Australian Senior Golfer

Olin Browne wins the 2011 US Senior Open

AMERICAN golfer Olin Browne has realised a long held dream by winning his first golf major at the ripe old age of 52.

As a youngster with big ambitions and not so much game, Browne used to go to a local par-3 course with his then girlfriend Pam and imagine what it would be like to win a national championship.

Now he has captured the biggest victory of his life, holding off double-major winner Mark O’Meara to win the 2011 US Senior Open by three strokes.

“This goes back a long way for us,” Browne said of the aspirations he and now wife Pam had first considered some 30 years ago.

When Browne rolled in a 30 foot birdie putt on the last to applause from the large crowd at the Inverness Golf Club in Toledo, Ohio, it was his first win in 141 consecutive tournaments – since the 2005 Deutsche Bank.

His even-par 71 followed rounds of 64, 69 and 65 and left him at 15-under 269.

Browne said he struggled with nerves on the front side, but still was able to sidestep any gaffes. He had made 15 birdies and two eagles to blitz the field and take a two-stroke lead into the final round. But in the last 18 holes, he played within himself and was content to craft pars while everyone else tried to catch him.

O’Meara (72, 12-under), winner of the 1998 Masters and British Open, caught up but couldn’t hang on.

“This is a huge victory for him,” O’Meara said. “I know it’s his first win out here on the Champions Tour. It’s a major championship. You look at the leaderboard, there’s a lot of quality players up there at the top of the leaderboard. I think Olin should be very proud of himself.”

Mark Calcavecchia finished alone in third place with a closing 69 putting him at 11-under, while Hale Irwin (68) and Joey Sindelar (70) finished tied for fourth on 10 under.

Peter Senior comes home in outright 6th

Australia’s Peter Senior finished at 9-under in outright sixth. Senior had a huge tournament and received loads of exposure but will probably be ruing what might have been.

The 52 year old Queenslander took the outright lead briefly midway through his first round and the opportunity was there for the taking.

He finished with his worst scoring round of the tournament, an even par 71 comprised of four birdies and four bogeys. His first three rounds were 69, 67 and 68.

Peter Senior captured the early outright lead with a string of birdies...he'll be hoping to get that putter back on track

TWO eagles helped Olin Browne to a two stroke lead after the first round of the 2011 US Senior Open at the Inverness Golf Club in Toledo, Ohio.

The American golfer is a three time US PGA Tour winner and had four birdies, two eagles and a bogey in his 7-under round of 64.

Playing late in oppressively hot conditions, Browne was two clear of early leaders and fellow countrymen Mark O’Meara and Michael Allen, who each shot bogey-free 66s.

Australian Peter Senior made a spectacular early run with six birdies to take the outright lead on the 10th with 6-under. This included four consecutive birdies on 7, 8, 9 and 10.

However, he immediately failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker on 11 and there were three more bogeys to compound the issue, including on the last.

The Australian PGA Champion finished with a 69, to be 2-under and tied for 15th.

Senior’s putter was on fire early and he will be hoping to loosen up and repeat that form in the coming rounds.

The only other Australian in the field is Graham Marsh who finished with a 3-over 74.

Former US Open champion Steve Jones, Zach Johnson’s caddie Damon Green (Am) and Mark Wiebe were on the third rung of the leaderboard on 4-under.

Other notables still well in contention include Corey Pavin, Mark Calcavecchia, Jeff Sluman, Tommy Armour 111 and Steve Pate on 3-under and Hale Irwin on 2-under with Senior.

Australian TV Times

The 2011 US Senior Open is being broadcast live on Fox Sports with first round highlights replayed on Friday at 8pm to 9.30pm.

2nd Round: Live Saturday 5am to 9am; 3rd Round: Live Sunday 5am to 8am. Final Round: Live Monday 5am to 8am.

BERNHARD LANGER has taken his second straight Champions Tour Major with a resounding victory in the 2010 U.S. Senior Open at the Sahalee Country Club in Washington.

The German shot a bogey-free 3-under 67 on Sunday to back up his win at the British Senior Open last week.

Australia’s Peter Senior also put in an heroic back to back effort, coming home tied for 6th place after his 3rd placing at Carnoustie.

Emulating a double senior Major victory by Tom Watson in 2003, Langer not only had to battle the tough, tree lined Sahalee course, but also a partisan crowd that was rooting hard for hometown hero Fred Couples as they faced off over the final round.

Finishing at 8 under for the tournament, Langer fought off jet lag and had to tune out crowded galleries hoping Couples could pull out victory just 20 miles east of where he grew up.

“It’s never much fun, but I’ve had it before. When you play in the same group with Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer or any of the big names in America, certainly the Ryder Cups, I’ve played 10 Ryder Cups, five on American soil, you get a lot more of this,” Langer said. “So I knew what was coming, which doesn’t make it any easier.”

While Langer could take extra satisfaction in overcoming the towering trees of Sahalee and the partisan crowd, Couples – who sat out the British Major tour leg – was again left disappointed after vying for a major championship at home.

At the 1998 PGA Championship at Sahalee, Couples stumbled through the first round and finished tied for 13th.

This time, he put himself in prime position for his first major title on the Champions Tour taking the lead with a birdie on the first hole of the final round.

But then he had a disaster triple bogey on the par 5 second, one of the easiest holes all week.

“When I birdied the first hole, that was what I thought I needed to get going,” Couples said. “And then about 12 minutes later I was looking for a hole to crawl in.”

Playing immaculate golf, Langer went without a bogey in 44 of his final 45 holes.

“I never had the tee,” Couples said. “He was up first all day. He hit it down the middle of every fairway. As I told him, he played eight great rounds to play the British Seniors and this without really a poor round of golf, which is tough to do.”

Senior shot a two under par 68 on Saturday and his final round 71 saw him finish one stroke behind Watson, alone at 5th place on I over for the tournament.

PETER SENIOR has arrived at the scene of the 2010 US Senior Open Championship brimming with confidence following his third placing at the Senior British Open.

The veteran Aussie golfer believes the tight, tree lined Sahalee Country Club course in Seattle, Washington, will suit his game.

The tournament gets underway Friday AEST with Fox Sports coverage beginning from 7am to 11am.

‘It’s not often you get to play in three consecutive Major Championships so putting the fatigue aside I’m excited to be here after flying in from the UK last night,” Senior said in his player blog this week.

“My game has been pretty consistent all year and I am finally starting to believe I can compete with these guys.”

“Tee to green has been solid but my putting has let me down at various times. Although on Sunday I putted super at Carnoustie and hope this might be the start to some good scoring.”

“The course this week is heavily tree lined and very narrow. The shorter hitters will have a big advantage. I think the course will suit me as I’m driving the ball well, but as we all know this game is full of surprises.”

Senior will be facing stiff competition in his bid for his first US senior tour win – beginning with British Senior Open Champion Bernhard Langer.

Langer, winner on ten occasions on the Champions Tour since turning 50, will be out to become the first player to win consecutive senior majors since Tom Watson in 2003.

“It won’t be easy to win back-to-back senior majors but I will give it my best shot,” the 52 year-old German, who has finished T6 and T22 in his last attempts at the title, said.

“Obviously I will take some good confidence and form over there but it’s going to be a tough golf course so we’ll have to see.”

Defending champion is American Fred Funk who was the runaway winner 12 months ago at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Indiana. Funk fired a closing round 65 to win the US Senior Open by six shots from Joey Sindelar.

Another clear threat is the US Champions Tour rookie standout Fred Couples.

Couples has had three victories on the tour this year and last week chose to rest up his golfing loafers – and his back – and sat out the Senior British Open.

“It’s a tough course,” Couples said this week. “For four days to play a course like this and do well is going to take a lot from the best players, and that will be the guy who wins, for sure.”

Other contenders include the likes of Tom Lehman, Corey Pavin, Mark Calcavecchia, Loren Roberts, Larry Mize, Tom Kite, Mark O’Meara, Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw and David Frost.

The only one other Australian in the field is 1997 champion Graham Marsh.

Australian Fox Sports Coverage is from 7am to 11am (AEST) for the first two rounds Friday and Saturday, 6am to 9am for the final rounds Sunday Monday.

Live Leaderboard

GREG NORMAN has been well and truly Funked in his latest attempt to win a major senior golf title.

Playing in the final group at the US Senior Open, Norman watched fellow competitor Fred Funk play superb golf to take the tournament by six strokes.

At the aptly named (for some) Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana, Norman again faded in the final round of a major championship, struggling to a one over par 73.

He started the day just one shot off the pace but had to settle for fourth place tied with Senior British Open winner Loren Roberts, who closed with a 64.

It was a triumph for the 53 year old Funk, whose final round seven under 65 gave him a tournament record 20-under total.

“It’s something I really didn’t fathom happening, but the biggest thing is just getting my name on that trophy,” Funk, who lost a playoff with Roberts for the Senior British Open last week, said.

It was his second senior major and goes in the cupboard with eight PGA Tour wins and five Champions Tour victories.

Funk commented later he thought Norman lost some confidence on the 6th, when the two time Open Champion found water off the tee on the way to a double-bogey.
“Just momentum, it wasn’t my day,” Norman said of his round.

“No matter what I did it seemed, it was the wrong thing.”

“Freddy played great today and I played poor. He deserves to win, when you shoot seven-under, that’s very, very impressive.”
Funk said Norman didn’t seem to be quite on his game.

“He just didn’t have control of the golf ball like he did yesterday,” Funk said.
“He didn’t drive quite as good and got himself into a little bit of trouble. And a couple of his good shots didn’t turn out good and it started eating at him a little bit.

“And he is seeing me a couple of times, and I think it gets irritating when your playing partner hits a couple of scruffies and ends up making pars on the holes and it can eat at you pretty good.

“It started going down when he hit a good shot on six and hit that tree and went in the water. It wasn’t that bad of a shot, and you don’t think that tree is going to come into play and it did.”

American Joey Sindelar (70) finished second at 14 under, Russ Cochran (68) was 12 under, and Roberts and Norman followed at 11 under.
British Open runner up Tom Watson, who has been hampered by injury, shot an even par final round to finish at two over and tied for 43rd.

We were hoping to be proved wrong but unfortunately not:

Norman leads the US Senior Open, but don’t hock the silverware just yet