Alfred Dunhill Links Championship 2021: Form stats for the European Tour's visit to Scotland

For the 10th and final time this year, the European Tour will be teeing-up in the British Isles.

The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship has once again attracted an international field, chasing a better-than-average prize fund of $5m.

The tournament, which was cancelled 12 months ago because of Covid, will be staged over three well-known Scottish links - those of the Old Course at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns.

This trio of courses have been part of every Dunhill Links Championship since it joined the official European Tour schedule 20 years ago this month.

This week's field

As ever, a number of slots have been set aside for leading golfers from other tours, namely the Australasian, Sunshine (South Africa) and Asian.

However, over the previous two decades, this event has tended to be dominated by golfers from the British Isles.

Thirteen of the 19 titles have been scooped up by players from England, Ireland or Scotland, while three of the other six have headed to Scandinavia.

Branden Grace remains the only non-European to have lifted the trophy, although this trend could certainly change this year.

Latest odds for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

With just three members of Europe's Ryder Cup team taking part, the likelihood of the title going elsewhere has greatly increased.

American Billy Horschel, who recently won at Wentworth, is sampling more European Tour golf.

He tees-up on Thursday as the highest-ranked golfer in the field following Tony Finau's withdrawal late on Monday.

Teeing-up

Europe's trio of Ryder Cup players should, on paper, have a decent chance of winning this week.

Tyrrell Hatton is a two-time winner of this event, while Tommy Fleetwood has twice been runner-up, and has had three other top-five finishes.

Former Open champ Shane Lowry is certainly at home on links courses and has played pretty solidly since April.

But can all three recover in time from last week's mentally draining experience at the Ryder Cup?

Because of the 'Ryder-factor', pros such as Horschel and Alex Noren may be in a better psychological state to perform this week.

World No 18 Horschel makes his first start since winning at Wentworth, while the form of Noren has greatly improved in recent months.

The former world No 8 from Sweden posted a brace of top-10s during this year's FedEx Cup Play-Offs, and has a reasonable record in this event.

His best finish here is third, while his most recent trip in 2019 yielded a tie-for-15th.

Amateur hour

As with all previous editions, the tournament incorporates a pro-am section.

During days one to three, the professionals and their amateur partners play one round at each links.

On Saturday evening, when 54 holes have been completed, the leading 60 pros and ties qualify for the final round which takes place at the Old Course. The leading 20 pro-am teams are also involved on judgement day.

Links Challenge

All three layouts are traditional British links but while Kingbarns is relatively young - only opened in 2000 - the Old Course dates back to the days when golf was first invented.

The three courses vary in character. The Old Course has large undulating greens, wide fairways and little rough, while Carnoustie is a much trickier affair with tighter fairways and more penal hazards.

Carnoustie usually proves to be the most difficult of the three venues for pros and amateurs alike.

Kingsbarns, meanwhile, has large greens and generous fairways and, over the years, has yielded a higher stroke average than the Old Course.

With all three venues set up to accommodate amateur golfers, the putting surfaces are usually not as fast or tricky as at professional-only events.

Twitter: Andy Swales@GolfStatsAlive

MC* - Missed Additional 54-Hole Cut

Note: List Contains Leading Reserves