Ryder Cup Captains set for Senior Open Championship

When the Senior Open Championship presented by MasterCard is contested at Carnoustie this July there will be nine Ryder Cup Captains in the field, including current US Captain Corey Pavin.

Corey Pavin will play at Carnoustie
Fergus Bisset
By Fergus Bisset
published

When the Senior Open Championship presented by MasterCard is contested at Carnoustie this July there will be nine Ryder Cup Captains in the field, including current US Captain Corey Pavin.

Pavin will become the first presiding Ryder Cup Captain to compete in a Senior Open Championship. He'll be joined by former US front men - the three Toms: Kite, Lehman and Watson.

Lehman will be among the favourites at Carnoustie after lifting his first senior Major at the 71st Senior PGA Championship this May, while Watson returns to the site of his first Open victory back in 1975.

The former European Captains who will tee it up on the famous Angus links are Sir Nick Faldo, Mark James, Bernhard Langer, Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam.

Torrance who is attached to the Fairmont St Andrews believes Carnoustie will be a great venue for the Championship.

"Carnoustie is one of the toughest courses around and will be a fantastic host," he said. "There's another great field with some magnificent players making their debuts."

Among those debutants is 1989 Open Champion Mark Calcavecchia. He's joined on the entry list by fellow Open winners Sandy Lyle and Mark O'Meara. Loren Roberts returns to defend the title he won at Sunningdale last year and aims to make it a record equalling third Senior Open victory.

David Hill, the R&A's Director of Championships, is confident of another excellent event at Carnoustie. "Carnoustie will provide a fantastic venue for the Senior Open Championship as it has for the Open Championship on seven occasions. I'm sure many thousands of spectators will flock to see these masters of the game taking on this most challenging course."

The Senior Open Championship will be contested the week after the Open Championship at St Andrews, from July 22-25. Tickets can be purchased at seniorgopengolf.com or by phoning 0800 023 2557

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly. 

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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