Two-time champion Pádraig Harrington continues his unbroken run at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship this week, as he makes his 25th appearance in the tournament's 25th staging.
Harrington is the only professional in the field to have played in all 24 past editions of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, with Sir Steve Redgrave also celebrating the same milestone in the amateur bracket at the Home of Golf this week.
The Irishman won the first of two titles in 2002, teaming up with JP McManus to claim the Team title at the same time. Harrington, with McManus, would then win both titles again in 2006, just a year before claiming the first of two Open titles at Carnoustie - one of the three courses played at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Harrington, who also played in several editions of the Alfred Dunhill Cup before the tournament evolved to include a Pro-Am element, said his appearance record is a direct result of his love for the event.
"It's a nice record, I've always loved coming here," Harrington told the DP World Tour.
"It's been a no-brainer for me. Every year, I put it in on the calendar for sure. It's one of the best weeks of the year.
"Alfred Dunhill do such a good job running this event. Great week of golf. Obviously fun with the amateurs. Super golf courses. What's not to like? It's one of my favourites of the year for sure.
"So, yeah, 25 years in a row, I'm proud of it. Wish I was a young guy and only playing my fifth year, but who knows, 25 and maybe a few more to follow."
That team element is unique on the DP World Tour schedule to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, and Harrington revealed it's often been a huge source of extra motivation when things have, and haven't, been going well.
Reflecting on his some of his best moments in the championship over the past two and a half decades, he credited McManus in helping pull him along to victory.
"Winning here twice in 2002, 2006, [it was] incredibly special," he said. "To be honest, both times I won, it was the amateur event that pulled me along. You get some highs and lows when you're playing on your own, but when you've got a team-mate, you've got to dig deep and stick in there. So when things aren't going quite so well, you focus on the team event. You know, you do your work a lot and that kind of lifts you up. So yeah, look, great memories.
"One of them I remember where we lost the lead a little bit. Our playing partners kind of caught us pretty quickly and they were overheard saying we have them sort of thing, which motivated us a lot more to win the team. And as I said, winning the team dragged me along to win the individuals. So, you know, very special day.
"I think I won the first one in a play-off with Eduardo Romero, rest his soul back in the day. I holed the 20-footer on the play-off hole, and yeah, exciting times. Every win is so exciting, but to win at the Home of Golf in St Andrews, to win the Alfred Dunhill, they just do such a good job here at the Dunhill Links. They really have, over the 25 years, run such an iconic event, one of the best events of the year, and an event I wouldn't want to miss. As you've seen, I've played it 25 times."
The highlight of Harrington's season has so far been a tie for 18th at the US PGA Championship at Aronimink in May, but the three-time Major champion still thinks the different nature of this week may provide the best opportunity for him to win on the DP World Tour and catch Tyrrell Hatton's event record of three wins - even if he believes it's a hard ask.
"It would be a big deal," he said. "I'm at that age that to win a regular tournament would be something special. I think I'd be oldest guy in Europe that won at this stage. It's a hard ask. It's not impossible.
"I think I tend to try a little too hard when I turn up to regular events. But maybe Dunhill is the right one for me in the sense of playing with an amateur will help me relax during the week, focus on different things and chill out and enjoy it more, and that might be what it takes for me to get the best out of my golf."
