The Senior Open Golf 2013 - Liverpool Echo supplement

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Golf’s golden generation is set for showdown in dunes

COUPLES

● Why I love the best of British challenge

BATTLE ROYAL

WATSON

● How I’ll use the risk factor PLUS . . . Ian Woosnam, Colin Montgomerie and Mark O’Meara interviews

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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

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Stars who mastered Augusta delighted to be back

Hunger to win still as strong as when I was in my twenties MARK O’MEARA returns to his favourite links course this week – the scene of one of his greatest triumphs – with the same steely determination that served him so well 15 years ago.

The 56 year-old American joins a historic line-up of Major winners in the field for The Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex at Royal Birkdale.

It was on the Southport coastline that O’Meara lifted the Claret Jug in 1998, defeating fellow countryman Brian Watts in a play-off.

It was the second Major of his career after he had pulled on the green jacket as winner of the US Masters earlier that year.

But while the hair may be a tad greyer, the hunger for success is as fierce as ever.

“I still want to win as badly as when I was 28,” he said. “I’m 56 now and I feel like I hit it as good as I did when I was winning Major Championships in 1998. That’s what makes golf so special – that at 56 years you can still be competing.

“You have seen what Tom Watson has done and there are a lot of guys play at a high level. You have Bernhard Langer, Tom Lehman, Fred Couples and Colin Montgomerie has turned 50.

HAPPY RETURN: Mark O’Meara rates Royal Birkdale among his favourite courses “It is pretty cool that at our age you can still be playing the game we love and making a living out of it.

“Colin turning 50 will create an extra buzz. A lot of the names people grew up watching are now playing in The Senior Open, and so it has a great fit for the game of golf.”

O’Meara has other reasons to fondly recall the Birkdale links after winning his first European title – the Lawrence Batley International in 1987 – as well as sharing third place with Fred Couples in the 1991 Open at the same venue, when he finished three shots back from winner Ian Baker-Finch and one behind runner-up Mike Harwood.

“I have great memories of Birkdale,” he said. “So many great things have happened to me there – in 1987 holing two seven irons on the back nine to win the Lawrence Batley, holding off Carl Mason and a couple of the other boys, Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam.

“And coming back in 1998 as the Masters Champions and playing well in tough conditions, hanging in there.”

Couples: Why I Defending champ reveals why he will feel right at home on Birkdale course

F

OR an all-American hero like Fred Couples it will come as no surprise that the moment he slipped on the famous Green Jacket as the 1992 US Masters champion at Augusta ranks as his number one golfing moment.

What might be less obvious is that the event that lies closest to his heart can be found thousands of miles away on the other side of the Atlantic.

Couples has been a regular visitor to these shores at The Open as it trades venues either side of the England-Scotland border since his first appearance in 1984.

Perhaps that love of The Open stems from his spectacular finish to his debut at the home of golf when he holed his approach at the 18th for an eagle on his way to a fourth place finish at St Andrews. Couples, himself, puts the love affair down to the unique opportunity to turn spectator himself and enjoy watching the world’s greatest players tackling the trickiest of golfing challenges.

“Winning at Augusta will always be special to me as it was the only Major I ever won,” he says, “So I hold that way up there at number one.

“But my favourite tournament was always The Open.

TICKET DETAILS

Season tickets cost £80, one-day tickets can be bought for £30 while under16s are admitted for free when accompanied by an adult. Parking is also free.

Tickets can be bought online via www.senioropengolf.com or by calling +44 (0)800 0232557, with details of hospitality packages also available.

“I remember my first Open, sitting on the stairs at St Andrews in 1984 some 50 feet away from Seve when he made that putt.

“I won the TPC earlier that year and I beat Seve and Trevino and all those players, but watching them play in The Open, in your first one, and watching the crowd go bananas when Seve holed the putt was something else.

“I’m not sure you can get better than that. So it was always my favourite event and I always tried to put myself in the right spot to win one.

“The challenge at The Open always intrigued me, trying to keep out of those pot bunkers.

You had to understand that when you have hundreds of those pot bunkers, you are going to go in some.

“It is a treat to play that type of golf. You get birdies, you get eagles, but you get mistakes and people in trouble. That’s what makes it so beautiful.”

That top ten place at St Andrews as Seve Ballesteros

SMILES BETTER: Fred Couples’ easy going approach and ability to play with a smile have

Richard

Presented by Rolex at Turnberry all the sweeter.

“I have a lot of respect for The Senior Open because I always had a lot of affinity for The Open Championship,” explains the 53 years-old, who was born in Seattle but is now EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW based in California.

“I played my first Open claimed his second Claret Jug in 1984. That was a pretty good was the start of a run of nine start and I played well, but got from 17 starts for Couples, a the chance to see how great hugely popular figure whose some of the other players were. laid-back approach has “Tom Watson won five Open endeared him to the galleries.

Championships, but for me The And the fact that he was Open Championship was the often jockeying for position at one I always wanted to win but the top of the leaderboard could never quite do it. without ever being able to get “I played with Norman the across the finishing line ahead year he won, I played with of the field made his victory in Justin Leonard in the last last year’s Senior Open

Williamson

group the year he won. I just could never get it done on the last day when I was close or in the final group.

“I used to play the Scottish Open the week before and I tried many different ways to prepare for The Open, but couldn’t quite do it, so to win a Senior Open was special.”

Now he prepares to defend his title at Royal Birkdale, where he enjoyed one of his best Open performances with a final round 64 earned him a share of third in 1991.

“I came close to winning The Open there in 1991 when Ian Baker-Finch won and Mike Harwood finished second,” recalls a player who totted up more than 50 career tournament wins, including

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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

SPORT 3

on famous Southport links to launch title drive

love the best of British

endeared him to the crowds on both sides of the Atlantic eight since passing the age of 50.

“I was third and I really like the course, but it was one where I played the par fives very well all week. I remember it being a very good test.

“Over the week I made a lot of birdies. When you play a par five downwind it is really a par four, and when you are playing a par against the wind it can be a par five. So I just remember Birkdale being very challenging, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Couples was recently induced into golf ’s Hall of Fame – along with

rookie Senior Tour member Colin Montgomerie – but was back in this country last week for yet another crack at The Open, courtesy of his victory in the Senior equivalent.

“Hopefully I won’t be too tired,” he says. “You have to

admire Tom Watson. He played the Senior Players Championship, then played the Greenbrier Classic, the US Senior Open, then The Open and The Senior Open, so he will be playing his fifth tournament in a row at Birkdale.

“I really couldn’t do that, but I’m going to play three weeks in a row, but it will be at a slow pace.

“I I took a week off before

MASTER TOUCH: Former winner Fred Couples tips his cap after a birdie on the 18th green during the second round of this year’s US Masters at Augusta

the US Senior Open, to make sure I don’t overdo it as I’m so looking forward to playing Birkdale.

“For a while I thought about maybe not playing Muirfield, because Birkdale is so important to me.

“But then towards the end I thought that would be the dumbest thing ever, not to play one of the top courses in the world. Even if I didn’t feel great I could be there and enjoy the ride.

“Birkdale is going to be a great place for The Senior Open and I’m sure it will be a special occasion.

“Everyone is coming over for it. We have some great champions playing on The Senior Tour and some great

events. This is the number one for me. The US Senior Open is great, and being from Seattle the Champions Tour event we play there is special, but The Senior Open is the one for me.”

Birkdale is the kind of venue that will hold special memories for many of the players and Couples is no exception after his final round charge of 1991 brought him close yet again to claiming victory, only to be foiled by Ian Baker-Finch’s unexpected heroics.

“I remember the weather not being too bad and the scoring being decent,” says Couples, whose long driving during the early stages of his career earned him the nickname of Boom Boom.

“I know Mike Harwood played well but Ian made so

many putts on the Sunday when he shot 66.

“I got off to a great start to put myself right up there and kept on going, but it seemed like Ian birdied every other hole. The course was pretty dry and played pretty short. I loved Birkdale because for me it was an advantage if I could drive between those bunkers and get it down there.

“It feels like a long time ago now but it was a chance for me to win The Open, but Ian played great to shoot 66.

“It’s going to be great, though, to go back. It will be great to see all the guys from Rolex and hang out with them, as they took such good care of me last year.

“Birkdale’s a great venue and it will be nice to meet some of the guys who I don’t get to see that often.”

4 SPORT

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

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Open champions ready to sparkle on return to one o

Former Open champion Tom Lehman of the United States in action during last year’s Senior Open at Turnberry

Lehman hopes for lead role in Birkdale drama IT WAS just a few miles along one of the most famous coastlines in world golf that Tom Lehman enjoyed his finest hour.

The stretch of prime links land that runs from Royal Liverpool at Hoylake, out round the Wirral, through Sefton and up to Royal Lytham on the Fylde boasts some of the greatest courses England has to offer.

A marketing man’s dream, it has been dubbed ‘England’s Golf Coast’ and now the American is hoping his return to the north west can rekindle the kind of form that landed him the big one just a matter of miles from Blackpool’s landmark Tower and nearby amusement park.

Lehman will be competing at the third of the royals that add the crowning glory to England’s Golf Coast when he tees up in The Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex, at Royal Birkdale.

Lehman won The 1996 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes and he will now be aiming to join the select band who have also lifted the Senior version of the Claret Jug. The 2006 United States Ryder Cup Captain will be among a band of fellow golfers who know what it feels like to emerge triumphant at one of the sport’s hallowed Majors.

Lehman, who won the 2010 US Senior PGA Championship, finished tied tenth in last year’s Senior Open Championship at Turnberry, but he hopes Royal Birkdale’s challenging links can inspire him.

“It will be nice to go back to the north west of England,” said Lehman. “There are a whole bunch of courses right along that coastline that are spectacular, but they are all different.

“Lytham is much flatter and

by RICHARD WILLIAMSON you have to avoid those 206 bunkers. Royal Birkdale brings the slopes, the bumps and the humps more into play, and the tall grass. It is a different look and it is one that everyone likes.”

He added: “It would be a nice double to get The Senior Open alongside my Open Championship. I’ve not really come close the last couple of years.

“That’s a little frustrating.

I’ve not been on my game in any of the years I have played in The Senior Open so far, so hopefully that will change.”

After winning the US Champions Tour Money List and Player of the Year Award in 2011, and the Charles Schwab Cup last year, Lehman is targeting another Senior Major to add to his glittering CV. “Any Major is a big target,” he said. “The bigger the tournament you win, the happier you are.

“When you play courses like we play, that really helps attract top fields. When you get the chance to play a Turnberry, or a Carnoustie, or a Birkdale, those are the best of the best. It is great when you can play competitions there.

“Royal Birkdale is a great course, with amazing dunes.

Every links course is a little bit different, and a little bit the same. This one has a bit more drama with all the stuff going on around the holes.

“You are playing into a lot of valleys and there are a couple of par threes where you are hitting into little nooks and crannies, which are very penal if you miss the shot. There are some great driving holes especially – the 16th.”

Watson weighs up risk factor in drive for glory T

OM WATSON is a player who epitomises a calm and measured approach to chasing world golf ’s biggest prizes. It is an approach that has served him well during a career spanning five different decades.

Along the way the American has collected eight of the game’s major titles among a haul of more than 40 triumphs before turning 50.

Thirteen years on and his appetite and ability to close out a victory remain undiminished.

His metronome swing and calculated analysis of shot-making marks him out as a player who continues to defy the advancing years.

It is only four years since he came close to becoming the oldest winner of The Open Championship, eventually losing out in a play-off to Stewart Cink after letting an eight foot putt for the crown slip away from him on the 18th at Turnberry.

This week sees him back among his peer group as a stellar field of household names tees up at Royal Birkdale for The Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex.

But the man for whom patience has been a byword admits that he may need to take a risk or two on a course where he won the last of his five Open Championships 30 years ago.

The 63 years-old explains: “As I recall, the overall feeling I had winning at Birkdale in 1983 was a

Richard

Williamson EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW lesson in patience. I didn't particularly hit the ball that well that week, but I managed the golf course very well.

“I remember a shot on the 13th hole.

I hit the ball in the heavy right rough and I remembered the shot that one of my playing partners had hit earlier in the tournament. The ball pulled out of the rough because the tall fescue grass gets wrapped around the head and it makes for a hard pull left.

“So I remember holding on strongly with the last three fingers of the left hand and keeping the blade open and the ball came out pretty straight.

I remember certain shots like that and the compilation of all those shots obviously led on to the victory.”

So will it take a similar approach this time round for Watson, as he chases his fourth Senior Open title and first on English turf.

“That's part of it, but knowing when to take your risks, and when not to, is the key to managing that course,” says the man who first turned

professional in 1971. “When you are playing well you can afford to take more risks and you will be successful, because you are more precise. When you are less precise, you have to manage it differently.

“That comes with age, but many times our ego gets in the way and we

thi can “ ver I cha wh am

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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

SPORT 5

of top golfing gems along England’s Golf Coast MEMORIES: It is 30 years since Tom Watson lifted the last of his five Claret Jugs at the 1983 Open at Royal Birkdale (inset), but the passage of time has done nothing to dull the American’s love of golf

ink we can make that shot and we n't.

“That's always the battle. The ego rsus the capability.”

It is the first time The Senior ampionship has visited Birkdale, hich not surprisingly Watson rates mong his favourites.

Friends and rivals Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson keep their cool with an ice lolly during the Open at Royal Birkdale 30 years ago and are reunited on the Open’s return in 2008 (above)

“I really like the design of the golf course,” he explains. “It has a variety of holes to it.”

Watson believes the course’s location among the dunes along the Sefton coastline adds to its attraction.

“There is more elevation involved, it's not just a flat course,” he says.

“There are some elevated tee shots and green complexes like the sixth green which rides up out of the dunes.

The western side of the golf course is just lovely. It plays along the dune structure down there, which is just gorgeous.

“The 12th hole is a par three and it is one of my favourite par threes.

“The first time I played that hole I looked at the green from the tee and I thought: 'Is this a short par four'?

“The reason was the flagsticks in 1976 were of different heights. That had this small three foot flagstick in the green and it looked like it was 300yards away. Honestly, I couldn't tell.

“It was actually 180 to the front

edge and after that it confounded me.

It's a great links golf shot.”

Watson pinpoints hole number six as another key battleground for this week’s championships.

“Hole number six always stands out as a key hole to the golf course,” he believes. “It's a dog-leg right. If you can manage to keep your long drive up against the bunker on the right you can have a shorter shot into that long green.

“It takes two really good shots to get it up on that green. The elevated green just compounds the difficulty of the hole and the right to left wind also does.

“I look at that hole as probably the one hole that is key, but I also look at number one. I look at it with bad memories because the first time I played it in competition in 1976 I made a seven on it and it pretty much knocked my chances of competing successfully to repeat as Open Champion.

“I always played that hole carefully after that! I learned my lesson.”

While Watson obviously has happy memories of his victory there, his last outing on Merseyside was not so pleasant.

“The last time I played it, I didn't fare so successfully in The Open Championship (in 2008) but that was under harsh conditions, adds Watson.

“That tournament, the winds blew harder than at any Open Championship I have ever been involved in. For four solid days.

“But Padraig Harrington played some beautiful golf. It was an incredible Open and he played magnificently.

“There have been many magical moments at Birkdale over the years. It has produced a lot of drama.

“I remember Ian Baker-Finch playing the way he did to win in 1991.

“Then you remember Justin Rose's shot over the bunker on 18 when he holed it. And Justin has evolved into a

great player since then.”

While Watson will clearly be focusing his attentions on Birkdale, he arrives as only the second presiding Ryder Cup captain to play in the championship after Corey Pavin in 2010.

Watson is content to let the drama of that event unfold in its own good time, but he already has a clear idea of the kind of golfers he is looking to include in his ranks.

“The Ryder Cup is not quite ramping up at the moment,” he said.

“I'm just trying to get more familiar with the players who might be on my team and try to watch them a little more.

“I'm looking for three qualities: heart, first, then I'm looking for an ability to play in bad conditions – wind and cold – and finally a never give up attitude.”

All qualities which the winner of The Senior Open will have to demonstrate this week.

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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

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Ryder Cup heroes relishing battle of Birkdale

Champion challengers

by RICHARD WILLIAMSON

I

AN WOOSNAM knows what it takes to enjoy success at the highest level – and to keep the Americans at bay.

As a player who donned the coveted green jacket as Masters champion in 1991, he was part of a European dominance of Augusta that saw home players claim victories just twice in the space of nine years.

And as a non-playing captain, he helped mastermind a famous third consecutive Ryder Cup victory over the Stars and Stripes in 2006.

So when he describes The Senior Open Championship as a “bit of fun”, it is a comment that won’t throw anyone off the scent of a player who, at the age of 55 and with a career as a

Woosnam sharpens up links skills for American raiders

professional stretching back to 1976, remains as determined as ever to be competitive. Which is why the past few weeks have seen the Oswestry-born Welshman, now based in Jersey, taking in some traditional links golf in preparation for the visit this week to Royal Birkdale.

“Birkdale is a fantastic course, although I have not played particularly well there,” says a man who showed fine early season form with a third place finish at both the PGA Seniors at De Vere Mottram Hall and the Wales Senior Open.

“There’s no reason why I can’t play well at Birkdale

and I will be getting in some sea links golf to get myself ready.”

Woosnam, a four-time winner on The European Senior Tour, will be one of the homegrown players looking to break the American stranglehold on the event, which has seen nine out of the last ten winners come from over the pond. Not since Brian Huggett in 1998 has a home player lifted the title, and Woosnam believes the strength of seniors golf in America – where it is branded as the Champions Tour – is a telling factor.

“The Senior Tour in America is very strong, with

a full schedule, good prize money and some of the sport’s greatest names taking part, which it makes it difficult for the players on The European Tour,” explains Woosnam, who has added some American events to his schedule with a best finish of seventh at the Principal Charity Classic so far in 2013. “We will not have the same run of tournaments going into The Senior Open so it is difficult to find some form or to sharpen up your game going

BIRKDALE BUZZ: Ian Woosnam is determined to battle all the way at Birkdale

into such a big event. But you always want to go out and do your best and that’s what I will be aiming to do. There is still a real buzz about getting out there and competing.”

Woosnam’s fate will rest in his own hands, in contrast to his experience as Ryder Cup captain.

“As a player you can obviously influence your round directly, but I found there was much more pressure as captain,” he explains.

“In many ways the Ryder Cup is not about the captain, but the

players, but the captain is the only one who can offer them advice once they start playing. It was so important to have a good team of vice-captains around me who could read the game and the players and let me know where I needed to be to offer some advice or guidance at the right moments.”

Another Ryder Cup-winning captain looking forward to Birkdale is Sam Torrance.

His return to the Sefton coastline will bring back happy memories – after turning pro in 1970 at the age of 16 one of his earliest victories came in the Lord Derby’s Under-25 Match Play Championship held on the Sefton links two years later.

He says: “It is a great course and you have to be able to shape your ball round to score well. I’m really looking forward to going back there.”

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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Cavalcade of stars heading to Royal Birkdale

Will to win still burning brightly for golf legends

TV TIMES

THE Senior Open Presented by Rolex, will be screened by SKY SPORTS at the following times: Thursday and Friday: 11.30am-2.30pm and 4pm-7pm Saturday and Sunday: 3pm-7pm

QUALITY STREET: Fred Couples topped a strong field last year with European Senior Tour chief Andy Stubbs (inset) predicting another battle royale at Royal Birkdale

by RICHARD WILLIAMSON

T

HEIR birth certificates may reveal the true extent of their advancing years, but the hunger to win remains undiminished.

Which is why the spectacle of the world’s best golfers who have already chalked up their own personal half centuries doing battle over one of the most famous links courses in the world will be one worth catching.

Royal Birkdale, tucked into the dunes along the Sefton coastline on the outskirts of Southport, will play host to a cavalcade of the sport’s living legends.

Names that are woven into the historic fabric of the sport like Tom Watson – an Open winner at Birkdale 30 years ago – or Mark O’Meara, who etched his name onto the Claret Jug on Merseyside a mere 15 years ago, will be going head to head to claim another prestigious trophy.

The Senior Open Championship

Sport’s golden generation now chasing place in Senior history Presented by Rolex (July 25-28) will see Fred Couples, a former world number one and Masters champion, return to defend the title he lifted at Turnberry.

It is the showpiece event of The European Senior Tour calendar and the man who has overseen the growth of the tournament schedule for the over-50s believes it is an ideal chance to catch some of the sport’s greatest names in action up close and personal.

Andy Stubbs is the Tour’s managing director and is relishing the chance to stage their flagship event at a course of the calibre of Birkdale.

“It is the first time we have been

at Birkdale in the 27th year of the tournament so it is something we are looking forward to; it is a fantastic course,” he says.

“We are trying to follow The Open rota and that is taking the event to some great courses which is really exciting for the players.

“There will be the added ingredient of players like Colin Montgomerie appearing in this event for the first time and there will be plenty of big names for the spectators to enjoy at Birkdale.”

Stubbs is quick to dismiss any notion that the older generation’s appetite for success will be dulled as a new era of players prepare to join the over 50s’ ranks.

“I think players look after themselves differently these days, with fitness and training regimes, and there are a lot of players in their 40s who are still competitive and who watch what they eat and drink,” he says.

“That is continuing well into their 50s.

“They are still competitive on courses like Birkdale because they have the knowledge gained from years of experience.”

Stubbs is relishing the prospect of a player like Montgomerie joining the Senior ranks.

“What a career he has had,” he says.

“Eight times the European Order of Merit winner, a Ryder Cup winning captain he will be a great addition to The Tour.

“That major championship may have always eluded him, but I am sure he would be delighted to break that duck at Birkdale.

“Look at what the Senior events have done for a player like Roger Chapman, who had played more than 600 tournaments but won only once on The European Tour.

“But then in the space of 2012 he wins two of the biggest majors in America – the Senior PGA Championship and the US Senior Open.”

Stubbs predicts that spectators will be treated to a tournament every bit as competitive as those contested by the younger guys.

“These players are not just out for a walk, they all still want to win any event they take part in,” he said.

“Their course management will

be worth watching and seeing how a player like Tom Watson coaxes the ball around Birkdale, using the winds, taking the spin off the ball when necessary and showing all the inventiveness needed on links courses will be great for spectators.

“While the event is hugely popular, it is a chance to get closer to the players and appreciate their skills.

“The setting might be more relaxing, but will be very much an Open experience and the players all still have that sharp competitive edge and will to win.

“Milestones are important to them and the winner of The Senior Open still has a place in the history books.

“These are legends of the sport – we had 30 major winners in the field last year and Birkdale will be similar.

“But equally the tournament can throw up great stories of the unexpected as in 2004 when Peter Oakley came through the qualifying stages and went on to win the title.

“That is what makes for a great tournament on a great course.”

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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

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It will be great to play against my own age group Monty happy to leave the latest generation of Tour hopefuls behind to chase Senior titles

T

HERE are not many arenas in life – whether they be sporting or in business – where turning 50 can herald the start of a new career.

But thanks to the efforts on either side of the Atlantic in creating a bespoke calendar of events, golf is bucking the trend.

Professional senior golf has a tour in America and Europe, which mirror the main tours by bringing together players of the highest calibre whose competitive drive remains a sharp as ever.

Both the American Champions Tour and The European Senior Tour boast their own majors, with players like Tom Watson laying claim to titles in both.

One of those is The Senior

RIDING HIGH: Colin Montgomerie in action at this year’s US Senior Open and (inset) proudly showing off the Ryder Cup after leading his team to success

Open Championship Presented

by Rolex, an honour he has collected three times as he reaches his 64th birthday.

The American Ryder Cup Captain’s continuing competitiveness marks him out as one to watch at Royal Birkdale this week – but it could be one of the new kids on the block who makes the biggest impact.

Colin Montgomerie was a colossus of European golf, clocking up 31 titles and winning the Harry Vardon Trophy as the continent’s number one an incredible eight times.

That record – allied to his Ryder Cup heroics – have earned Montgomerie a place in golf ’s Hall of Fame. But he admits he is looking forward to going back to school, as it were, and his rookie

year on the senior tours. After celebrating his 50th last month, the great Scot sets out to establish a new place in the record books as a senior.

Montgomerie admits he has made a U-turn in his approach to playing seniors golf, but is now relishing the prospect of taking on his own peer group.

“I’ve played recently with guys that are younger than my children,” he says. “You go, hang on a minute, this isn’t quite a level playing field. Let’s hope that when I come out here, I’ll find that it’s more of a level playing field. I’ll be the youngest suddenly playing against guys like my great friend Bernhard Langer, who is six years ahead of me.

“On the European Tour, I’m

playing against guys that are 23, 24 years old that are hitting the ball a mile and I don’t feel it’s a level playing field. They are half my age, and it’s not fair. So it’s about time parity came along and enabled me to play more on, as I say, a level playing field.”

The fact that The Senior Open is now taken round the courses that host the Open is an added attraction for Montgomerie as he prepares to return to the Sefton coastline.

“It’s great that the R&A along with The European Tour, European Senior Tour, have decided to go with this, to go on some of our great links courses, and I look forward to playing at Birkdale,” he says.

“And not just competing, but contending. I would love to try to contend. It won’t be easy, believe

me. There’s always someone that has a good week and you have to counteract it. I look forward to the challenge. I’m still hungry!

“It’s about time I won a Major Championship, so let’s hope that one might just be in the offing, but if not, I will love the competition of it.”

And he will use the example of Roger Chapman to inspire him.

The Englishman won just once on the European Tour in nearly 30 years – and that came on his 472nd tournament start.

But since turning 50 he won both the US Senior PGA Championship and the US Senior Open in 2012.

“Roger has shown me what is possible,” says Monty. “I want to win a major, I want to be competitive again.”