US film star Bill Murray returning to Fife to play in golf’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship for tenth time

The Illinois-born 75-year-old, cast as a greenkeeper in the 1980 movie Caddyshack, will be joining fellow actors Michael Douglas, Matthew Goode and Kathryn Newton at the four-day Fife tournament, starting next Thursday.

Murray’s other films prior to his retiral from acting last year include 1984’s Ghostbusters, 1993’s Groundhog Day, 2003’s Lost in Translation, 2012’s Hyde Park on Hudson and 2020’s On the Rocks.

The Hollywood veteran, winner of California’s AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach in 2011 with professional partner Darren Points, is looking forward to returning to Fife, saying: “It’s very special to be able to play in a full-blown professional event, and to be able to do it in Scotland at such a unique location as the Old Course makes it even more exceptional.”

The tournament is made up of two separate competitions, an individual professional-only one and a team championship pairing pros with amateurs such as Murray, hosted by the Old Course at St Andrews, nearby Kingsbarns and Carnoustie in Angus.

Former sports stars will also be among the event’s amateur contingent, ranging from English Olympic rower Steve Redgrave, a competitor at all 23 championships since its launch in 2001, to Canadian ice-hockey player Wayne Gretzky and Glasgow-born tennis legend Andy Murray, both making their debuts, plus cricketers Kevin Pietersen and Allan Lamb.

Lining up alongside them will be rock and pop stars such as Keane’s Tom Chaplin, Linkin Park’s Dave Farrell, Boyzone’s Ronan Keating, Mike Rutherford and Huey Lewis, as well as television stars including Piers Morgan and Peter Jones.

Buckinghamshire’s Tyrrell Hatton will be back to defend his third title in the hope of becoming the first ever golfer to win it four times and he’ll be up against major champions Matt Fitzpatrick, Padraig Harrington, Martin Kaymer, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Patrick Reed, Cameron Smith and Bubba Watson.

Entry is free for the first three days of the tournament but tickets, costing £21.20 for adults, are required for its finale on Sunday, October 5, in St Andrews. For details, go to https://www.alfreddunhilllinks.com/tickets/