Golf Update: Tom Watson aims to win the 2010 Senior Golf Tournament at Carnoustie
Tom Watson who said goodbye to St Andrews in the open championship will be playing for the British senior open championship of £205,000 top prize.
The 2010 Senior Open Championship will be taking place at Carnoustie, where Loren Roberts will defend his title. Loren Roberts, the American who won this title last year at Sunningdale, admired the condition of the course and said that they could not get any better.
The Championship is recognized as one of golf’s five Seniors Majors.
Americans have ruled the tournament since 2003, when it was added to the US Champions Tour schedule as the past seven winners are Americans. Mark McNulty, the former Zimbabwean who now is an Irish was very close of breaking this monopoly at Sunningdale last year, but he lost in a play off to Loren Roberts another American.
Carnoustie Augus is to host this year’s event. The history says that around 300 Carnoustie golfers immigrated to the United States in the 20th century to take up positions at American clubs. Another interesting fact says that half of the members of US Professional Golfers Association were Carnoustie’s residents.
Despite this fact, Carnoustie does not mind a bit if Tom Watson the winner of championships at Turnberry, Muirfield and Carnoustie, sweeps away the tournament that is being held on the Sunday evening. Tom Watson went into nostalgia yesterday when memories of his first open championship which he played 35 years back in the same venue came flooding him. Tom Watson has aged but the daunting 7297 yards of the course has not changed and has no respect for the senior citizens.
Tom Watson who missed a cut at St Andrews exited from the home of golf with dignity. A year before in 2009 he lifted a cup at Turnberry and yet again he is determined to compete the flaunting course of Carnoustie. Despite the fact, finishing at par in the four rounds of the tournament will be a huge task for the 50+ year olds.
Carnoustie is a tough challenge, Tom Watson will tee off with Bernhard Langer, David Frost and Corey Pavin.
The prospect of that “treble double” other than tackling the course, alongside with playing partners Bernhard Langer and David Frost will be the key concern for the 60 year old. For the new players, this course might be a problem but with players like Tom, who know how to join threads in difficult conditions, it won’t matter.
Tom Watson defeated Australian Jack Newton, in a play-off, but what happened at Monifieth still remains in the memory of the player. In Monifieth, Tom Watson smashed a straight shot in the middle of the green by the sea side but that ball because of its inaccurate distance landed in the bunker. Tom’s game plan is to keep the ball out of the bunker the way it was in Monifieth. However, the length of the course is a very crucial issue. Length has been added to the course which is a big task for the old folks.
Despite the only disadvantage of length, it is a growing belief that seniors can still win a regular major after the late 50s. Tom Lehman, Mark Calcavecchia, Peter Senior and Tom Pernice made the cut at St Andrews.
The only reason behind this confidence is because of the senior golf tours. In the past when a player turned 50, their career ended, all they could do was take a job at a golf shop somewhere and watch other young players play.
There are 13 Scottish players in the tournament out of 144.Sandy Lyle and Sam Torrance, who was fourth last year at Sunningdale, are heading the players but it could be a newly turned senior Andrew Oldcorn, who flies the Saltire. Andrew Oldcorn has made a spectacular start with his 50+ by finishing eighth in the US Senior PGA Championship.
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