– The third round of the Alfred Dunhill Links could not be played this Saturday due to the strong winds that battered the three venues of the tournament, the Old course at St. Andrews, Carnoustie, and Kingsbarns. The more than fifty players who still had to finish their second round this morning managed to do so with difficulty from eight in the morning, and even the third round started, with everyone teeing off from 12:30 pm. However, no player managed to complete even three holes, as play became practically impossible, and the birdies, bogeys, and pars that each player managed to sign in the short time that was played were annulled (Jorge Campillo, for example, had started with a birdie on the 12th hole at Carnoustie).
Finally, the event promoter and the DP World Tour have decided to reduce the tournament to just three rounds, as happened only two years ago, in 2023. On this occasion, as in that one, tomorrow the top 65 and ties will score and win prize money.
– In reality, in some places, the situation was more unplayable than in others. At Carnoustie, for example, according to the testimony of several Spanish players who had to complete their third round there today, it could have been played. It would have been a small hell, of course, but it could have been played. This is what happens when holding a tournament on three different and distant courses: in the end, you have to make decisions that, as far as possible, balance sporting fairness for all participants.
– Needless to say, the victory chances of the current co-leaders, Robert MacIntyre and Richard Sterne, have skyrocketed. This reduction of one round leaves almost no chance for any player from the Spanish Armada. Campillo is five strokes off the lead and will play at Carnoustie, the course that is considered the most challenging of the three. Sterne will also play Carnoustie tomorrow, while MacIntyre will play at the Old course at St. Andrews, just like Louis Oosthuizen (-11), the third major contender.
