The tournament is a pro-am, with the format based on the long-running United States
PGA Tour's
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am held annually since 1937 (except during the
Second World War), where each team consists of one amateur and one professional. The three course rotation consists of The
Old Course at St Andrews,
Carnoustie Golf Links and
Kingsbarns Golf Links. The 54-hole cut is made of the top 60 professionals and the leading 20 pro-am teams, regardless of the professional member of the team making the individual cut. These players and teams advance to the final round at St Andrews. Originally called the
Dunhill Links Championship, the event was introduced in 2001 as a replacement for the
Alfred Dunhill Cup, a three-man team tournament which had become marginalised when the long established
World Cup of Golf was given enhanced status as part of the
World Golf Championships in 2000, becoming the WGC-World Cup. To increase interest in the event, many of the amateurs are well known personalities from the worlds of sport and entertainment. These have included
Tico Torres,
Nigel Mansell,
Ian Botham,
Gary Lineker,
Boris Becker,
Michael Douglas,
Samuel L. Jackson,
Michael Vaughan,
Matthew Pinsent,
Hugh Grant,
Justin Timberlake,
Michael Phelps,
Bill Murray,
Shane Warne and
Andy Murray. ==Winners==