Danny Willett, a Masters champion, won; Shane Lowry, fresh off his Ryder Cup debut, contended; and John Murphy - a Walker Cup player earlier this year and competing in only his third event on the PGA European Tour since moving into the professional ranks - got to within touching distance of a dreamlike, life-changing moment as the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the Old Course at St Andrews provided a fitting showcase for the tournament.
Willett fired a closing round 68 for a total of 18-under-par 270 to lift his eighth career title on his 34th birthday, earning a payday of €676,337 in the process, but there was much to admire about how Murphy - the 23-year-old from Kinsale in Co Cork - made the most of his sponsor’s invitation to play in the big-money event.
Ultimately, his quest for a win came undone with one poor swing - on the drivable Par 4 ninth - where his ball ploughed into a gorse bush and he was forced to take an unplayable lie in running up a costly double-bogey six.
In the end, Murphy - who signed for a 71 for 276 - finished in tied-ninth position, which earned him a cheque for €81,543 (a far cry from his previous best, a €3,500 payday in the Big Green Egg German Challenge on the Challenge Tour), while the top-10 finish also earned him an exemption into the Spanish Open which begins on Thursday.
“It’s been certainly an experience I won’t be forgetting in a hurry. I could walk down that 18th fairway every day for the rest of my life . . . . I’m glad I could make the most (of the invitation),” said Murphy, a graduate of the University of Louisville.
Decisive
Murphy had made a great start to his final round in the last group alongside Willett, birdieing the third, fourth and fifth holes to move into solo second place in pursuing frontrunner Willett. But the ninth proved decisive in the outcome.
As Murphy himself described it, “I hit the ball lovely all week, just that one tee shot cost two shots; it was almost a Par 3 today, it was playing easy, and I felt like I dropped three there really. Danny made birdie, I made double; it was a three shot swing. That was the turning point. I fought pretty hard and thankfully managed to put an under-par number on the board.”
Murphy, who had some late support from family members and friends who flew over for the final round, will get another immediate opportunity to play on the European Tour in the Spanish Open at Club de Campo Villa in Madrid but the long term objective is to become a mainstay on the main circuit and to chase his dreams.
“I know I have a lot of improving to do. I know that I’m not the longest hitter out there; I’m not the straightest driver out there; my approach play isn’t the best out there, my putting is not the best, but when I stand on the first tee, I convince myself that I can go to toe-to-toe with anybody out there, and I think I can.
“So I’m just going to try and improve in any way I can, learn from this week. You can always get better. So I’m going to see what areas I can improve going forward, and I’m looking forward to that improvement,” said Murphy.
The Corkman also took time to acknowledge how other Irish players in the field had taken him under their wing: “they brought me out, played practice rounds with me everywhere. They didn’t have to do that, I suppose they’re looking out for the younger players coming through. It is great that I could get to experience that and learn from them.”
Bogey-free
Given the demands of the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits and the transatlantic trip back, Lowry put in a fine performance with a bogey-free final round 68 for 273 leaving the Offaly man in tied-fourth (earning him €184,559) and moving him up 11 places to 18th on the order of merit.
With a pledge to put his feet up on the couch for a few days rest and some family time at home, Lowry remarked: “I feel like I left it all out there, and a top-5 coming off of last week, it’s my best finish for a while. You need to finish with a better score around here to get the job done, it is what it is. I’m a bit disappointed but I’m really happy with how I played and how I handled myself after last week.”
Willett’s final round 68 for 270 gave him a two strokes winning margin over runners-up Tyrrell Hatton and Joakim Lagergren and a first title since winning the 2019 BMW PGA Championship.
Northern Irishman Michael Hoey, who won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2011, and his amateur partner Maeve Danaher took the team honours, with Danaher becoming the first woman to add her name to the team championship roll of honour. The pair recorded a team score of 36 under par, beating Australian cricket star Shane Warne and New Zealander Ryan Fox, who were tied on the same score, thanks to Hoey’s eight under par tournament total.
Final scores from the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship (British unless stated, Par 72)
270 Danny Willett 67 69 66 68
272 Tyrrell Hatton 64 70 71 67, Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 67 72 67 66
273 Shane Lowry (Irl) 71 67 67 68, Richard Bland 69 72 64 68
274 Daniel Gavins 67 68 71 68
275 Tommy Fleetwood 66 71 71 67, Dean Burmester (Rsa) 70 69 71 65
276 Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 71 71 69 65, John Murphy (Irl) 69 69 67 71, Matthias Schmid (Ger) 71 68 70 67
277 Alexander Noren (Swe) 70 68 70 69, Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 68 70 70 69
278 Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den) 70 68 71 69, Haotong Li (Chn) 64 72 74 68, Jeff Winther (Den) 66 71 69 72
279 Yi-Keun Chang (Kor) 67 73 72 67, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 70 73 69 67, Eddie Pepperell 68 71 71 69, Calum Hill 73 69 70 67, Guido Migliozzi (Ita) 68 72 71 68, Ewen Ferguson 65 73 69 72, Richie Ramsay 67 72 70 70
280 Adria Arnaus (Spa) 64 76 67 73, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 69 72 71 68, Michael Hoey (NIrl) 65 75 71 69
281 Deyen Lawson (Aus) 70 68 70 73, Branden Grace (Rsa) 70 74 67 70, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 64 75 71 71, Grant Forrest 73 73 67 68, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 67 73 70 71, M. J. Daffue (Rsa) 70 74 69 68, Troy Merritt (USA) 67 73 74 67, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 68 74 69 70, Luke Donald 72 72 68 69
282 Billy Horschel (USA) 69 73 68 72, Wilco Nienaber (Rsa) 71 70 68 73, Julian Suri (USA) 69 73 71 69
283 Rhys Enoch 72 69 72 70, Sebastian Soederberg (Swe) 68 74 69 72, Stephen Gallacher 71 68 75 69, Callum Shinkwin 72 72 66 73, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 72 70 71 70, David Horsey 73 69 72 69
284 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 69 72 73 70, Tom Lewis 68 75 70 71, Alexander Bjoerk (Swe) 74 69 70 71, Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 71 71 71, Ben Jones 70 72 71 71, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 74 72 68 70
285 Brett Rankin (Aus) 71 72 71 71, Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 70 70 72 73, Marcus Armitage 69 75 70 71
286 Ryan Fox (Nzl) 75 71 68 72, Justin Harding (Rsa) 69 75 70 72, John Catlin (USA) 68 72 74 72, Andy Sullivan 73 72 69 72
287 Min-Woo Lee (Aus) 71 73 70 73
288 David Drysdale 71 72 70 75
289 Oliver Fisher 68 70 76 75
