Senior Open Championship

The Senior Open Championship
Tournament information
Location  United Kingdom
Varies
Established 1987, 29 years ago
Course(s) Carnoustie Golf Links,
Carnoustie, Scotland
(2016)
Par 72
Length 7,345 yards (6,716 m)
Tour(s) European Seniors Tour
PGA Tour Champions
Format Stroke play
Prize fund 1.25 million
$2.68 million
Month played July
Tournament record score
Aggregate 263 Tom Watson (2003)
To par −18 Bernhard Langer (2014)
Current champion
England Paul Broadhurst
Carnoustie
Location in Scotland

The Senior Open Championship, or simply The Senior Open (and originally known as the Senior British Open) is a professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and over. It is run by The R&A, the same body that organises The Open Championship, and is usually held the week following The Open Championship. Prize money won in the event is official money on both PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and Champions Tour) and the European Seniors Tour. The purse, which is fixed in United States dollars, was $2 million in 2011, with a winner's share of $315,600.[1] For sponsorship reasons, it is currently known as The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex.

The tournament was first held 29 years ago in 1987 and became part of the European Seniors Tour schedule in 1992. In late 2002 it was designated as the fifth major championship on the Champions Tour schedule.[2] All winners before 2003 were not retroactively designated as Champions Tour major winners.[3] Winners gain entry into the following season's Open Championship.

On 2 February 2016, it was announced that the 2018 Senior Open would be held at St Andrews for the first time in the tournament's history, a decision which was heavily influenced by five-time Open champion Tom Watson.[4]

The field

The standard field size is 144 players and an 18-hole qualifying round is held at the championship course on the Monday before the tournament, with a minimum of 24 places available. If fewer than 120 exempt players (see below) enter, the field is filled to 144 with more high finishers from qualifying. If more than 120 exempt players enter, the top 24 finishers earn entry even if it causes the field to expand beyond 144. If an exempt player withdraws before the start of the tournament, his place is filled by an alternate who participated in the qualifying round.[5]

Currently, the following players are exempt from qualifying for The Senior Open, provided they are 50 years old as of the opening day of the tournament. Amateur categories require that the player is still an amateur on the opening day of the tournament.[5]

Winners

YearWinnerCountryVenueScoreMargin
of victory
Runner(s)-up
The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex
2016 Paul Broadhurst  England Carnoustie 277 (−11) 2 strokes United States Scott McCarron
2015 Marco Dawson  United States Sunningdale 264 (−16) 1 stroke Germany Bernhard Langer
2014 Bernhard Langer (2)  Germany Royal Porthcawl 266 (−18) 13 strokes Scotland Colin Montgomerie
2013 Mark Wiebe  United States Royal Birkdale 271 (−9) Playoff Germany Bernhard Langer
The Senior Open Championship
2012 Fred Couples  United States Turnberry 271 (−9) 2 strokes United States Gary Hallberg
2011 Russ Cochran  United States Walton Heath 276 (−12) 2 strokes United States Mark Calcavecchia
The Senior Open Championship presented by MasterCard
2010 Bernhard Langer  Germany Carnoustie 279 (−5) 1 stroke United States Corey Pavin
2009 Loren Roberts (2)  United States Sunningdale 268 (−12) Playoff United States Fred Funk
South Africa Mark McNulty
2008 Bruce Vaughan  United States Royal Troon 278 (−6) Playoff United States John Cook
The Senior Open Championship presented by Aberdeen Asset Management
2007 Tom Watson (3)  United States Muirfield 284 (E) 1 stroke Australia Stewart Ginn
United States Mark O'Meara
The Senior British Open Championship presented by Aberdeen Asset Management
2006 Loren Roberts  United States Turnberry 274 (−6) Playoff Argentina Eduardo Romero
2005 Tom Watson (2)  United States Royal Aberdeen 280 (−4) Playoff Republic of Ireland Des Smyth
The Senior British Open Championship presented by MasterCard
2004 Pete Oakley  United States Royal Portrush 284 (−4) 1 stroke United States Tom Kite
Argentina Eduardo Romero
Senior British Open presented by MasterCard
2003 Tom Watson  United States Turnberry 263 (−17) Playoff England Carl Mason
2002 Noboru Sugai  Japan Royal County Down 281 (−3) 2 strokes Canada John Irwin
2001 Ian Stanley  Australia Royal County Down 278 (−6) Playoff New Zealand Bob Charles
2000 Christy O'Connor Jnr (2)  Ireland Royal County Down 275 (−9) 2 strokes South Africa John Bland
Senior British Open
1999 Christy O'Connor Jnr  Ireland Royal Portrush 282 (−6) 3 strokes South Africa John Bland
1998 Brian Huggett  Wales Royal Portrush 283 (−5) Playoff Northern Ireland Eddie Polland
1997 Gary Player (3)  South Africa Royal Portrush 278 (−10) Playoff South Africa John Bland
1996 Brian Barnes (2)  Scotland Royal Portrush 277 (−11) 3 strokes New Zealand Bob Charles
United States David Oakley
1995 Brian Barnes  Scotland Royal Portrush 281 (−7) Playoff United States Bob Murphy
1994 Tom Wargo  United States Royal Lytham 280 (−8) 2 strokes New Zealand Bob Charles
United States Doug Dalziel
1993 Bob Charles (2)  New Zealand Royal Lytham 291 (+7) 1 stroke England Tommy Horton
South Africa Gary Player
1992 John Fourie  South Africa Royal Lytham 282 (−2) 3 strokes New Zealand Bob Charles
England Neil Coles
1991 Bobby Verwey  South Africa Royal Lytham 285 (+1) 1 stroke New Zealand Bob Charles
England Tommy Horton
Volvo Seniors British Open
1990 Gary Player (2)  South Africa Turnberry 280 (E) 1 stroke United States Deane Beman
England Brian Waites
1989 Bob Charles  New Zealand Turnberry 269 (−11) 7 strokes United States Billy Casper
1988 Gary Player  South Africa Turnberry 272 (−8) 1 stroke United States Billy Casper
Seniors British Open
1987 Neil Coles  England Turnberry 279 (−1) 1 stroke New Zealand Bob Charles

Multiple winners

The following men have had more than one win in the Senior British Open Championship through the 2016 tournament:

Winners of both the Open and Senior Open

The following men have won both the Open and the Senior Open, the professional majors run by the R&A.

Player Open Senior Open
South Africa Gary Player 1959, 1968, 1974 1988, 1990, 1997
New Zealand Bob Charles 1963 1989, 1993
United States Tom Watson 1975, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983 2003, 2005, 2007

Future venues

YearCourseTownCountyCountryDates
2017 Royal Porthcawl Golf Club Porthcawl Bridgend Wales 27–30 July
2018 Old Course at St Andrews St Andrews Fife Scotland 26–29 July

Source:[6][7]

References

  1. "Senior Open Championship: results". PGA Tour. 24 July 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  2. Senior British Open now a Major
  3. Senior British Open elevated to Senior Major
  4. Inglis, Martin (3 February 2016). "Tom Watson plays key role as Senior Open heads to St Andrews". bunkered.
  5. 1 2 "The Senior Open Championship 2010 – Entry Form" (PDF). PGA European Tour. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  6. "Senior Open returns to Sunningdale and Carnoustie". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  7. "Senior Open Championship to return to Royal Porthcawl in 2017". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 26 November 2014.

Coordinates: 56°29′49″N 2°43′01″W / 56.497°N 2.717°W / 56.497; -2.717

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.