European Tour Insider: A special pro-am player

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Manuel De Los Santos is from the Dominican Republic. He's 25 and was a budding baseball player. He only has one leg.

When asked what his handicap is, he says with an infectious smile: "I play off three."

De Los Santos played at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last week over the three courses of St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie. He played well, though just missed the cut in the team event by one stroke.

He is an inspiration.

De Los Santos lost his leg following a car accident in 2003. Yet, in recovery, he watched the film The Legend of Bagger Vance and he saw similarities in the swings between baseball and golf. So he went to a range. Having put coin upon coin into the machine, he was given a free range pass. He'd hit 2,000 balls a day, sometimes for as much as 12 hours.

In the last few years, De Los Santos has won many international events for disabled golfers, and he relished his opportunity to play alongside the pros at the Home of Golf.

European Tour Podcast

Robert Lee and Richard Kaufman reflect on the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, where England's Simon Dyson won his fourth European Tour title. The guys also preview the Madrid Masters and offer a golf tip from Kenneth Ferrie. Click to listen

"I can't believe it," he said "Now, I'm a golfer. I play St Andrews; now I am a golfer."

Forget using a buggy. When asked before the tournament how he gets around the course, he stressed, "I walk. This is sport. I walk."

He rubbed shoulders at St Andrews with some of the best in the game. "I met Lee Westwood. He said to me: 'You're my hero.' And Paul McGinley said 'You play very good golf.'"

De Los Santos could barely believe it. "When the big champions say that, it gives me power," he said. "For me, I will now train more. I have the opportunity to become a very good player."

The young man from the Dominican Republic hopes to turn pro one day. And he hopes word gets around and he can secure a place at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

THAT WINNING FEELING

So you see it wasn't just Simon Dyson who won at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Dyson

The team title went the way of Soren Hansen partnering an Irish stud farmer Kieran McManus, the son of the well known J.P. who's twice won the event. The weather won on Saturday, though, when play was postponed, because of 70 mph winds.

Rory McIlroy may not have claimed the trophy, but his joint second place means he leaps to the top of the Race to Dubai standings. But there is no diminishing Dyson's momentous victory.

It was Dyson's second of the season and came a mere six weeks after he won the KLM Open in Holland. There he'd shot a 63 on the final day to surge through; here, six birdies in the first seven holes propelled him into a lead he wouldn't squander.

Oliver Wilson -- still without a win and now with a ninth second place -- had played alongside Dyson at the Vivendi Trophy, and for the first three days over the links. He calls his friend the "Energizer Bunny", finding it hard to believe Dyson's level of enthusiasm and stamina.

The Yorkshireman called the win "the best day of my life." Darren Clarke played with him on the final day and told him to enjoy the moment.

"That walk down the 18th is a feeling I'll never ever forget," Dyson said. "Darren said 'Listen, look around, enjoy it. You've won it. It doesn't get better than this.' And he's right."

Dyson's up to his highest-ever Official World Golf Ranking -- jumping from 92nd to 44th -- and looking forward to performing at more majors and maybe even the Ryder Cup.

RIDING THE WAVE

Dyson's partner in the team event was surf star Kelly Slater. They finished third overall.

Slater enjoyed the view over St Andrews Bay with the waves crashing on the beach, but there was no desire to brave the cold. This was about "the best week of golf of my life."

Slater's been playing for around 15 years, and recovered after an inauspicious start. "I topped one into a bunker and scrambled a six." he said "Simon was scratching his head saying 'Who'd they put me with?'"

Slater had nothing but praise for his triumphant partner. "Simon was totally positive, happy and in a really good frame of mind all week," he said. "I think that's what kept him not too worried about anything beyond the moment."

MASTERING MADRID

The European Tour is a long way from the sea this week.

Schwartzel

It's the Madrid Masters in Spain, and with the Monday finish in Scotland, it's meant a scramble for flights and rearranging schedules.

Charl Schwartzel defends his title, though it's a quirky defense. It comes at a different course than where he won last year, but he did win the last Tour event over this Centro Nacional de Golf course -- claiming the Spanish Open in 2007.

Mads Vibe-Hastrup could be one to watch as well, and the Dane could almost be called a defending champion himself. His one Tour title was at the Open de Madrid as it was then named in 2007. He opted not to return the following year, because his wife was due to give birth to their first child. He's hoping to find a best result of the year, having been shy of the top 30 throughout the campaign.

STAN'S THE MAN

Scottsdale's revered short game coach Stan Utley is a surprising addition to the field in Madrid. He'll be working with several of the players, including recent winner Alex Noren, but he's also aiming to show his own skills in the competition. Whatever the result, he has a coaching stint with the Spanish Golf Federation in the days following the event.