After securing his maiden European Senior Tour title in 2015, Gordon Manson is aiming for further success in 2016.
Scottish-born Manson, who has Austrian citizenship, joined the Senior Tour in 2011 and has steadily improved over the past five years, culminating in his victory in last year’s Swiss Senior Open.
The 56 year old admitted the win was a weight off his shoulders and he is hoping for more success in 2016, when the Senior Tour season starts with the US Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid next month.
“Getting the first one was a big achievement for me,” Manson said. “I put in a lot of work to get there. When I got to 51 years old, I made the decision to join the Tour and I have steadily improved my play.
“I have seen that slowly come together. I knew I had the potential to finish high up at these events and once you win one, you fancy another.
“I will be looking for that again this season, I would like to experience that again. People speak from experience when they say the first one is the hardest, and I would agree with them – it was a weight off my shoulders.”
Manson finished 34th on the Order of Merit in his debut season five years ago, and has improved to 32nd, 25th, 14th and then fourth in 2015.
However, the Austrian believes it was a case of what could have been after injury forced him to withdraw from the Travis Perkins Masters in September.
Manson was four shots behind leader Colin Montgomerie going into the final round, which he was unable to complete, and subsequently finished less than €30,000 behind third-placed Barry Lane on the 2015 Order of Merit.
“I picked up a back injury at Woburn at the end of the second round,” he continued. “I was then lying in the clubhouse on my back while everyone was out on the course during the final day.
“It was disappointing because I was in good form. I do not want that to happen again. I was very close when I think back to it.
“But it has been good to look back and think to myself that I have got a bit better each year, especially when you look at the other guys on the Tour and their histories.
“When I retire and look back at my career I might be saying that 2015 was my best year, but I am hoping to improve on that. I am looking forward to going over to the United States for the US Senior PGA and then the US Senior Open.
“I have proved to myself that I can perform in Europe, so the next step is to play against all the very best from around the world and play to my potential.”
This year will mark his first appearance in the US Senior PGA Championship, and Manson is looking forward to returning to competition.
“It is a scorecard in hand, and that is the most important thing,” he added. “As some golfers say, anything that is not a scorecard is just practice.
“We are starting with a Major Championship and it is not so easy to just jump in, but we have a bit of a run of events after that.
“I will be playing in the Gӧsser Open in Austria at the start of May, it is an event I have won four times before. Then I will go to Lignano in Italy after that to continue practising before flying out to America.”
