Roger Chapman looked undaunted by his celebrated playing companions during the opening exchanges of The Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex, as the Englishman made a confident start at Turnberry.
Playing alongside multiple Open Champions Tom Watson and Greg Norman, Chapman birdied the Ailsa Course’s opening par four first hole, before erasing a bogey at the second with another birdie at the par three fourth hole to sit one behind the early leaders in Scotland.
The 53 year old is looking to complete an historic Senior Major Grand Slam this week, having already captured the US Senior PGA Championship before adding the US Senior Open two weeks ago in Michigan.
The only other player to have completed this remarkable feat before is South Africa’s Gary Player in 1988, but ‘The Black Knight’ will unfortunately not be competing this week having picked up a neck injury ahead of the first round.
Germany’s Bernhard Langer, winner of The 2010 Senior Open, held a share of the lead midway through Thursday morning at two under par after birdies at the second and third hole, as America’s Jeff Sluman joined him after picking up back-to-back birdies on the opening two holes to head a ten-man pack on one under par.
American Jeff Freeman had earlier led the embryonic leaderboard in Ayrshire after reaching the turn at three under par, before his fine start was pegged back by a hat-trick of bogeys after the turn.
