Team Desmond & Olesen make it a moment to remember

Irish financier Dermot Desmond has played in every Alfred Dunhill Links Championship bar one since the tournament’s inception in 2001, winning the Team Championship once before, but even he admitted that “nerves were jumping all over the place” down the Old Course’s famous 18th hole before he and Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen emerged as victors.

“When you’re playing the 18th and walking over the Swilken Bridge knowing that you have to make a score, there are real nerves,” he said. “Luckily, Thorbjorn holed a brilliant birdie putt on that last hole to stretch our lead further and it wasn’t me facing a downhill four-footer! And thankfully no one could get past our final score.”

Desmond and former Ryder Cup star Olesen, who won the individual Dunhill Links title in 2015, shot a 13-under-par 59 despite tricky Sunday conditions, finishing two strokes clear of Jeff and Tyrrell Hatton on a 48-under-par total.

“I won the team event in 2010 with Robert Karlsson as my professional partner and that was a very proud moment,” added Desmond. “But I am in my 70s now and so I am even more proud of this one, particularly after walking around 72 holes over these four days.

“Thorbjorn was a terrific partner and he is a wonderful individual. His game doesn’t have any weaknesses, as far as I can see, he played superbly and was a pleasure to play with.

“I’m a big supporter of this tournament, which is just fantastic and very well run indeed. It’s wonderful, a dream, and it’s always a special experience here as you play three great golf courses and meet up with great friends.

“My three sons are also playing in the event this year and so we really enjoy the week as a family. You never get fed up of playing at St Andrews and being at the Home of Golf. Whatever the weather, every time I come here it is so enjoyable.”

Dougie MacIntyre, meanwhile, father of world No.16 Bob MacIntyre, was delighted to have made the Team Championship cut in his first Dunhill Links appearance and to get the chance of a second weekend round on the Old Course. He and his son finished with a team score of 37 under par after combining to shoot a final round 63.

“I was really nervous on the first tee at the start of our third round,” said Dougie, general manager and head greenkeeper at the Glencruitten Golf Club near Oban. “Bob had been winding me up the previous evening about it, and I must admit I really felt the pressure of stepping up on to that tee.

“But today it was fine. Yes, there were still a few nerves but having played the Old Course yesterday it was just great to be able to play it again in our final round. I just felt a lot more comfortable, and the whole event has been a wonderful experience for me.”

Other notable amateurs who qualified for Sunday’s play by finishing in the top 20 teams after three rounds included former Wales, Tottenham and Real Madrid footballer Gareth Bale, who finished on 35-under-par alongside English professional Daniel Brown, rock legend Huey Lewis and actor Bill Murray.

Lewis, playing with young Danish professional Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, ended up on 40-under-par after a final round 66 while his fellow 74-year-old Murray, qualifying for Sunday’s finale for the first time in nine attempts, engineered a magical finish.

Murray saw his sliced drive up the Old Course’s iconic 18th bounce off the wall of a house and back from out of bounds into play, before his short iron approach found the green. He then just missed a ten-foot putt for birdie as he and England’s Jordan Smith completed a last round 65 for an overall total of 35-under-par.