The Alfred Dunhill Links Pro-Am Championship was supposed to be a victory lap for the European Ryder Cup team.
Just days after the champagne stopped flowing, Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell were back on the course -- hangover and all -- for one of the European Tour's favorite events
With the PGA Tour season officially on the backburner, the Golf Channel (in association with Sky Sports) took the opportunity spotlight the tour's premier pro-am event. Much like Pebble Beach, the Dunhill event had everything: a star-studded field, and a who's who list of courses that included St. Andrews, Kingsbarn and Carnoustie.
While both events look good on television, you could obviously see less strain in the faces of the Euro's this week. Even Kaymer looked relaxed, rolling in a 5-footer to all but seal the Race to Dubai title.
If anything, Sky Sport's coverage of the Dunhill event proved you don't need to show the celebrities every 15 seconds to make the tournament a success.
After all, we choose to spend our time watching the tour coverage on the weekend to see the real professionals, right? If I wanted to see a guy hack the ball around the course for five hours, I'd just record myself playing a round and watch it on Sunday afternoon.
Kid gloves for McIlroy
Don't expect to see a lot of Rory McIlroy on the PGA Tour next year. At least that's what his agent Andrew ‘Chubby' Chandler implied during an on-course interview with the Golf Channel's Rich Lerner on Saturday afternoon.
As Lerner and Chandler were chatting between holes, Chandler made it clear that not burning out McIlroy early in his career is near the top of his to-do list in 2011.
"I think I'm very aware of blowout with Rory," Chandler said, "and we've had a lot of talks about it. The next couple of years he's going to play where he wants to play, because I think he got worn out this year playing a bit too much in America, and I think he may be
