/world sport
LONDON, England -- Padraig Harrington returns to the scene of his British Open triumph as he defends his Alfred Dunhill Links Championship over three famous Scottish courses.
Harrington got his hands on the Old Claret Jug as he triumphed in the British Open at Carnoustie.
The tournament, which starts on Thursday, is played over Carnoustie, where the Dubliner scored a play-off victory over Sergio Garcia to win his first major back in July, St Andrews and Kingsbarn.
The final round sees the players return to St Andrews to battle it out for the near $1 million prize at the home of golf.
Harrington cruised to a five-shot win over Welshman Bradley Dredge, England's Anthony Wall and Edward Loar of the United States in last year's tournament and also won in 2002.
He is returning to action after skipping the Seve Trophy in his native Ireland because of "fatigue and injuries."
Last year's Alfred Dunhill success left Harrington with a chance of claiming the European Order of Merit, but he was eventually pipped by Paul Casey at the season-ending Volvo Masters.
This time round the 36-year-old is leading the standings after his British Open triumph but with big money events coming up, including the HSBC World Matchplay at Wentworth next week, a number of contenders can still overtake him.
Second-placed Justin Rose of England, South African Ernie Els and Swedes Henrik Stenson and Niclas Fasth are all playing in Scotland and can take over the number one position by lifting the title on Sunday.
A feature of the Alfred Dunhill tournament is the accompanying pro-am celebrity event and actors Samuel L Jackson, Hugh Grant and Ray Romano will join a host of former sports stars in tackling the three links courses. E-mail to a friend 
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