The 2015 European Senior Tour Rookie of the Year, Paul Broadhurst, believes the only pressure he will feel this season is that which he puts on himself.
Broadhurst, who joined the Tour midway through the 2015 season after turning 50, became just the tenth player to win on his debut after beating Gordon Manson in a play-off to claim the Prostate Cancer UK Scottish Senior Open.
He then recorded top ten finishes in his last two events to finish 12th on the Order of Merit after just four events, and became just the second player to have won both the European Tour and Senior Tour Rookie of the Year awards after another Englishman, Carl Mason.
Speaking ahead of his first full season on the Senior Tour, Broadhurst said: “The only pressure I will feel is the pressure that I put myself under. I know that if I get into good shape, I will have a chance.
“I am just coming off the back of a shoulder injury, it has been a bit of a setback but seems to be ok.
“I am looking forward to the new season. December’s MCB Tour Championship was the last tournament I played in.
“My preparation has been good for this year. It is just the greens that have really been affected by the weather and the course I play on in Northants is a good winter course.
“I got to Spain for a week earlier this year and I practiced out there, now I have got a month to prepare for the US Senior PGA Championship. I have been to Cornwall for the PGA Cornish Festival, and that was across three days so that was more practice.
“It would be nice to do well in the first week and then come back to Europe feeling confident ahead of the new season. You do not want to go over and shoot a few 80s.
“It is tough for the Europeans because the players in the United States have been playing for the last three months. But we have to go out there and make the best of it.”
No stranger to playing in Major Championships on the European Tour, Broadhurst is relishing the prospect of teeing off in his first Senior Major outing next month at Harbor Shores, in Michigan.
“It does not come much tougher than the US Senior PGA for your first event of the year,” he continued. “I played the US PGA a few times on the European Tour, and they make it really tough. It will be a stiff examination of our game but I am looking forward to it.
“The build up to this season has been a lot quieter than last year. I do not feel as though I have played that much, but that is compared to starting in August last year. I had some Midlands regional events leading up to the Scottish Open.
“There were a few events that I missed last year. I am looking forward to playing in the Welsh Senior Open on the Roman Road Course at Celtic Manor, I have had three top tens there on the European Tour – it is a course I have done well on in the past.
“Jersey will be a great event too, I have got a friend who lives on the island partnering me in the Pro-Am and I am also really looking forward to Archerfield, where I will be defending my Scottish Senior Open title.”
