Peter Fowler is aiming to capitalise on his terrific recent form on the European Senior Tour by becoming the first Australian winner of The Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex in 14 years.
Europe’s only Senior Major returns to Sunningdale Golf Club this week and among a cast of four Australians, Fowler is arguably the best-placed to mount a title challenge, having already claimed two victories on British soil already this year.
The 56 year old added a fourth and fifth Senior Tour title to his repertoire last month when he won the Acorn Jersey Open and the ISPS Handa PGA Seniors Championship in back to back weeks.
He is feeling confident now of making it a trio of titles in 2015 at a venue which he thoroughly enjoys playing.
“I really like the golf course, I like how it plays,” said the Sydney native, who currently lies second in the Senior Tour Order of Merit. “It’s nice and firm and fast, which I think is much better quality to play on. I’ve done plenty of practice up there over 30 years on tour.
“We’ve played it a lot so I’m looking forward to playing here again. I have never played spectacularly here, maybe a top ten or two, but I feel like I play better now than I did back then. It’s short but the shot quality is what makes that golf course, you have to be a good iron player, that’s for sure, so you have to be a good ball-striker to do well there.
“I think I’m a better driver of the ball than I was in my European Tour days. I’ve really built my game after a couple of surgeries and it seems to have worked.
“A senior Major victory would be great, to win against this kind of field on this kind of golf course – it’s the pinnacle of our careers as seniors." Peter Fowler
For the stars of the European Senior Tour, the Senior Open is the stand-out event of the season and, no matter how many times Fowler does it, he always revels in the opportunity to play alongside some of golf’s greatest legends in front of some of the most knowledgeable crowds in the world.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to play five or six Senior Opens and also the US Senior Majors,” he said.
“They’re mega events for us, with the crowds and playing alongside the superstars of the past like Tom Watson and Hale Irwin. They really make those events so I’m glad those kinds of players are playing.
“I played pretty good in the US Senior Open. It was a good string course over there and I played some good stuff in America so I’m looking forward to it.
“I’ve certainly putted better this year than in the past. It’s just hard work and putting it all together. I still work really hard and play good golf, it’s difficult to keep working hard so you have to be pretty smart about how you train and practice to be able to keep doing it.
“I work hard on all that training and I have a good base at Wildwood Golf Club in Surrey so it all really helps. I’m still learning all the time, absolutely, that never changes.”
Tom Watson is one of the golfing legends present at the Old Course in Sunningdale this week after the eight-time Major winner played his final Open Championship at St Andrews last week after 40 years and five Claret Jugs.
Among the favourites to land the title next Sunday will be the indefatigable Spaniard, Miguel Angel Jiménez, who continues to thrive on the main Tours of the world and also at Senior level in America and Europe.
