- Lawrie, Montgomerie, Torrance and Warren in St Andrews line-up
- Played over the Old Course at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns
- Entrance to courses FREE for spectators on first three days
- Championship dates: Thursday, October 4 - Sunday, October 7, 2007
ST ANDREWS, September 27, 2007 – Lloyd Saltman is the newest Scottish professional to challenge for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews next week, after joining the paid ranks on his 22nd birthday, just 17 days ago.
Saltman, from Craigielaw, East Lothian, who won the Silver Medal as highest placed amateur when he finished 15th in the Open Championship at St Andrews in 2005, now returns to the Old Course as he bids to make a career for himself in golf.
The enthusiastic Scottish galleries still recall how Saltman, needing a birdie at the final hole in 2005 to win the Silver Medal outright, obliged by rolling a long putt through the Valley of Sin to within two feet of the flag.
Saltman said: “St Andrews in 2005 was a great memory and a pivotal moment for me. I am delighted that I can go back there now as a professional. As a Scot there is nothing more exciting than playing the Old Course in front of your fellow countrymen cheering you on and I look forward to competing around St Andrews again.”
The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship has been fertile ground for Scottish players since its inception in 2001. Paul Lawrie won the inaugural event, and was followed by Stephen Gallacher in 2004 and Colin Montgomerie in 2005.
All three former winners will be in the field once again, along with Andrew Coltart, Scott Drummond, Alastair Forsyth, Steven O’Hara, Gary Orr, Richie Ramsay and Sam Torrance, who won the team championship with his son Daniel Torrance in 2003.
Also competing will be 26-year-old Marc Warren, from Rutherglen, who had his second win on the European Tour earlier this month when he captured the 2007 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles after a play-off with England’s Simon Wakefield. It followed his superb victory last year in the Scandinavian Masters in his debut season, a performance which helped him win the 2006 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award.
In the line-up too will be multi-national Alan McLean. Born in Scotland, he grew up in South Africa and now lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario. After good finishes in the Moscow Open and Scandinavian Masters, he is in a strong position in the European Tour Order of Merit to win his playing card for next year.
The Scots will be joining a strong line-up of the world’s top 25 players which includes South Africa’s popular World No 4 Ernie Els, Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Niclas Fasth, Trevor Immelman, Justin Rose plus Open champion Padraig Harrington, who will be bidding to win an unprecedented third Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Also in the field are 2003 champion Lee Westwood, winner of last week's British Masters at The Belfry, and crowd-pleasers Ian Poulter, Michael Campbell, the 2005 US Open champion, Steve Elkington, winner of the 1995 US PGA championship, and six-time major championship winner and current Ryder Cup captain, Nick Faldo.
The championship, which takes place from October 4-7, was conceived as a celebration of links golf and will be played over three of the world’s best known and respected links courses – the Old Course at St Andrews, the Championship Course at Carnoustie, host course for this year’s Open Championship, and the highly regarded Kingsbarns Golf Links.
The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship has a unique format. With a prize fund of US$5 million, it incorporates two separate competitions - an individual professional tournament for the world's leading golfers and a team event in which they are paired with some of the most celebrated amateur golfers.
Personalities from the world of entertainment, including Dennis Hopper, Samuel L.Jackson, Ronan Keating, Huey Lewis, Kyle MacLachlan, Bill Murray and Tico Torres, will share centre stage with the golfers. Three of Britain’s sporting knights – Sir Ian Botham, Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir Steve Redgrave - lead a strong locker room of sports stars including football legends Johan Cruyff, Ruud Gullit and Matthew Le Tissier, Wimbledon tennis hero Boris Becker, Australia’s greatest ever cricket captain Steve Waugh, South African rugby giant Morné du Plessis, American Football’s renowned running back Marcus Allen and Austria’s Olympic gold medal skier Franz Klammer.
