Dunhill Links set for Monday finish after Saturday play is washed out

Organisers of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship are still aiming for the 22nd edition to be decided over four rounds despite Saturday’s play being washed out after persistent rain that started around 7pm on Friday night left all three courses - Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St Andrews - waterlogged on Saturday.

Rain floods the Old Course at St Andrews on Saturday morning, causing the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship to be disrupted. Picture: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images.

Weather permitting, the third round of the $5 million pro am on the DP World Tour will now get underway at 9am on Sunday, with the “objective” to play 72 holes by completing a fourth and final round on Monday. The event has never been decided over less than four rounds since Paul Lawrie won the first staging under its current format in 2001.

The action on Saturday had been due to start at 9am, but it was announced just after 8am that the tee times had been delayed by an hour. It was then announced that it would not be possible for play to get underway at 10am, but, at that time, players were told that there was still the possibility of a shotgun start at 12.30pm.

However, as the rain showed no signs of abating in Angus or Fife, even though it wasn’t as heavy as elsewhere in Scotland after an amber alert was issud on Friday, a call was then made at 11am to scrap the possibility of any play on the day.

Just before 3pm, it was then announced that the plan remains to complete 72 holes, a decision that would have been taken in conjunction with St Andrews Links Trust bearing in mind it will cause disruption to Old Course bookings on Monday as the final round takes place at St Andrews.

As the players awaited news, they had some fun about the weather on social media. “If we play at the Dunhill Links today, and that’s quite a big if given the likelihood of flooding, then it’s going to be great viewing for you all,” wrote Eddie Pepperell in a post using a smiley emoji.

Bob MacIntyre, meanwhile, posted a video of him in a hot tub in the rain smiling and giving the thumbs up, accompanying it with a caption that said “still don’t know what all the fuss is about”.

That stemmed from the Oban man posting a photograph of him sitting in the bath after the second round in last year’s event had been played in some of the worst conditions witnessed for a DP World Tour event for a long time. “Scottish weather…..what’s the problem?” he joked on that occasion.

In another post, Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera questioned the event, which is being staged for the 22nd time and always attracts a strong field, being held in autumn. “Dunhill in August?,” he asked. “Might want to think about it…”

Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick, one of three winning European Ryder Cup team members in the field, leads by a shot from Scot Grant Forrest and Spaniard Nacho Elvira, with defending champion Ryan Fox lurking ominously as he bids to become only the second player to land back-to-back wins in the event. The Kiwi sits just three shots off the lead in a group that also includes American Billy Horschel.

Saturday night’s traditional fireworks in St Andrews – one of the spin-offs from the event – had already been cancelled due to the forecast.