8 minute read
Players to Watch
Steven Alker
Alker doffs his cap to the fans following victory at the Senior PGA Championship
New Zealand
Age: 50 Professional wins: 15 Major victories: 0
Something of a journeyman in his younger days, Steven Alker has taken the PGA Tour Champions by storm – topping the world rankings with style this year
Words: Tony Dear
It has been quite a year for Steven Alker, with victories already at the Rapsican Systems Classic, the Insperity Invitational and the Senior PGA Championship plus a handful of top-10 finishes to boot.
What is perhaps more surprising, though, is that the New Zealander had a relatively understated professional career before the age of 50. He appeared on PGA, European, Korn Ferry, Australasian and Canadian tours, but without securing regular success. His best result in a Major was tied 19th at The Open Championship of 2012 at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Quizzed about the secrets of his new-found success Alker said: “It’s just perseverance with a capital ‘P’.”
“I can’t put my finger on one thing exactly,” he added. “I look back and I go, geez, did I really have the game or did I have the attitude? I think now, I’ve matured and it’s a second wind.”
It certainly is. Take that Senior PGA victory, for example. Alker entered the final round four shots adrift of the leader, Stephen Ames, but then rolled in three birdies in the first five holes on the way to an eight-under 63 and victory by three shots.
On the back of such finishing ability Alker has found himself rubbing metaphorical shoulders with the greats of the game, a fact that was brought home to him as he examined the trophy after his Senior PGA win at Benton Harbor.
“First I saw Arnold Palmer, I’m not sure what year it was, and you twist it and you see Lee Trevino and you see Jack Nicklaus and you see Tom Watson… It’s pretty cool,” he said.
At the time of writing, Alker sits comfortably on top of the PGA Champions Tour money list. With a game characterised by accuracy of approach and a steady hand on the greens, he may find the King’s Course very much to his liking.
Alex Čejka
Čejka: enjoying a fine run of form
Germany
Age: 51 Professional wins: 16 Major victories: 0
Victor at the Regions Tradition and Senior PGA Championship in 2021, the evergreen German has been consistently up among the leaders on tour this year
Words: Robert Verkaik
Alex Čejka had a year to remember in 2021. The Czech-born, German-raised golfer celebrated his recent elevation to the Senior Circuit with victory at the Regions Tradition in Alabama and the Senior PGA Championship at Southern Hills within a few weeks of each other.
“It’s incredible,” Čejka said after that latter victory. “Seeing and knowing all those names who are up there on the trophy and being on the trophy myself, it’s a dream come true. [On the] Monday, when I played for the first time here, I walked those fairways and remembered seeing this on TV in all those years... I can’t even describe how it feels to be here and touching the trophy.”
Čejka may have departed the Czech Republic (then Iron Curtain-era Czechoslovakia) at the tender age of nine (as a refugee) but he has still enjoyed widespread popularity in his country of birth throughout his career – and he won the Czech Open back in 1990 and 1992.
As a boy, though, his first sporting love was ice hockey, with his interest in golf sparked later as a result of watching Bernhard Langer leading the way for Germany at the highest levels of the game.
Nowadays he gets to spend time with his boyhood hero on the Seniors Tour and he has spoken of how he enjoys a chat with his hugely successful countryman on course. “If we’re playing two English-speakers, we like that, because they have no idea what we’re saying,” he added.
Čejka has continued his run of form on the Senior Tour this
As a boy his first sporting love was ice hockey, with his interest in golf sparked by Bernhard Langer’s achievements
year, finishing second to New Zealand’s Steven Alker at the Rapiscan Systems Classic in March and then fourth at the Insperity Invitational.
He would surely love to make an impact at Gleneagles this year – partly perhaps because his record at The Open Championship was slightly disappointing for a player of his prowess – although he did finish tied for 11th in 1996 and for 13th in 2001, both at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Ernie Els
Els prepares to putt during last year’s Senior Open
South Africa
Age: 52 Professional wins: 74 Major victories: 4
The Big Easy is a busy man these days – with a host of charitable and business commitments – but he will be relishing his trip to Gleneagles. And the crowd will surely be delighted to see him
Words: Robert Verkaik
The famous swing is as relaxed and rhythmical as ever and Ernie Els certainly appears to be enjoying his forays on the Seniors circuit.
It is 10 years now since the South African won his fourth (and last) Major – The Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes – and he has eloquently spoken about the challenges of stepping away from the highest pinnacle of the sport.
“Priorities change whether it’s family or business,” Els said. “And then you’re not playing the way you used to play, that can get on your nerves a little bit. Then you’re seeing [younger] guys coming through, the game changing. I don’t want to say you feel like you’ve been left behind, but it’s tough to really play at that top level for a very long period of time.”
Nowadays, Els is a man with plenty of irons in the fire and his focuses include golf course design, wine-making and his extensive charitable work – notably the Els for Autism Foundation, which he founded with his wife, Liezl, in 2009.
Charitable causes in particular have served as a motivation for Els on the PGA Tour Champions. He added: “My stature in the game, whatever you want to call that, it’s really helped us not only in business but definitely in charity work. [The Tour] has really sustained that for me.”
His plan now is to keep promoting the good causes by ensuring his name is prominent on leaderboards: “People love to identify you still as a golfer.”
Since joining the Senior ranks in 2020, Els has been consistently finishing in top 20s and in May tied for third at the Regions Tradition, behind the victorious Steve Stricker.
The Gleneagles crowd will surely relish seeing him back in action in Scotland this year.
Padraig Harrington
Harrington enjoying himself at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, Florida, in March
Ireland
Age: 50 Professional wins: 32 Major victories: 3
Three-time Major winner, Ryder Cup stalwart and former PGA Player of the Year; the Dubliner is now impressing in the Seniors
Words: Robert Verkaik
Padraig Harrington will be looking to join an elite club at Gleneagles this July, namely players who have triumphed at both The Open Championship and the Senior Open.
The Irishman celebrated his 50th birthday last August – just a few months after he finished impressively in a tie for fourth place in the US PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.
That statistic alone suggests that Harrington has lost little, if any, of the competitive instinct and will to win that took him to back-to-back Open Championship victories in 2007 and 2008 (at Carnoustie and Royal Birkdale respectively), not to mention a US PGA title also in 2008.
“I am excited to be making my debut at the Senior Open and to be able to do so in Scotland is very special,” he said.
“I always love playing there and it holds precious memories for me as the country of my first Major Championship win. It will be a pleasure to be back at Gleneagles. It is a great venue and I have fond memories of being there as a vice-captain at the 2014 Ryder Cup.”
Harrington was a regular in that competition, playing in six iterations of the event between 1999 and 2010 and then taking the captaincy for 2021’s Covid-delayed loss to the USA.
“My earliest memory of the King’s Course was when watching Peter O’Malley make two eagles and three birdies in the last five holes of the final round to win the 1992 Scottish Open in a dramatic finish,” he added.
He will no doubt be hoping for something similar himself, and certainly his recent form on the Champions Tour has been impressive – including a second place finish at the Regions Tradition and a tie for second at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic.
Bob Charles, Gary Player and Tom Watson are the only players ever to achieve the double of Open Championship and Senior Open. Who would bet against Harrington joining the list?
