Australian Senior Golfer

Funk: "I love it too much."

AMERICA’S Fred Funk has fought back after three years of injury to win the US Champion Tour’s 2012 Insperity Championship in Texas.

The 55 year old birdied the final hole at The Woodlands Country Club to beat compatriot Tom Lehman by a stroke.

“I wasn’t sure whether I was going to have a career,” Funk said. “I’ve been really blessed with this opportunity to play again, and play at a high level. I didn’t want to give up yet. I love it too much.”

Funk developed a staph infection and had knee replacement surgery in 2009 and had two surgeries on his left thumb late last year.

Funk has a strong connection and obvious affection for the Woodlands course.

With his 16-year-old son Taylor carrying his bag, he birdied four of the last five holes to win on the same course where he won the 1992 Shell Houston Open.

That was the first of his eight victories on the regular PGA TOUR and he met his second wife, Sharon, at a post-tournament event the same year.

Sharon was the first person to run onto the green and hug him Sunday.

“It was a storybook-type week,” Funk said.

Australia’s Peter Senior staged his own mini-fightback on the weekend, improving from his opening 73 to post a 70 and then a final round 68. That was enough for a tournament total of 5-under and a share of 13th place.

Button Button

Senior moves to 5th on the Champions Tour points table

Allen began the day with a tour record equalling five shot lead but dropped a few shots early to bring a clutch of other golfers into play.

“There was a little flutter of hope when he dropped a couple early, but he put that to rest pretty quick,” Senior said.

Allen fought back to close with a 3-under 68 for a three stroke victory over Kenny Penny (65) alone in second place on 9-under while Senior (67) was outright third on 7-under.

“It’s been a long time since I beat these guys,” Allen said. “I haven’t beat them very often. It’s very nice to get on 18 and finally go, ‘man, I got them all.’”

Allen won the 2009 Senior PGA Championship but hadn’t cracked it in 40 Champions Tour events since.

“To be honest, I’ve played a lot of really good golf out here and I knew it was going to come again soon,” Allen said.

He finished at 12-under after tying the tournament record for the largest 36-hole margin.

“I’ve never had a five-shot lead,” Allen said. “Fuzzy (Zoeller) told me to play like I was broke, so I tried to do that. You never quite know what you really have to do until it’s over.”

Allen bogeyed Nos. 3 and 4 at TPC Tampa Bay to cut his lead to one, but rebounded with birdies on two of the next three holes. He extended his advantage to four shots with birdies on 12 and 14.

While Allen has had four top-three finishes in six events this year it was Senior’s third top 10 in five starts.

The 52 year old Australian earned US$115,000 for his placing today and moved to outright 5th on the season long Charles Schwab Cup points table.

The US Champions Tour moves to Georgia this week for the 2012 Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf tournament at the Savannah Harbor Golf Resort.

2012 Encompass Insurance Pro-Am Final Leaderboard

PETER SENIOR will have another crack at his maiden US Champions Tour victory when the over 50’s juggernaut rolls into Tampa Bay this week for the 2012 Encompass Insurance Pro-Am.

Senior is Australia’s sole representative in the event which will again feature a high class field of well-known names.

John Cook is the defending champion in a field bristling with major winners including Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Bernhard Langer, Larry Nelson, Nick Price, Curtis Strange and Tom Watson.

The tournament will feature the Champions Tour debut of three-time PGA Tour winner Kirk Triplett.

Triplett became the oldest ever winner on the Nationwide Tour when he won the 2011 News Sentinel Open aged 49 years, 4 months, 25 days.

He’ll be itching to become just the sixth player to win on all three tours.

“I come to every tournament to try and win it,” Triplett said this week, while knowing full well he is not the biggest name in a field full of names from his past.

“My wife texted me and I said, this is really weird,” Triplett said. “It’s like being in a time machine.”

He’s hoping to have more success than he did on the regular tour.

“I had a few wins on Tour but it’s not like I was a world beater or anything,” Triplett said. “I was just a nice, consistent player. I’m looking to build on that and hopefully break through some barriers that I couldn’t break through on the regular tour.

“But these guys were beating me 20 years ago so I’ll have to do something different or it’s going to turn out the same way.”

The event, at the TPC Tampa Bay in Florida, is being telecast in Australia on Fox Sports with selected live coverage in the wee small hours and later replays.

Champions Tour 2012 Encompass Insurance Pro-Am Leaderboard

Champions Tour 2012 Encompass Insurance Pro-Am Leaderboard

FRED COUPLES might be a man on a mission after winning his seventh US Champions Tour title today.

The 52-year-old made a birdie putt on the final hole to win the 2012 Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic by one stroke over Michael Allen.

Couples shot a course record 9-under 63 in the first round and finished the third and final round with a 3-under 69 to be 14-under for the tournament.

Couples will switch back to the regular tour this week for the Shell Houston Open and then the US Masters the following week.

He’s no slouch at that event of course, winning the green jacket in 1992 and having 10 career top tens.

Importantly, he’s had two top 15 finishes in the last two years and with his troublesome back seemingly in good order, could give the tournament a real shake.

“I want to go into (the Masters) after winning a tournament like this feeling some confidence and I did get a lot today,” Couples said.

“I hit a lot of good shots. I would say I’ve got a lot to work on, but if I can drive it like that, the course will be easier.”

As he added later: “The bottom line is, you get a lot of chances to win if you play well.”

Couples earned US$240,000 for the win with Allen’s 66 putting him alone in second place while joint overnight leader Jeff Sluman (73) faded to finish tied for third on 10-under with Tom Pernice Jr. (69).

Senior finishes 10th

Australia’s Peter Senior was looking good in the earlier rounds, opening with a 5-under 67 and actually taking the outright lead midway through his second round.

He had a superb stretch with four birdies on the final nine holes of the first round and then continued with another five in the first ten holes of the second round but then bogeyed 11, 16 and 17.

He began the final round in seventh position but had bogeys on 4 and 10 with a lone birdie on 13.

Still, his 1-over final round 73 was enough to finish the tournament at 6-under, alone in 10th spot. Another top ten to join the ever growing list.

2012 Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic Final Leaderboard

LOREN ROBERTS sunk a five foot birdie putt on the final hole of the 2012 Toshiba Classic today to take his first US Champions Tour victory in almost two years.

The putt gave him a final round 69 and a two shot lead over Mark Calcavecchia, Tom Kite and Bernhard Langer.

The 56 year old had made bogeys on three of the previous four holes and looked like blowing the buffer he had built up over the field at the Newport Beach Country Club in California.

“We did make it interesting,” Roberts said after finishing on 8-under. “We got off to the start you dream of doing, but hit a snag on the back.”

Roberts had begun the day two strokes behind Calcavecchia but made birdies on three of his first four holes.

“I kind of let everybody in the game,” Roberts said. “I got out of rhythm. I didn’t hit bad putts. The only bad putt I hit was on 12.”

Roberts now has 13 Champions Tour wins to add to his eight PGA Tour victories.

Australia’s Peter Senior (72) got his final round off to a good start with a birdie on the 1st but a double bogey on the par three 4th and further bogeys on 7 and 8 certainly slowed his momentum. He made another good start to the back nine with birdies on 11 and 12 and more on 15 and 18 but they were offset by bogeys on 13 and 17.

He finished on three over for the 54 holes tied for 43rd position, his worst finish on the tour for some time.

The Champions Tour moves to Mississippi this week for the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in Fallen Oak, Biloxi, where Tom Lehman is the defending champion.

THE 2012 US Champions Tour is back in action this week with the Toshiba Classic being fought out over 54 holes at the Newport Beach Golf Club in California.

Australia’s sole representative is the evergreen Peter Senior who one of these days will be holding aloft his maiden Champions Tour title.

Standing in his way this weekend in the US$1,750,000 event are a host of the usual suspects including defending champion Nick Price, 2012 champion Fred Couples, Jay Haas, Corey Pavin, Germany’s Bernhard Langer, Tom Lehman and Brad Faxon.

Senior has played just two of the three events on the tour this year with a 2nd placing and a top 10, putting him 9th on the season long Charles Schwab points table.

Toshiba Classic highlights are being telecast in Australia on Fox Sports: Round 1, Saturday 11.30am – 12.30pm; Round 2, Sunday 11.30 – 1pm; Final Round, Monday Midday – 1.30pm.

2012 Champions Tour Toshiba Classic Leaderboard

PETER SENIOR has begun his 2012 US Champions Tour campaign in familiar territory – again just a whisker away from his first win.

The 52-year-old sunk a birdie putt on the 18th hole to force a playoff against Corey Pavin at the 2012 Allianz Championship at Broken Sound Golf Club in Florida but couldn’t match it the second time around.

“I putted awful all day,” Senior said. “I was happy to make the last one to get into the playoff, but I don’t think I’ve ever left so many putts short in my life.”

Pavin too was shooting for his maiden Champions Tour win and hadn’t tasted success anywhere in more than five years, dating back to the 2006 U.S. Bank Championship of Milwaukee, a stretch of 122 tournaments. This was his 35th start on the Champions Tour.

“It’s been a long time,” Pain said. “But I’m always more comfortable trying to win a tournament than trying to finish fifth or sixth.”

Whilst it was the 12 foot birdie putt he rolled in on the first playoff hole that won him the tournament, his left-handed chip from inside some sort of drain beside the 14th tee will be long remembered.

“That was a once-in-a-lifetime shot,” Pavin said. “I can’t think of a better up-and-down I’ve had in my career. It’s not like I practice turning 8-irons over and hit them left-handed. When that happens, you think you’re going to win, but I had to get that thought out of my head.”

Pavin and Senior both shot a final-round 71s to finish tied at 11-under in regulation.

Senior had three runner-up finishes in 2011, including two play-off losses. As we’ve said many times more than once before, that first win can’t be far off.

PETER SENIOR will have his first hit out of the 2012 US Champions Tour this week at the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Florida.

The 52-year-old Australian has had two great seasons on the tour but is still chasing that elusive first win.

Senior will be hoping this is the year and he can’t go much closer than last year when he had three runner-up finishes (including two play-offs) and 12 top 10 results in 22 starts.

He will be facing most of the usual suspects – minus Fred Couples who is in Dubai competing in the Desert Classic – when he takes to the Old Course in Broken Sound on Friday morning local time.

Senior has been earning greater and greater respect the longer he has spent on the Champions Tour.

The official tour website previewed him thus recently:

“Peter Senior earned high marks in his second full Champions Tour season for doggedness. He never stopped contending. The coveted first Champions Tour victory remained elusive but not for lack of trying.

Senior finished second three times, twice losing playoffs, and had 12 top 10 finishes in 22 tournaments. In the process, he nearly doubled his rookie season earnings. His $1,434,119 total was the third most in a season without a victory. Senior achieved a unique distinction on the Champions Tour, becoming the first player to have two bogey-free events in the same season.

Another key accomplishment for Senior: He finished in the top 10 in four of the Champions Tour’s five majors.”

2012 Allianz Championship Australian Television Times

The championship is being televised on Fox Sports:

1st Round, Saturday 11am – 12.30pm; 2nd Round, Sunday 11am – 1.30pm; Final Round, Monday 11am – 1pm.

PETER SENIOR has finished third in the US Champion Tour’s season long Charles Schwab Cup picking up a cool US$300,000 in the process.

Senior concluded his 2011 US campaign on a high shooting an equal best final found 68 in the end of season championship to maintain his standing behind the Cup winner Tom Lehman and runner-up Mark Calcavecchia.

Senior will return to Australia after a superb second year on the lucrative over 50’s Champions Tour circuit. In 22 starts he had three second placings, one 3rd placing, 12 top 10’s and 17 top 25’s to net himself US$1,434,119 in prize money.

The only thing obviously missing for the 51 year old was a win. He went so close on a number of occasions and that can’t be far off.

On Sunday his 3-under par 68 wasn’t enough to overcome a crippling second round 76 but he still finished alone in 17th spot 1-over for the tournament.

American Jay Don Blake won the 2011 Charles Schwab Cup Championship event at San Francisco’s TPC Harding Park. It was his second victory of the season following a 20-year drought.

Lehman took the US$1 million annuity for winning the season points title. Blake closed with an even-par 71 for a two-stroke victory, finishing at 8-under for the tournament.

Mark Calcavecchia (69), Loren Roberts (70), Michael Allen (71) and Jay Haas (71) tied for second.

Lehman shot a 72 to tie for 18th at 2 over, enough to hold off Calcavecchia by 74 points. Calcavecchia needed to finish no worse than a tie for second with one other player to have a chance to overtake Lehman.

Senior will be back in Australia no doubt with a spring in his step to, among other events, defend his title at the Australian PGA Championship at Coolum.

Senior will be teeing it up this week at the Australian Open with fellow Champions Tour players Fred Couples and John Cook.

PETER SENIOR is just three shots off the pace after the first round of the season ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship on the 2011US Champions Tour.

Senior went into the championship at the TPC Harding Park in San Francisco in third place in the year-long points tally and still has a big chance of sharing in some of the riches available  on the over 50 tour this weekend.

Leading after a wet and windy first round were US Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples and his assistant captain Jay Haas on three under.

The Charles Schwab points leader Tom Lehman was tied for 5th on 1-under while Senior had three birdies and three bogies to finish even.

Much like the Fedex Cup, there are all sorts of mathematical combinations of who needs to finish where to win what.

As well as the $US440,000 purse available for the winner this weekend there is also a bonus $1 million for winning the cup. The cup runner up will earn US$500,000, third place US$300,000, 4th place US$200,000 and 5th US$100,000.

To scoop the pool and return home to Australia next week a very happy and richer man, Senior needs to have his first ever win on the tour and have Lehman in a two way tie for 4th or worse.

Others still in contention include Mark Calcavecchia, John Cook and Russ Cochran.

Couples is probably getting heartily sick of being continually asked why he picked Tiger Woods in his Presidents Cup team but the success of his German back treatments seem to be keeping him mostly happy.

“In my mind some of it’s very serious and some of it is comical because it just keeps going,” said Couples, who guaranteed Woods a spot weeks before his captain’s picks were due.

“We have 11 other guys on the team. But it seems like it’s all about Tiger. I’ve picked him and we’ll wait until we get to Australia and we’ll see how he plays.”

Unfortunately, for some reason there seems to be no live or even timely delayed coverage of this event on Fox Sport in Australia.