Sapa Ernie Els and Retief Goosen lead a strong line-up of South African golfers for this week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St.Andrews in Scotland.

Els, the 2002 Open Championship winner at Muirfield, and Goosen are both two-time winners of the US Open, but neither has won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Among other South Africans playing are Anton Haig, James Kingston, Louis Oosthuizen, Andrew McLardy, Keith Horne, Richard Sterne, Mark Murless, Titch Moore, Alex Haindl, Warren Abery, Thomas Aiken, James Kamte, Charl Schwartzel and David Frost.

Also in the field are Zimbabwe's Tony Johnstone and Marc Cayeux.

They will be joined by South African amateurs Neels Els, father of Ernie Els, Sean Frost, son of David Frost, Springbok rugby legend Morné du Plessis and cricket star Shaun Pollock.

Also in the field is two-time Open champion Padraig Harrington, and other members of the European Ryder Cup team, which unexpectedly lost to the United States in Valhalla, including Paul Casey, Soren Hansen, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Robert Karlsson, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood and Oliver Wilson.

The championship, conceived as a celebration of links golf, is played over three of the world's best known and respected links courses – the Old Course at St Andrews, the Championship Course at Carnoustie and the highly regarded Kingsbarns Golf Links.

On the fairways and greens, the professionals share centre stage with leading amateurs from the worlds of sport and entertainment – a mix which gives the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship its unique character.

Personalities from the world of entertainment include film and TV stars Hugh Grant, Samuel L. Jackson, John O'Hurley, Dougray Scott and Luke Wilson.

Also taking part are music legends Don Felder from the Eagles, Ronan Keating, Huey Lewis and Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres.

Many of the world's great sports stars will be playing, including football's Bobby Charlton, Johan Cruyff, Roberto Donadoni, Ruud Gullit and Jamie Redknapp, world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, Olympic rowing legend Steve Redgrave, British tennis hero Tim Henman, American Football running back Marcus Allen, downhill ski star Franz Klammer, and former rugby players Sean Fitzpatrick and Gavin Hastings, while cricket is represented by India's Kapil Dev, England's Mark Nicholas and Michael Vaughan and Australian spin genius Shane Warne.

The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship has a unique format. With a prize fund of US5 million, it incorporates two separate competitions – an individual professional tournament for the world's leading golfers and a team event in which they are paired with some of the most celebrated amateur golfers.

168 teams of one professional and one amateur contest the first three rounds, with one round being played at each of the three courses in rotation.

The two competitions are played concurrently – individual professional and team. The team score will be the best net score of the two players at each hole. After 54 holes the field reduces to the leading 60 professionals and ties, plus the 20 leading teams, all of whom play the final round over the Old Course at St Andrews.

Play will be in fourball groups and in order to accommodate as many players as practical, all four rounds will start from both the first and tenth tees at all courses.

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