Golf
Alfred Dunhill Links Championship preview: Home of golf to heal Rory’s heartbreak
The DP World Tour swaps the sun of Spain for the showers of Scotland this week as the players head north to Fife for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
No player will begrudge the change of climate, though, as an opportunity to play at the home of golf is one that will not be passed up by many.
It is, of course, St. Andrews that plays host once again, meaning it is no surprise to see a rather stacked field lining up to take on the Grand Old Lady.
Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (80/1) came so close to continuing our hot streak at the Open de España, and this week we look at two opposite ends of the betting spectrum with our selections, hoping to get back to winning ways.
Rory McIlroy 6/1
What more can be said about Rory McIlroy this season other than “unlucky”. It has been a year of near-misses for the Northern Irishman, especially in the past few months, which must have been ever so tough for him.
Billy Horschel was bordering on apologetic when overturning McIlroy in a play-off at the BMW PGA Championship, and it seems as though everyone in the world of golf wants him to get another victory over the line sooner rather than later.
He starts yet another tournament as the outright favourite, this time at 6/1, and a lot of hopes are likely to be pinned on him this week. His ball-striking stats needn’t be mentioned as we have covered them in all their glory on multiple occasions, so let’s take a look at his form in this competition.
The Alfred Dunhill is one of the few key tournaments that McIlroy is yet to add to his illustrious trophy cabinet, having competed in it nine times. His form here is better than most, with three runner-up finishes here in his career, as well as a third and fourth-place finish.
Near-misses have been a theme not only here, but everywhere for Rory McIlroy, especially this year. If that is to be the case again then his starting price means he’ll still return a profit if finishing in the 8 places available with William Hill, but Rory will have his sights firmly set on a return to glory at golf’s most prestigious venue.
Matthew Jordan 100/1
We’ve gone with another Brit for our second selection in the form of 100/1-shot Matthew Jordan. Jordan has impressed on many occasions on the DP World Tour, and even in Majors, this year, so he’s worthy of his place in our team for this week.
The Englishman’s price looks fair enough when you focus on the fact that he missed the cut by some way at the BMW PGA Championship, but a return to links golf should play into his hands.
He performed admirably at The Open back in July, where he tackled Royal Troon well to finish T10. This came off the back of an impressive outing at the Scottish Open the week before, where he shot final score of 10-under-par to finish T26.
He has performed well at this tournament too, teeing it up for the past seven years and never missing the cut in that time. His best performance saw him finish fifth in 2019, a result which would return nicely this year with the 8 places available at William Hill.
