Australian Senior Golfer

RUSS COCHRAN has led an American clean sweep at the 2011 Senior British Open Championship.

The 52 year old upstaged some of his more illustrious counterparts to become only the second left-handed golfer after Sir Bob Charles to win the title.

Cochran saw off all-comers with a superb final round of 67 on a day of low scoring and high temperatures at Walton Heath Golf Club, in Surrey, to finish on 12 under par and prevail by two strokes from his compatriot Mark Calcavecchia.

The American duo of Corey Pavin and the evergreen Tom Watson finished a further stroke behind courtesy of respective rounds of 69 and 67.

England’s Barry Lane was the first European to break up the American party, finishing in fifth place place on eight under par.

Australia’s Peter Fowler finished tied for 7th on 6-under. Fowler birdied his final hole for a bogey-free 70 to compound his success this year on the senior golf tour.

Victorian Mike Harwood (74) will be ruing lost opportunities after his fine opening round 68. He finished tied for 23rd.

Peter Senior (T31, 74) will probably want to forget his weekend but can look on his second round 68 to help rebuild confidence.

Cochran is a former US PGA Tour champion, was tied third in last year’s Senior Open Championship at Carnoustie and was Rookie of the Year on the US Champions Tour in 2009.

“The mindset I had today really helped me, because I haven’t been finishing off tournaments well this year. I feel like I should’ve won a couple of times, so it was starting to prey on my mind a little bit. But last night I thought of how Tom Watson plays when he’s in contention, and I tried to adopt his positive attitude,” the American said.

“I was confident in my game all day, because I knew I’d been playing well. I was able to relax, and I got off to a good start by playing aggressively. After a few putts started to drop, my confidence just grew. It’s a wonderful feeling, and I really enjoy playing in Britain. I’ve always felt like my game is suited to the courses over here, and I enjoy meeting the challenge. I’ve always said my best chance of winning a Major was The Senior Open Championship, and I’m so glad I was proved right.”

The world senior golf action now moves to the Inverness Golf Club in Toledo, Ohio, for the 2011 US Senior Open Championship.

2011 Senior British Open Results

Peter Fowler

AUSTRALIA’S Peter Fowler is just two shots off the pace after carding a superb 4-under 68 in the second round of the 2011 Senior British Open at the Walton Heath Golf Club.

Fowler sits at five-under behind joint leaders Mark Calcavecchia (US, 69), his compatriot Lee Rinker (67) and Canadian Rod Spittle (67).

Fowler, who has two recent wins on the European Senior Tour and is second on the Order of Merit, is in fourth place.

“My body’s feeling much better than it has for a while, and I think that’s showing in my results,” the lanky Australian said.

“I had a few surgeries a couple of years ago on my back, so I did a lot of rehab, and I’m still doing it. The body feels good, and I think it’s helping my golf swing, because I’ve got to pay special attention to make sure that my body doesn’t move around too much.
“I played pretty well today. I started to loosen up a little more today than yesterday. I knew that if I drove the ball well, I wouldn’t get into too much trouble. And that’s what happened, so I was pretty happy.”
Calcavecchia’s is bidding to become only the fourth player to claim a British Open Championship-Senior Open Championship double. He would join Gary Player, Tom Watson and New Zealand’s Bob Charles in a very exclusive club.

“I don’t see why not, but there’s a long way to go. Like I said, I kind of held it together. I got a little sloppy on the back nine, but I’ll try to be more aware of it tomorrow,” said the American.

Watson, meanwhile, shot a superb round of 68 to rectify some of the damage done by his disappointing opening effort of 75.
He still believes he is in with a chance of victory on one under par, having hit 17 greens in regulation on Friday.
“I kept the ball in play and drove the ball beautifully. I wasn’t in any of the heather and any of the bunkers, so that’s your main aim here at Walton Heath,” said Watson.
“This heathland golf course is very exacting off the tee – if you make a few mistakes here, you’ll make some bogeys or worse.
“The putter is going to have to work this weekend for me to have a chance to win. I’m one under par for the tournament, so it looks like I’m going to have to make up some ground and the only way to do it is with your putter.”

Joint overnight leader Mike Harwood posted a disappointing 74 but at 2-under is still in the hunt.

Peter Senior reversed his poor first round 74 with a sparkling 69 to be in the red at 1-under.

Mike Harwood

WINNING memories have helped Australia’s Mike Harwood to a share of the lead after the first round of the 2011 Senior British Open.

Twenty years after winning the European Open at Walton Heath Golf Club, Harwood again showed his liking for the historic Surrey venue with an opening 4-under round of 68.
Harwood, currently seventh on the European Senior Tour Order of Merit, leads the championship alongside Irishman Mark McNulty and 1989 British Open winner Mark Calcavecchia of the US.

Harwood potted seven birdies in the first 15 holes to lead the field by two strokes but lost that leading margin with bogeys on the difficult 16th and 18th holes.

The 52 year old Victorian was nonetheless delighted with his performance on his return to the course which yielded the last of his five European Tour titles, before he swapped life on Tour for a career as a club professional back in Australia.
“I’ve got some great memories of this place. I’ve been thinking about this event since it was announced it was going to come here. So I got some good positive vibes, and I’m trying to feed off them,” Harwood said.
“I shot 65 on the last day to win the European Open, about five weeks after I’d finished second in The Open. I remember I was on the 16th green, watching the other guys playing the 14th. I looked over to my caddie and said: “These guys are dreaming”. I was at the pinnacle of my career at that particular moment on that green. And I went on to win by a couple of shots. I’ve always got that in the back of my mind. It’s great to be back here.”

A shot behind the leaders was South Africa’s David Frost and unheralded Scot Albert MacKenzie, while defending champion Bernhard Langer of Germany was one of seven players on two-under.

Pre-tournament favourite Tom Watson was singing the praises of his putting after his Open performance but on rain sodden day that skill seemed to desert him.

Three-time winner and eight-time major champion shot a 75 to lie seven shots off the pace.

Peter Fowler (71) finished on 1-under at T13 to be the next best placed Australian, while Peter Senior won’t be happy with this 2-over 74. Rodger Davis shot 76 while David Merriman and Wayne Smith each carded 78.

Watson turned back the clock at The Open

PETER SENIOR and Peter Fowler will be Australia’s top hopes going into the 2011 Senior British Open early Friday but they face a tough task wresting the title from tournament favourite Tom Watson.

The just turned 62 year old American gave something of a masterclass while battling atrocious conditions at The Open at Royal St George’s on the weekend and says he was invigorated by the experience.

Watson will vying for a record fourth Senior Open Championship at Walton Golf Club in Surrey.

““I feel fresh,” Watson said yesterday (Wednesday) “I took the day off today, just hit some balls and practiced my short game a little bit today.  But I played a practice round on Monday and played in the Pro?Am yesterday, but I feel as if I’ve got a pretty good handle on the golf course.

“The golf course is pretty straightforward, as far as knowing what to do. The bunkers and the heather are right there in front of you. They almost say, come here, come here, and you have to say no!”

Watson has fine-tuned his putting stroke in recent weeks and the eight-time Major Champion is delighted with the results.

“I putted well at The Open. That’s kind of a luxury for me to say that, because I had not been able to say that in a long time. That’s what gives me some excitement about coming here this week – the putter,” he said.

“I had not been able to say that for a long, long time, and so maybe, I hope this is not just a blip on the radar screen. I hope this is something that will last for a long time.”

The defending champion is Germany’s Bernhard Langer who is still recovering from surgery on an injured thumb (injured when pushing the button on a pedestrian crossing – once you turn 50 everything is out to get you!).

“Last week at The Open, it was pretty decent and it’s been about the same so far this week. My doctor’s with me and he’s given me physiotherapy every morning and every evening to try to get some movement back into it, and it definitely seems to be helping,” Langer said this week.

Whilst the 53 year old’s thumb might be causing him grief, no-one is doubting his mental strength.
Langer said: “The mental game is extremely important in golf. If you take two guys that have a similar technique and similar game of golf, the guy that is mentally stronger is always going to beat the other guy, every time. My mental strength has always been pretty good, and hopefully it can carry me through this week.”

Other big names in the field include Tom Lehman, coming off a very creditable T22 at The Open, Mark Cacavecchia, Tom Kite, Sandy Lyle, Mark O’Meara, Cory Pavin, Craig Stadler and Ian Woosnam.

Australian Starters

Australians in the field include Senior, Fowler, Mike Harwood, Wayne Grady, Rodger Davis, David Merriman, Noel Ratcliffe and Wayne Smith.

Fowler seems to have overcome the injury problems that have dogged his career and with two recent wins on the European Senior Tour is in fine form.

Senior has been going gangbusters on the US Champions Tour and the current Australian PGA Champion would just love to add the Senior Open title to his credits.

The Queenslander, who turns 52 next week, is currently sixth and eighth on the European and US senior orders of merit respectively.

Harwood has also been in good form and is seventh on the European order of merit after three top ten finishes during June.

Merriman has had two top 10 finishes in Europe this year and is 22nd on the OOM while Davis was 12th at the ISPS Handa Senior World Championship at Mission Hills in China back in March and has been really working on his fitness and game of late.

Grady commentated at The Open last week and sure displayed a lot of knowledge about the game but it will be crunch time this week and a matter of Gesta Non Verba (Deeds not Words).

2011 British Senior Open Australian Television Times

The Senior Open is being broadcast live on Fox Sports. Unfortuneatly it is in night owl territory with the only replays currently scheduled being the final round on Monday afternoon.

1st Round Friday 2am to 4am

2nd Round Saturday 1.30am to 4am

3rd Round Sunday 12.30am to 4am

4th Round Monday 12.30am to 4am; Replay 1.30pm to 3.30pm

GREG NORMAN was in the hunt until the final few holes of the British Senior Open before opening the way for American Loren Roberts to claim his second title.

It was oh so familiar territory for Norman, who went into the final round with a one stroke lead over Fred Funk and Roberts after a storming 64 on Saturday.

What can you say, Norman has led eight times after 54 holes in major championships – most recently last year’s Open at Royal Birkdale – but only once converted that into a victory, the 1986 Open at Turnberry.

“My game felt good, no question about it. I just lack a lot of match practice,” Norman said.

The Shark double bogeyed the 17th and ended with a one over par 71 at Sunningdale on Sunday to finish tied sixth on 271.

Roberts, half way leader Funk and Irishman Mark McNulty finished the four rounds locked on 12 under par at 268.

Funk was eliminated at the first extra hole when he could only make par while Roberts and McNulty both made birdies.
Roberts beat the Irishman on the third sudden death hole.

Roberts, who won at Turnberry in 2006 and now has a spot in the British Open at St Andrews next year, said the aspect of his game that pleased him most was his mental approach.

“I’ve been struggling mentally a little bit this year,” he said.

“I haven’t been hitting the ball as sharply or as good as I can. I didn’t give up mentally today. I didn’t let the mental side get me down when I fell behind early.

“I’ve been doing some physical things, making some adjustments here and there. At my age I don’t know if my body is changing a little bit. But I’ve been just trying to see if I can do a little better with what I have.”

Wayne Grady and the 63 year old Noel Ratcliffe tied for 32nd, Stewart Ginn was 68th and Graham Marsh 71st.

The Champions Tour now heads for Carmel in Indiana for this week’s US Senior Open.