In his first Senior Tour event, Albert Mackenzie upstaged some of his supposed superiors with a sparkling round of 69 on the opening day of The Senior Open Championship.
Mackenzie, who came through the Qualifying event at Kingswood on Monday, is a veritable spring chicken, having turned 50 just three weeks ago. And he took to the Senior Tour like a duck to water to set the clubhouse target on three under par in the early stages of the US$2million event.
The Scot made light of the heavy weather with five birdies and just two bogeys at Walton Heath Golf Club, in Surrey, which in wet conditions is playing every inch of its 7,394 yards.
Mackenzie said: “I’m absolutely over the moon. I was thrilled to get through qualifying, and my first goal was to make the cut. So hopefully I’ve made some inroads into doing that today. I’m going to regroup tomorrow, take the same level headed tomorrow and just play the course. I’m really looking forward to it, it’s going to be great fun.”
Defending champion Bernhard Langer started his title defence with a two under par round of 70, whilst his fellow former Ryder Cup Captain Ian Woosnam is one shot further back on one under par.
