In the first part of our look ahead to the new European Senior Tour season, europeantour.com focuses on one of the breakthrough stars of 2014, Canadian Rick Gibson.
In a year when his home country, Canada, enjoyed its most successful Winter Olympics on foreign soil in Sochi and Colin Montgomerie dominated the European Senior Tour, Rick Gibson’s exploits in 2014 passed with comparatively little fanfare.
Yet, the unassuming 53 year old was the breakthrough star of the Senior Tour last season, winning his maiden title in the Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open, in Switzerland, and recording five other top ten finishes as he held off a number of former Ryder Cup players and European Tour winners to finish runner up in the Order of Merit.
Having finished 34th on the money list in each of his first two campaigns on the Senior Tour, posting only two top ten finishes, it was quite an upturn in fortunes for the player who had spent much of his regular playing career in Asia.
“It was an incredible year for me,” he admitted. “It was a little bit of a breakthrough season for me on the over 50s circuit.
“My results in the first two seasons weren’t anything special – only a couple of top tens – so I think playing more golf on the Philippines Tour over the winter helped prepare me for the Senior Tour and helped me get off to a good start and I just carried it on from there.”
Gibson, an Alfred Dunhill Cup winner for his country in 1994, earned his Senior Tour playing rights in 2012 after earning the fifth card at the Qualifying School in Portugal, with his best performances in each of the subsequent seasons coming at the Berenberg Masters in Germany.
But after starting the 2014 season with a share of 31st place at the ISPS Handa PGA Seniors Championship, Gibson’s Senior Tour career took off when he earned his maiden victory by a commanding six shots from Ireland’s Denis O’Sullivan in Switzerland, dedicating the win to his mother who had passed away three months previously.
Perhaps feeling at home against the picturesque backdrop of the Swiss Alps, Calgary-born Gibson followed an opening round of 63 with back-to-back rounds of 66, to earn the first prize of €42,000.
“Winning wire-to-wire in Bad Ragaz was great,” he recalled. “I think I had only had five bogeys compared to 20 birdies that week, so there was some good, solid playing. I was aware of a few players who I thought might make a bit of a run at me – Carl Mason in particular was the one who made a move on the front nine, and I was able to respond, so that was very satisfying too.”
Gibson carried that form into The Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex at Royal Porthcawl, where he posted a third round of 66 to join runaway leader Bernhard Langer in the final pairing on the Sunday. Although neither he, nor anyone else, could put pressure on the dominant German, Gibson managed to contain his nerves on the big stage, eventually finishing third behind Langer and runner up Montgomerie to bank a cheque for €77,018, the biggest of his career to date.
“I had played with Bernhard before, a very long time ago, and he is always a consummate gentleman and competitor,” said Gibson. “He knew I was tight and nervous and hadn’t been in that situation for a long time, so he was very gracious towards me. The Senior Open at Royal Porthcawl was just a neat experience altogether for me.”
Gibson recorded another top ten finishes in the Travis Perkins Masters as Montgomerie triumphed at Woburn Golf Club, and he was runner up to the Scot a week later in the Russian Open Golf Championship (Senior).
“It was very tight in Russia before Colin separated himself on 15 and 16. There were four or five of us – Barry Lane, Tim Thelen, Miguel Angel Martin, Andrew Oldcorn – all vying for second and I was able to birdie on 16 and then make birdie from the fairway bunker on 18 to get second on my own, which was nice.”
A further top ten followed at the French Riviera Masters, meaning Gibson’s hopes of finishing second in the end of season Order of Merit could only be denied at the MCB Tour Championship by former Ryder Cup player Barry Lane.
On a tight course that suited his emphasis on accuracy, Gibson signed off a successful 2014 with a share of seventh position in Mauritius, but he faced a nervous wait to see if that was good enough to secure the runner up spot on the Order of Merit, with Lane setting the clubhouse target in the season-ending tournament.
Victory for Lane would have meant the Englishman overtook Gibson in the money list, and that became a distinct possibility when the leader on the course, Paul Wesselingh, dramatically three-putted the final hole to take the tournament, and the season, into extra holes.
It took a record-equalling six-hole play-off at the Legend Course before Wesselingh eventually prevailed, meaning Gibson finished the campaign €10, 516 ahead of Lane with earnings of €235, 804. Despite this, Gibson is keen to keep improving his game ready for the new season.
“Finishing second on the Order of Merit behind Colin was a big achievement,” said. “I played really well in a couple of events that had big prize money and quite well in a couple of other events, so I was delighted overall.
“I’m still not quite happy with my swing though. I’ve got plenty to work on and hopefully there will be some even better stuff ahead in 2015.”
* Entries for this year’s Qualifying School close on Monday January 12
