Championship with his mum Sue. He will be back with Sue to defend both. Among those who have confirmed they will be playing are some of the biggest international stars in the game.

Tommy Fleetwood is playing again after winning the Olympic silver medal in Paris and hoping to go even further than in 2019, when he won the Alfred Dunhill Links Team Championship, while Padraig Harrington and Tyrrell Hatton will be trying to become the first ever three-time winner.

Also in the field are Major Champions Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy, Louis Oosthuizen, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed and Danny Willett, plus crowd favourite Billy Horschel who won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last weekend.

Lots of Scots in the mix

This year there is an immensely strong local challenge led by Bob MacIntyre, winner of the Genesis Scottish Open and the Canadian Open earlier in the summer, plus Grant Forrest, Calum Hill, Scott Jamieson, David Law, Richie Ramsay and Connor Syme.

For the first three days entry is FREE, tickets are not needed. Only tickets for the final day, Sunday, October 6, on the Old Course, need to be purchased. To purchase tickets, visit: https://www.alfreddunhilllinks.com/tickets/

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