Alfred Dunhill Links Championship final leaderboard

-24 T Hatton (Eng); -23 N Colsaerts (Bel); -21 T Fleetwood (Eng); -19 R Neergaard-Petersen (Den), D Puig (Spa), R Williams (SA)

Selected others: -18 J Rahm (Spa); -17 B Koepka (US), D Jordan (Eng); -16 S Lowry (Ire); -14 R Macintyre (Sco), R McIlroy (NI), C Shinkwin (Eng), P Harrington (Ire), S Jamieson (Sco)

England’s Tyrrell Hatton survived a late scare before securing a record third Alfred Dunhill Links Championship title at St Andrews.

Hatton, 32, had equalled the course record on Saturday to hold a one-shot lead going into the final day and he went three ahead thanks to four birdies in his first 11 holes.

However, a double bogey at the 13th and a bogey at the 14th enabled Nicolas Colsaerts to grab a share of the lead with three holes remaining.

But the 2016 and 2017 champion birdied the last hole from three feet to finish on 24 under – one shot ahead of his Belgian rival who left a long eagle putt from the Valley of Sin eight feet below the hole and was unable to convert the birdie attempt.

Hatton also finished second in the team event alongside his father Jeff, the pair finishing two shots behind Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen and Irish businessman Dermot Desmond.

“It’s the first time I’ve actually won the tournament with my dad here so it means a lot and to do it at the home of golf is really special,” said Hatton, who has been part of two winning Ryder Cup teams.

“I’m trying not to cry, to be honest. I’m a bit lost for words.”

The win ensures he will be at the DP World Tour’s season-ending event in Dubai and means he can also attend the upcoming wedding of Ryder Cup team-mate Matt Fitzpatrick.

He went on: “I was meant to be going to Fitzy’s wedding the week of Spain [the Andalucia Masters] and I had to message him a few weeks ago to say if I don’t earn enough points I might not be able to go, and I felt so bad about that.

“I guess having a little bit of extra motivation to play well and be able to be there for their special day [was good].”

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship first-round leaderboard

-11 Fichardt (RSA); -10 John (Aus); -9 Wilson (Eng), Jamieson (Sco), Hillier (Aus)

Selected others: -7 Ram (Spa), Hatton (Eng); -5 Harrington (Ire), Fitzpatrick (Eng), MacIntyre (Sco); -4 Fleetwood (Eng); -3 McIlroy (Nir)

South African Darren Fichardt hit a superb 11-under-par 61 at Kingsbarns to lead by one stroke on day one of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The 49-year-old world number 462 finished one off the course record of 60 which was struck by his countryman Branden Grace in 2012.

Fichardt last struck a round of 61 at the 2001 Sao Paulo Brazil Open.

His last European Tour win was at the Joburg Open in 2017.

On Thursday, he hit nine birdies, two eagles and two bogeys for a one-shot lead over Australia’s Cameron John.

England’s two-time Dunhill champion Tyrrell Hatton and Spain’s Jon Rahm both went round in seven under at Carnoustie – traditionally the hardest of the three courses used in the Pro-Am event on the DP World Tour.

Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre carded a five-under 67 also at Carnoustie, where Tommy Fleetwood and defending champion Matthew Fitzpatrick both shot 68.

Rory McIlroy was playing the same course but his three-under 69 in favourable scoring conditions was only good enough for tied 73rd.

The Old Course at St Andrews is the third course in the tournament’s rotation, where new Zealand’s Daniel Hillier hit the round of the day – a nine-under 63 to out him in a tie for third.

Rory McIlroy hopes the presence at the Dunhill Links Championship of the two men centrally involved in talks aimed at ending the split in men’s professional golf is a “good sign” progress is being made.

McIlroy, competing with father Gerry in this week’s pro-am event in Scotland, will play on Friday at Kingsbarns alongside PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who is paired with Billy Horschel this week.

World number three McIlroy will then tee up with the boss of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) Yasir Al-Rumayyan and South African LIV golf player Dean Burmester at St Andrews on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund underwrites the 48-competitor LIV Golf league which has signed up many of the world’s best players over the last three years including Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith and Dustin Johnson.

Monahan and Al-Rumayyan will be in the same fourball along with their professionals on Thursday’s day one when they tee off at Carnoustie.

“There’s no better place than the home of golf to try and get everyone together and talking,” McIlroy told BBC Sport NI.

“I think it’s a great thing and good sign that Jay and Yasir are going to play together. And obviously you’ve got quite a big contingent over from LIV that are playing in this event.”

Canadian Mike Weir’s International Team endured a nightmare start to the Presidents Cup on Thursday but the former Masters champion insisted his squad still believe they have time to turn things around and end the Americans’ dominant run.

The U.S., who entered the week as a prohibitive favorite to secure a 10th consecutive Presidents Cup, swept the opening day fourballs session at Royal Montreal Golf Club 5-0, leaving many to wonder what, if anything, Weir’s team needs to change.

“Well, it’s certainly not the team unity and the team spirit. Our guys are still very positive,” Weir told reporters.

“Look, reality is it wasn’t a great day, but it’s like the first period of a hockey game the way I look at it. You’re down, but there’s a long way to go. Still significant sessions left.”

The perfect start marked the fifth time in Presidents Cup history that a team swept a round, and the first time since the Americans did it in the third round of the 2007 edition which was also at Royal Montreal.

Weir’s 12-man team cannot afford a similar result during Friday’s foursome matches when the U.S., a dominant group with five of the top 10 players in the world, will be eager to move closer to the 15-1/2 points needed to retain the trophy.

But Weir is not about to panic and, apart from the results, is encouraged by the energy his players showed in matches that were mostly all within reach down the stretch.

“It didn’t go our way today, but the guys are positive. I saw a lot of great things,” said Weir. “The U.S. team played fantastic today. Doesn’t mean we’re not going to do that tomorrow. The energy is good in our room.”

One plan for the International team is an all-Canadian pairing of Corey Conners and Presidents Cup debutant Mackenzie Hughes, which could help spark what has otherwise been a rather docile home crowd.

“We hope that creates spark, but it’s been a pair in my mind talked amongst us for a long time,” Weir said.

“Not only are they good friends, but a lot of things show that it’s a great pair, too. It wasn’t like a knee-jerk reaction decision to what happened today or anything.”

Billy Horschel became the first American golfer to win the BMW PGA Championship twice when he holed a brilliant eagle to beat four-time major winner Rory McIlroy in a playoff on Sunday.

Horschel showed no sign of nerves when he sank a long putt from near the edge of the green on the second playoff hole, and then hugged McIlroy warmly.

“It’s always one of my most special weeks of the year. I enjoy coming here. I feel a sense of ease, I feel a sense of calm,” the 37-year-old Horschel said. “I know I’m not from the U.K. or London or England but I feel almost at home when I come here.”

Horschel won at Virginia Water three years ago. This year, he was locked in second place overnight with McIlroy, and they were both three strokes behind leader Matteo Manassero of Italy.

While Manassero fell back, they both carded 5-under 67s to join South African Thriston Lawrence — who posted a clinical 65 on the day — at 20 under and force a three-way playoff.

After they went back to the 18th at the storied West Course, Lawrence dropped out of contention after bogeying, while McIlroy and Horschel had birdies. But McIlroy was beaten on the next hole.

“It just shows the standard out here. If you slip up just a little bit or don’t make a birdie on a crucial hole, someone is always waiting to take advantage of that,” McIlroy said. “Two weeks in a row, I’ve played well. Just not quite well enough.”

The No. 3-ranked Northern Irishman, who won the event in 2014, now has three runner-up finishes at Wentworth.

Manassero, who won the title in 2013 the last time it went to a playoff, finished in a share of fourth with Englishmen Matthew Baldwin and Aaron Rai after carding a 1-over 73 that included four bogeys. They ended 17 under.

A victory would have put Manassero on track to qualify for next year’s Ryder Cup and to claim one of the 10 PGA TOUR cards available each year from the DP World Tour.

Talks over a potential merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf are yet to prove fruitful.

Rory McIlroy has explained what he thinks the stumbling blocks are over a potential merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Last year, it was announced that the two entities were in talks over a peace deal following the split in professional golf.

Those talks are yet to prove fruitful, though, leading McIlroy to question why no agreement has been reached. Speaking ahead of the BMW PGA Championship, he suggested that around half of the players on both tours are opposed to the idea of a merger.

He also blamed the Department of Justice in the United States for the lack of progress in a deal, saying: “I’d say maybe half the players on LIV want the deal to get done [and] half probably don’t. I’d say it’s probably similar on the PGA Tour.

“Just like anything, everyone’s looking out for themselves and their best interests. You know, it would benefit some people for a deal not to get done, but it would obviously benefit some people for a deal to get done.

“I think there’s different opinions amongst the players about what should happen, and I think when you have a members’ run organisation it complicates things a little bit, especially when should of those players are having to make decisions on the business side of things.

“So those are the two. I think the tours want it to happen. The investors certainly want it to happen because they can see the benefit for themselves. But right now, it’s [the] DOJ and differing opinions of the players.”

The four-time major winner will try to become a two-time Irish Open champion

A win at the 2024 Irish Open may not salvage Rory McIlroy’s major championship-less year, but it would certainly reduce the sting. That’s how McIlroy is pacing after shooting a 3-under 68 at Royal County Down on Thursday to start this year’s tournament.

McIlroy birdied the first hole and took care of the par 5s with birdies across the board at Royal County Down in his home country of Northern Ireland. And while Rory was not always accurate from tee to green, he did clean up messes like this one at the par-5 12th where he went on to make birdie.

McIlroy also closed with three consecutive birdies to go from even par on the 16th tee box to 3 under when he finished — within two of the lead held by Todd Clements, who fired a 5-under 66.

This is not the first time McIlroy has played well at the Irish Open. He famously won the 2016 edition at the K Club, but it has historically not been a place where he’s played his best golf.

“I get the buzz, but I also feel the added pressure of trying to perform at home,” McIlroy said of this year’s edition being played in Northern Ireland. “Something I’ve honestly struggled with in the past. You know, the couple Irish Opens that I’ve played in Northern Ireland, the one Open Championship I played in Northern Ireland, hasn’t went so well. I usually just try to relax and go about my business as I would at any other time of the year.”

In 2015 at Royal County Down, McIlroy shot 80 in the first round, lost 2.03 strokes to the field over the first two days and missed the cut. That was his third consecutive missed cut at this tournament, and he followed the 2016 win with another missed cut in 2017.

So, his Irish Open golf has been dodgy. It’s not as if his golf this summer has been amazing, either. McIlroy nearly won the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, but it’s been fairly bumpy since with four top 11s, including a T5 at the Olympics while playing under the Irish flag, but also a missed cut at The Open and a T68 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Thursday’s performance, especially on a golf course as difficult as Royal County Down played, was a nice balm to the chaos of the summer on a difficult golf course with all the pressure that home brings about.

“It was a tough day,” said fellow Irishman Padraig Harrington, who shot a 2-over 73. “Greens are very, very fast. Playing fast. So just made conditions, even though you couldn’t have asked for nicer conditions, it was still pretty tough. … Every time you lifted your head up and looked around, you got some hope because you could see a lot of carnage going on. ‘What’s he doing over there?’

“So yeah, it was a tough day but it was actually a day to have a little bit of a look around and see that the scoring wasn’t going so well for everyone and to see that players were struggling in it.”

McIlroy trails narrowly after 18 holes, but the four-time major winner’s game looked better and more under control than it has for much of the last few months. He appears poised to get what would be a second Irish Open and fourth victory of 2024.

It’s a great match, this golfer and that course: two of the best in the world without a doubt. And while winning at Royal County Down would not add to that albatross of a major total McIlroy surely feels for much of the year, it would be a wonderful way to enter a fall in which there’s still a lot of golf left for the best golfer in his country’s history.