Smyth Wins Through Five Decades

With the 100th Irish PGA Championship only a few week’s away at Seapoint Golf Club, Des Smyth started his preparation well with a two stroke victory at the Travis Perkins plc Senior Masters recording a historic win after signing for a final round 69. 

In blustery conditions on the Duke's Course at Woburn, Smyth, recorded a win for the first time in three years with the overnight leader, Carl Mason of England, carding a double bogey on the fourteenth and then a bogey on the eighteenth to finish on a two over par 74 – and two shots behind Smyth.


Mason had looked well in control and on his way to a 24th record breaking title through nine holes extending his lead to three over Smyth. But a disastrous four-putt double-bogey on the par five 14th and Des Smyth’s birdie turned things dramatically.


Smyth took advantage and although he bogeyed sixteen to set up a tense finish, he sevured his victory on the 18th with a birdie.


He said: “I felt like Seve today as he was the best at making it happen and it was one of those rounds where it did happen today. I putted much better this week having changed my putting style slightly and I could see the lines much better and that gave me the confidence to hit the putts.


“It was fantastic to win in front of these crowds and it is my fifth decade of winning, from the 70’s to now and that was a goal of mine. I am really pleased to have got that.”


Smyth won his first professional title in 1979 when he won the Sun Alliance Match Play Championship, winning every decade since and still holds the record as the oldest winner on The European Tour.


Mason will hope that there will be plenty more opportunities to break the record he holds with Tommy Horton;


He said: “Four putts on the 14th was not good. That made me unsteady on the greens unfortunately. I had some good chances out there, a couple of horseshoes but pleased with the way I played. It is a tough course and under pressure it is real tough, doesn’t get any tougher.


In a share of third place with Argentine Adan Sowa, was England’s Gary Wolstenholme on his Senior Tour debut who picked up the biggest check of his life having been a career amateur for so many years.


“I’m delighted to have done so well this week,” said England’s most capped amateur, now a professional. “My goal at the start was to finish top ten so I could get into Casa Serena in two weeks, and I’ve done that.” 


It was a tough day for the other big names on the leader board, with particularly disappointing rounds from David J Russell (76), Bill Longmuir (79) and Ian Woosnam (75). 


The popular Welshman gave his many followers little to cheer about in the final round with three doubles alongside three bogeys – although the biggest cheer of the day may have come when he pulled his driver out on 18 to have a pop at the green and close with a birdie three. 

Jimmy Heggarty finished on four over after a final round 78. 

Denis O’Sullivan signed for 77 to finish 8 over. 

Eamonn Darcy ended on 12 over par after a final round 81. 

Eddie Polland signed for a 78 to finish on +19. 

Torrance Plays at Home

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Sam Torrance could not be any more at home as he heads into the Cleveland Golf / Srixon Scottish Senior Open at Fairmont St Andrews.

The Scotsman is about to embark on one of the most important weeks of the year on a personal level as he looks to win the €250,000 event on his own golf course, ‘The Torrance’ at Fairmont St Andrews.

The former Ryder Cup Captain has, by his own high standards, endured a disappointing season so far but having spent the last three weeks practicing under the tutelage of dad Bob, Torrance Jnr is confident that he can return to winning ways over his own course and get back into the race to defend the Senior Tour Order of Merit crown that he won last year for the third time.

“This is a very special week for me – we are literally playing on my golf course: I designed it, I am attached here and I really love this place so a very important week for me,” said Torrance who is currently 14th on the Senior Tour Order of Merit.

“It’s nice to hear most of the guys being very complimentary about a course that I have designed. It’s nice to hear things like that from the guys you play with every week, I hope they enjoy the test. The course is in great condition this week and it is getting better every year. The greens here are exceptional and are one of the strong points of my design.

“My form is getting better – I have been struggling for a while but it’s getting a bit better. I did a fair bit of work with my dad at the Senior Open which worked for a day but then I couldn’t sustain it. But I have been working hard every day and on the phone to him most days and it is coming along – it feels pretty good at the moment.

“I can still win the Order of Merit – there are a lot of big weeks coming up but I have to win a couple and contend in the rest if I am to have any chance.”

Torrance’s fellow former Ryder Cup Captain, Ian Woosnam, will be among the Scot’s main challengers at Fairmont St Andrews this week and the Welshman was in buoyant form ahead of the tournament.

“It’s great to be back here in Scotland playing links golf again,” smiled Woosnam. “That was actually my last appearance three weeks ago at the Senior Open Championship and there were some good signs that the game is coming round. I’m looking forward to getting back out there and continuing the improvement.

“You obviously have to shape the ball playing links golf and I actually have a new set of clubs in the bag this week that I have a bit more feel with so hopefully I can get the ball going the way I want it to.”

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Tom Watson Returns to Carnoustie

Tom Watson will return to the course which launched his love affair with links golf when he takes his place among the field of icons assembled for The 2010 Senior Open Championship presented by MasterCard from July 22-25.

The 60 year old won the first of his five Open Championships at Carnoustie in 1975 and returns to the Championship course renowned as one of the all time greats of links golf, despite admitting he did not immediately take to the form of the game.

“My first shot in my first Open Championship at the first time I’d played Carnoustie made me think I’d never take to this type of golf,” says Watson. “I hit what I, and everyone else around me, thought was the ideal tee shot off the first tee. But when we walked up to the spot where we expected it to be, it was nowhere in sight.

“I thought, ‘this links golf is not for me,’ but I went on to tie the Championship with Jack Newton on 279 and then beat him by a shot in the 18-hole play-off on the Monday.

“I believe Carnoustie is the toughest course of all the links courses I’ve played. It’s got water, it’s got difficult burns and it’s got that wind. But, strangely, back in 1975 it was unusually placid.”

Watson is chasing a record fourth Senior Open Championship victory and the American will be attempting to win a third title on a course he has previously won the Claret Jug – having already achieved the ‘double’ at Turnberry (2003) and Muirfield (2007).

“I love playing links golf and I love Scotland and the golf fans here,” he said. “The Senior Open Championship is a truly great event. It attracts the best players in the world and the atmosphere is so friendly it makes you want to play here.

“The venues are a key element of the Championship’s success. To play on Open Championships links of the stature of Turnberry, Muirfield, Royal Troon and Carnoustie is an honour.

“This year I’m warming up for The Senior Open by playing two outstanding links courses at Kingsbarns and Elie and then a little old tournament called The Open Championship on the Old Course at St Andrews!

“It would be good to then win a fourth Senior Open at Carnoustie at the course where I won my first Open Championship and you can be sure I’ll be giving it all I’ve got.”

Watson finished tied eighth at last year’s Senior Open Championship at Sunningdale – an admirable performance given the whirlwind of attention around him a week after he came so close to winning The Open Championship at the age of 59.

“When I think of last year’s Open at Turnberry it leaves a certain glow about the whole situation, even though I finished second,” he said. “The glow comes from the people who watched it and who have come up to me since then and said, ‘having seen what you did, I know I'm not too old now - you've just proven that to me.

“I really felt like I could win the tournament again. The Ailsa Course fit me, and I knew how to play that golf course. I’d won the Open there and I almost had a sort of home-course advantage. It almost worked out.

“Over the years, I've had lots of disappointments and that was another. But I've had lots of victories to counterbalance the hurt. Losing that opportunity tore my guts out for a short period of time - and then I got on with life.”

Watson is one of eight Ryder Cup Captains playing at Carnoustie, with Europeans Sir Nick Faldo, Mark James, Bernhard Langer, Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam, and Americans Tom Lehman and presiding Captain Corey Pavin joining him in the field.

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Ryder Cup Captains for Carnoustie

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Three months before Europe and the United States go head-to-head at The Celtic Manor Resort, nine Ryder Cup Captains will take their place among the world class field for The Senior Open Championship presented by MasterCard, at Carnoustie, from July 22-25.

Corey Pavin, who will become the first presiding Ryder Cup Captain to play in The Senior Open Championship, will be joined by the last five European Ryder Cup Captains: Sir Nick Faldo, Mark James, Bernhard Langer, Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam.

Also confirmed to be part of the field are former United States Captains Tom Kite, Tom Lehman – who will be one of Pavin’s four Assistant Captains in Wales - and Tom Watson, who returns to the course where he won the first of his five Open Championships in 1975.

There will also be a number of former Ryder Cup players, including 1989 Open Champion Mark Calcacvecchia, who makes his Senior Open debut, fellow Major Champions Sandy Lyle and Mark O’Meara, and defending champion Loren Roberts who is targeting a record equalling third Senior Open title.

With a prize fund of $2million, The Senior Open Championship presented by MasterCard will once again play an important role in the European Senior Tour Order of Merit, just as it did last year when Torrance’s fifth place finish at Sunningdale helped him to finish the year as Number One.

The 2002 Ryder Cup winning Captain from Scotland, who is attached to nearby Fairmont St Andrews, knows Carnoustie well and will have the home support behind him.

He said: “Carnoustie is one of the toughest courses around and it will be a fantastic host venue for this year’s Senior Open Championship. There’s another great field with a number of former Ryder Cup Captains and players and some magnificent players making their debuts so the competition will be tough but I’m looking forward to it.

“Last year I finished fifth at Sunningdale which really helped me in my quest to win the Order of Merit and I will be hoping I can do even better this year. It’s always special playing in Scotland and hopefully we will get some more fantastic support like we did at Royal Troon two years ago.”

Gary Player, a three time Senior Open Champion, also returns to the course where he won The Open Championship in 1968, courtesy of what he maintains was the ‘greatest shot of his career’ – a superb three wood into the 14th which landed eight inches from the pin to help him hold off Jack Nicklaus for the South African’s second of three Claret Jugs.

Michael Robichaud, Vice President, Global Sponsorships, MasterCard Worldwide, said: “MasterCard has been proud to serve as presenting sponsor of The Senior Open Championship for the past three years and we are very much looking forward to this great Championship being played at one of the true tests of links golf in the world.

“Following on from another historic Open Championship at St Andrews the week before, it promises to be a great fortnight’s golf on this remarkable stretch of coast in the East of Scotland. Our cardholders have a strong affinity for golf and we share that passion. We are also a sponsor of The 2010 Ryder Cup, so we are delighted that a number of former Ryder Cup Captains will be part of a field that already contains many of golf’s most iconic names.”

The R&A’s Director of Championships, David Hill, on behalf of The Senior Open Championship, said: “Carnoustie will provide a fantastic venue for The 2010 Senior Open Championship presented by MasterCard, as it has done for The Open Championship on seven occasions. I’m sure that many thousands of spectators will flock to see these masters of the game taking on this most challenging of courses once again.”

Paul Bush, Chief Operating Officer at EventScotland, said: “EventScotland is pleased to be supporting The Senior Open Championship again for the fifth time in the last six years, and delighted to have seen this world-class golf tournament grow from strength to strength during this time. To have events of this quality return to Scotland on such a regular basis really does underline Scotland’s position as The Home of Golf.”

Ian Woosnam Joins Hall of Fame

His first round on Friday might not have gone exactly according to plan at The Ryder Cup Senior Wales open at Celtic Manor but the evening took a brighter turn for Ian Woosnam when he was inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame in Cardiff.

The 2006 European Ryder Cup Captain took his bow at a star-studded presentation dinner in the Mercure Holland House Hotel in the Welsh capital alongside two other greats from the world of Welsh golf – four time Ryder Cupper Dave Thomas and former Welsh ladies champion Vicki Thomas.

Woosnam was presented with the award to mark his induction by former Wales First Minister Rhodri Morgan and was welcomed into the Hall of Fame by two other Welsh sporting greats who are already in the Hall of Fame, Gareth Edwards and Tony Lewis.

The Senior Tour - What's on the horizon?

At the Open Championship in Turnberry last summer the drama and nostalgia of seeing golfing legend Tom Watson competing for the title over four days culminated on the Sunday last day with the golfing icon capturing the imagination of all golf fans - even if he was supposedly past his peak for the main tour – given he is an active member of the Champions Tour. But for four days in July Watson returned to Turnberry, mostly out of nostalgia and as a last goodbye to the venue where he won the second of his Claret jugs in 1977, ending up as a serious contender.

In the end it became a trip back in time as he played in the last group on Sunday with his second last stroke on the 18^th green depriving him of what should have been a sixth Open title. As Watson held back the emotions and congratulated the winner, Stewart Cink, viewers worldwide sighed with disappointment as the fairy tale was not to be in the end.

In not a dissimilar fashion the Handa Irish Seniors Open presented by Failte Ireland brought some of the great names of European golf’s golden era to Maynooth last weekend, many of whom have been travelling to Ireland in search of the fame and glory for the past twenty years. Although many of them have since achieved their fame and fortune they still play competitive golf at senior level despite accumulating their many titles.

Amongst those playing was 1991 US Masters winner, Ian Woosnam, perhaps better known to a younger generation for the European Ryder Cup victory at the K Club in 2006; two time Open major winner, Sandy Lyle; Scotland’s Sam Torrance, son of Bob coach to Padraig Harrington; the members of Spanish Armada including Ignacio Garrido, Juan Quiros, Jose Rivero, Antonio Garrido and Manuel Piñero. Missing however was the indefatigable Seve Ballesteros, who really put Spanish golf on the map after winning his first US Masters in 1980 and the second in 1983 in a country which only had a handful of golf courses at the time.

The Irish contingent at Carton House included Des Smyth, Eamonn Darcy, Liam Higgins, Denis O'Sullivan and Christy O' Connor Jnr. The pity was that the Irish field did not dominate a bit more on home soil with Darcy the best finish in a share of 20^th.

But then again only Smyth, Heggarty and O’Sullivan are still playing competitively on the Tour this season week in and week out.

In looking over the horizon at the next generation of players that will keep the European Senior Tour alive and kicking for the next half decade, the field looks rather more sparse, at least in Irish terms, with the 1995 Ryder Cup winner, Philip Walton, the only name in sight – with the Dubliner only eligible in March 2012.

In the short term Englishman Barry Lane is the next name to become eligible this week and makes his debut at the Royal Porthcawl in Wales next weekend with Andrew Oldcorn the most recent addition to the Senior Tour.

Of the big names that joined over the past few years Torrance and Woosnam have been the most regular supporters with Bernhard Langer based mostly on the Champions Tour in the USA given that is where he has made his home for many years now.

Five time major winner, Sir Nick Faldo, plays selective tournaments and has chosen a broadcasting career predominantly in the US alongside his golf course design business which is as active as economic circumstances will currently allow at this time.

Greg Norman, Open winner in 1986 and 1993, plays events worldwide and more recently belied his age by being in the final pairing at the 2008 Open at Royal Birkdale where he lost on the day to sublime golf from Ireland’s Padraig Harrington. Having turned 50 in February 2005 the Australian has kept his distance from the senior golf circuit mostly due to his extensive other business interests and because of some back and knee injuries.

Obviously one of the most committed European Tour players, Seve Ballesteros, has been undergoing treatment for some time for illness which has unfortunately kept him away from the game in recent years. No player oozed as much passion for European golf than the Santander man and undoubtedly he would have done more on the European Senior Tour had circumstances and his health allowed it.

On the other side of the Atlantic the Champions Tour in the US is very vibrant and with some top names reaching eligibility soon such as Mark Calcavecchia who celebrated his 50th birthday last weekend. He will begins his Champions Tour career at the Dick's Sporting Goods Open on June 25^th.

Calcavecchia bade farewell to the PGA TOUR at the Memorial Tournament after playing in 736 events since 198, winning 13 times, including the 1989 British Open. He is looking forward to it having watched what Fred Couples has done in his rookie year on the Champions Tour, and the manner in which he has done so. Other recent additions are 2010 US Ryder Cup Captain, Corey Pavin, and the 2006 US Ryder Cup Captain,Tom Lehman.

Of the 26 tournaments on the 2010 Champions Tour schedule, all are in the United States except for the Senior British Open, a tournament in the Dominican Republic that started in 2008, and tournaments in Canada with a new addition in South Korea this year. The guaranteed minimum official prize money is $51.5 million over 26 tournaments, with a record average purse of $1.98 million per event which is The total prize money and number of events, however, are down from previous years—for example, the 2007 tour offered a total of $55.2 million over 29 events.

Most of the tournaments are played over three rounds (54 holes), which is one round less than regular professional stroke play tournaments on the PGA Tour. Because of this and having smaller fields, there are generally no "cuts" between any of the rounds. However, the five senior majors have a full 72 holes.

The European Senior Tour was founded in 1992 and in 2008 it had a total prize fund of €7,729,284, much less than the Champions Tour in relative terms with the highest profile seniors event in being Senior British Open Championship, which is co-sanctioned by the Champions Tour.

Perhaps the difference between two tours is best summarised by the career of Baltray’s Des Smyth who went to the PGA Seniors Qualifying School at the end of 2004 and then earned in excess of US$ 2.5M in his first two seasons on the Champions Tour - with two wins in 2005 at the SBC Classic and the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. Those two tournaments alone US$614,000. He was runner up to Tom Watson at Royal Aberdeen in 2005 which was also a valuable pay day of €153,000.

In 2007 Smyth added another second place at the British Senior Open and the Wentworth Masters but the total earnings from both could not match the US prize money.

As Philip Walton looks on to the dwindling prize money in these challenging times both sides the ocean PGA Q School might seem to make more financial sense. In fact he should look, no further than the man he beat at Oak Hill in 1995, Jay Hass, who since joining the Champions Tour in 2006 has made nearly US$10M.

Roll on USPGA Seniors Q School !