Celebrities Playing 2026 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

(L to R) Kevin Pietersen, Gareth Bale and Jay Monahan — (Image credit: Getty Images)

The 2026 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is one of the most popular events on the DP World Tour schedule, with an expanded field of professionals competing both individually as normal and alongside a celebrity amateur in the concurrent team event.

Put simply, the tournament consists of each duo playing an 18-hole round at St Andrews' world-famous Old Course and the brutally tough pair of Carnoustie and Kingsbarns across three days.

As well as the top-60 pros in the individual contest, the leading 20 teams with the lowest score then make it through to Sunday for another crack at the Old Course, where they will try to build on their opening three rounds and win the team title.

Numerous high-profile names have played in the amateur bracket in the competition's 25-year history, and it's no different for 2026 with a host of star faces from around the world of sport, music, TV, film and business.

Below are just some of the biggest amateur celebrities playing in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2026.

GOLF

In the golfing category, there are plenty of people with a stake in the game across various levels. However, in terms of those who either currently or used to run the men's professional game, there are four key players to look out for this week.

Firstly, The R&A CEO Mark Darbon is teeing it up alongside Scotland's Cameron Adam while former PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has been paired with Niklas Norgaard.

Ex-PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh will play with Scotland's Calum Hill and non-executive director of The European Tour Group Abdullah Al Naboodah is on a team with Ross Fisher.

SPORT

In terms of sport stars - both current and past - who are teeing it up at this year's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, there are so many to look out for.

Ex-pro footballer Gareth Bale is one of the best golfers in the amateur ranks this year while former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen and retired Netherlands football player Ruud Gullit are excellent golfers, too.

Other huge names from the world of sport include, Sir Steve Redgrave (Olympic rower), Tony 'AP' McCoy (horse racing), Sean Fitzpatrick (rugby union), James Milner (football) and several cricketers including Lord Ian Botham, Allan Lamb, Mark Nicholas and Michael Vaughan.

Redgrave has played in every single one of the 25 editions to date while Fitzpatrick is a famous All Blacks captain who won 92 New Zealand caps - one of which came in the 1987 World Cup final when the Kiwis won for the first time.

Gareth Bale looks across the course during the Pro-Am ahead of the BMW PGA Championship 2025 at Wentworth. — Gareth Bale

MUSIC

Some of the biggest names from the world of music at this year's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship include Ronan Keating, who plays off eight, and founder of rock band Genesis, Mike Rutherford.

Also representing music are Huey Lewis - who played in the very first edition in 2001 - and Linkin Park guitarist Dave Farrell, who is appearing for the 10th occasion.

BUSINESS & OTHER

There are a plethora of names in the amateur section of the 2026 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship who have made an incredible amount of money in business. Many of them have also contributed to the success of golf as well.

One such man is Johann Rupert - the chairman of luxury goods group Richemont and the man who ensures this event takes place every year. Rupert has long been an advocate of a unified men's game, hence 14 of the 26 invites for the 2026 tournament have gone to LIV golfers.

Meanwhile, the man who brokered a deal between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf back in 2023 - Jimmy Dunne - is also in the field alongside Pawan Munjal, the executive chairman of Hero MotoCorp.

(L to R) Dr Pawan Munjal, Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler pose either side of the Hero World Challenge trophy in 2024

Munjal is the primary backer of Tiger Woods' Hero World Challenge every December and has sponsored a number of other pro events around the world, too, such as the DP World Tour's Hero Indian Open.

Other businessmen in action this week include the founder and CEO of wearable tech company WHOOP, Will Ahmed and star of Dragons Den, Peter Jones.

Joining them are Jim Crane - owner of MLB side the Houston Astros - and Michael Lund, the Danish co-founder of jewelry mega-company, Pandora.

Michael Bloomberg, the former Mayor of New York City and co-founder of the financial information company Bloomberg, is playing this week, as are movie star Michael Pena and journalist Piers Morgan.

Check out the full list of pro golfers and their celebrity playing partners in the round one, two and three tee times for the 2026 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Jonny Leighfield is our Staff News Writer who joined Golf Monthly just in time for the 2023 Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup. He graduated from the University of Brighton with a degree in Sport Journalism in 2017 and spent almost five years as the sole sports reporter at his local newspaper. During his time with Golf Monthly, Jonny has interviewed several stars of the game, including Robert MacIntyre, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and Joaquin Niemann. An improving golfer himself, Jonny enjoys learning as much about the game as he can and recently reached his Handicap goal of 18 for the first time.