They all came to St Andrews to cheer on brilliant young Irishman Rory McIlrory, but instead the Old Course galleries were left applauding a remarkable nine holes of golf by England's Simon Dyson, which set up an impressive three-shot victory in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Dyson, for whom this was the second European Tour win of the year, produced an electrifying start with six birdies in his first seven holes for a front nine of 30, which appeared to leave the rest of the field in shock. He played the back nine more conservatively in par, but his 66 for a 20-under-par total of 268, left him comfortably ahead of McIlroy and England's Oliver Wilson.

After receiving the winner's cheque of US$800,000 (485,000), which takes him into the top ten in The Race to Dubai, the new name for the European Tour's money list, he said: "I was lining up my putt on the 18th green and my playing partner Darren Clarke came over and said 'take your time'. I said 'why?'. And he said 'because it doesn't get any better than this' - and he's absolutely bang on."

Dyson, who won the KLM Open in August, comes from a family with a rich sporting pedigree. His grandfather was a jockey and his uncle, Terry, played in the Tottenham Hotspur football team which won the League and FA Cup double in 1961.

He said: "66 on the Old Course feels great. I just knew the tournament was there to be won. Obviously with the start I got off to, I knew it was mine for the taking and it was really only me that could lose it. There were some really good names up there - Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Rory and Luke Donald, but I went into it thinking I've been playing some good golf the last five or six weeks and just happy with the way I've been playing."

Denmark's Soren Hansen and Ireland's Kieran McManus shot a stunning betterball score of 59 on the Old Course to win the Alfred Dunhill Links Team Championship with a breathtaking 72-hole total of 44-under-par, a new record by seven shots. Irish stud farmer McManus, son of J.P.McManus, twice winner of the event with Padraig Harrington, improved the score of his professional by no fewer than 36 shots over the four rounds.

The tournament, 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. The gales which had forced the abandonment of Saturday's play were replaced by a light breeze and warm sunshine which produced an abundance of excellent scoring in the final round.

England's Luke Donald had led overnight by one shot from McIlory and Dyson and most spectators were expecting 20-year-old McIlroy, playing with his father Gerry, who was celebrating his 50th birthday, to make a charge. But Dyson was the one who came out firing on all cylinders.

His six birdies in seven holes left the statisticians calculating if he could match, or even beat Bradley Dredge's 2006 course record of 62. However, he could not keep up that hot pace and eased back for a level par 36 on the back nine, but by then the Championship was won, and he could even afford the luxury of a bogey five at the Road Hole.

Donald's challenge failed to materialise and he ended up carding a disappointing one-over-par 73 on a day made for low scoring, while McIlroy's bid effectively ended at the 12th, which proved to be the pivotal hole. At just 348 yards it is one of the more innocuous holes on the Old Course, but Dyson rammed in a 12-foot birdie putt to go to 21-under-par, while McIlroy, playing in a different group, three-putted to allow Dyson to open up a four shot lead. It seemed to take the wind out of McIlroy's sails, and although he birdied the 15th and 18th, he also had bogeys on the 16th and 17th .

McIlroy said: "My target was 20-under-par at the start of the day, which obviously would have been good enough, but Simon played great. Seven under par through eight holes is incredible. So hats off to him. I just didn't play well enough on the back nine to really have a good chance, so second is OK. I wish I had played a bit better for my Dad, but I still scored 69 on the Old Course."

In the Team Championship, Soren Hansen and Kieran McManus had begun the day just one shot ahead of Australia's most successful cricket captain Steve Waugh and his professional partner Scott Strange, but like Dyson in the individual professional event they raced away with a blistering succession of net eagles and birdies that resulted in their betterball 59 on the Old Course, and their record total of 44-under-par. They ultimately finished five shots ahead of Strange and Waugh.

After receiving their trophy, the pair were keen to heap praise on each other. McManus said: "Sren was lovely to play with. He took care of me. He left me very much at ease today which was great. It was all in Sren's hands. He brought it off." While Hansen said: "Kieran hit quality shots and he holed putts today, as well. He's just been playing really solid all week. I've just been along for the ride really. Today was the day where we supported each other best. I made a few birdies here and there when Kieran wasn't in play and vice versa. Kieran has done a really good job."

Partnering the professionals were an enthusiastic group of talented amateur golfers, who compete for the Alfred Dunhill Links Team Championship. Celebrities from the world of entertainment taking part include film and TV stars Hugh Grant, Greg Kinnear, George Lopez, Kyle MacLachlan, John O'Hurley and Aidan Quinn, and music legends Don Felder, co-writer of Hotel California from the Eagles, Ronan Keating, Huey Lewis, Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres and American country singer Clay Walker.

Many of the world's legendary sports stars were taking part including a strong team of former footballers including England's Sir Bobby Charlton and Jamie Redknapp, Holland's Marco van Basten, Johann Cruyff and Ruud Gullit, and Scotland's Alan Hansen. Also playing were Olympic rowers Sir Matthew Pinsent and Sir Steve Redgrave, British tennis hero Tim Henman, former rugby players Sean Fitzpatrick and Gavin Hastings, cricket's Sir Ian Botham, Mark Nicholas, Shane Warne, Steve Waugh and Michael Vaughan, American Football running back Marcus Allen and Downhill ski star Franz Klammer.

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