High number of Dunhill Links withdrawals not down to 'attitude problem', insists Matt Southgate

Matt Southgate defended the large group of players who withdrew from the third and final round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, insisting it wasn’t down to an “attitude problem”.

Matthew Southgate pictured on the Old Course at St Andrews in his third and final round in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Picture: Octavio Passos/Getty Images.

A total of 36 players had withdrawn before the action resumed in the $5 million pro am on Monday after no play had been possible on either Saturday or Sunday due to waterlogged courses at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St Andrews.

The bulk of the withdrawals were at Carnoustie, where the greenkeepers had worked wonders overnight to get it playable after the Barry Burn burst its banks on Sunday afternoon.

“We’ve got another tournament this week in Madrid and preparation takes a bit of time,” said Southgate of the unusually high number of pull outs between the second round being completed on Friday then the event getting underway again.

“We are all so stuck in our ways as pro golfers when it comes to our routine. Finishing on a Monday, if you were going to play today and not make any money or pick up any points on the order of merit, I’d imagine it’s easy for the focus to slip off to Madrid and want to get started there. I certainly don’t think any of the players have an attitude problem.

”I just think it’s been a long weekend if you are sitting on a few over par. You kind of feel for the guys and wish them all the best to get off safely to Madrid and get their prep done for this week.”

Playing his final round at St Andrews, Southgate covered the opening five holes in five-under-par to move into a share of the lead with compatriot Matt Fitzpatrick before the 2022 US Open champion and highest-ranked player in the field birdied the four of the last eight holes to land the title.

The plucky performance boosted Southgate’s hopes of securing a spot in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next month and he was proud of his joint-second place effort in a week when two well-known St Andews figures who both passed away this year had been on his mind.

“Yeah, quite an emotional week for me with (former European Tour player) Billy McColl passing away and (former R&A secretary and amateur legend) Sir Michael Bonallack not being here for the first time in all the years I've played here, which is a great shame, and I wanted to fly the flag for the golf club and really give it a go this week,” he said.

Asked later about mentioning both Bonallack and McColl in his Sky Sports interview, he added: “It’s on your mind in a nice way. It’s not making you want to well up on the golf course and cry, but it’s certainly in the back of your mind.

“Michael was a fabulous winner and, if there’s anything he could have done from up in heaven to help me, I’m sure he would have done. He was one of the best players ever to get wins over the line and that’s what I am trying to do. You are trying to emulate one of your heroes who you have looked up to all your life.

“Billy had such a free spirit the way he played. He just pegged it up and gave it a good spank. I did have Billy on my mind. He did get angry on the golf course, but he did it in such a loving way towards the game, so I was trying to emulate the pair of them but concentrate on my own game as well.”

Southgate’s affection for St Andrews hails from the biggest win of his amateur career, having won the Links Trophy in 2012. “When I was an amateur, I was close to feeling I’d never be good enough to play pro golf, but then I won the St Andrews Links and this place changed my life,” he admitted.

“It set me off and gave me the belief to go to Tour School and give it a go. It got me into the top 25 in the world as an amateur and gave me confidence I needed at the time. I was trying to prove a big point when I was 20 or 21. I felt I had the game and it’s always special to come back here and reminisce about that win in 2010. I’d love to stick the Dunhill alongside the Links Trophy - that would be a hell of a double on the CV.”