The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship appeared in our lives in 2001. Since then it has been held every year on the DP World Tour except for 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. So, there have been 22 editions. The 23rd will be played from this Thursday.
We could well say that it is a cursed tournament for Spanish golf. A black legend. Zero victories to our credit, just three measly top 10s and two top 5s. The best result is a fourth place… and that’s saying something.
And it can’t be said that it’s because not many different Spaniards have played it. Specifically, to date there have been 37 with a total of 193 participations. If we do a quick rule of three, it turns out that the chances of a Spaniard finishing in the top 10 are reduced to an almost imperceptible 1.55 percent. At least, that’s what history says. It’s time to hold on to the worn-out ‘statistics are there to be broken’.
The best Spanish performance in this always popular and peculiar Scottish tournament, which is played in Pro Am format and on three different courses (Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and the Old Course at St Andrews), belongs to Rafa Cabrera Bello, who finished in fourth place in 2009. It’s been a while. And a lot has happened since then. How well a similar performance would suit the Canarian this week. Interestingly, Rafa is the only Spaniard who has won the Scottish Open. Then, we find the fifth place of Álvaro Quirós in 2010 and the tenth of Nacho Elvira in 2018, the most recent success. To give even more context to this story of dubious reputation, a total of 168 different golfers have added at least one top 10 in this tournament. The Spaniards represent 1.78 percent.
To fight against this black legend, the Armada has asked for reinforcements in 2024. We have 14 Spaniards this week at the Alfred Dunhill Links, the highest number in the history of the tournament, surpassing the twelve who met in 2018 and where Elvira managed to finish tenth. To know: Sebastián García Rodríguez, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Santi Tarrio, Adri Arnaus, Jorge Campillo, Pablo Larrazábal, Adrián Otaegui, Nacho Elvira, Ángel Hidalgo and Jon Rahm. To all of them, we must add the debutants David Puig, Eugenio López Chacarra, Iván Cantero and Manu Elvira.
Notice if the history of this tournament is stubbornly negative for the Spaniards that even Jon Rahm, who has ten victories on the DP World Tour counting the two Majors, and who has only missed three cuts in regular tournaments in his entire career on the DP World Tour, one was precisely in his only participation in this tournament in 2019. This week he will have the opportunity to get rid of the thorn.
Any of the Spaniards can change the dynamics in this tournament this week, but if we had to underline a name in red, of those who have played here the most times and because of the form they bring, it would be Adri Arnaus. He is a lover of links and of the Spaniards who have played at least 10 rounds in this tournament, he has the best average of strokes with 69.71. In fact, he is the only one who goes below 70. In addition, he has been the best Spaniard the last two years, with a 14th and a 22nd place. Also, his game is on a clear upward trend, regaining all the confidence with the wedges.
In addition to Adri, obviously, we must point out with an asterisk Rahm, always Jon, Hidalgo, who comes from winning, and Puig, who had a great performance in the Spanish Open. The only two Spaniards who had entry to the tournament and have chosen not to play in Scotland are Alex del Rey and Alfredo García Heredia. By the way, this year Pablo Larrazábal will equal Alejandro Cañizares as the Spaniard with the most participations in the Dunhill Links Championship (15).
Beyond the Spaniards, the only golfers who have won the tournament more than once are Harrington and Hatton, with two victories each. In addition, the Irishman holds the record for top 10s (7) and is the one who has earned the most money, over two million four hundred thousand euros. Also, he is the only one along with David Howell who has participated in all the editions.
