Five in focus: WINSTONgolf Senior Open

While the Staysure Tour International Schedule marches on, the list of serious contenders continues to grow as players round into mid-season form. Ahead of the WINSTONgolf Senior Open, we focus on five golfers who may very well have their hands on the trophy by Sunday evening.

1)     Jean-François Remesy-The Staysure Tour’s most recent winner has re-committed himself to a practice regimen designed to create sustained success. “The past three months I’ve been working harder and I’ve started to feel very confident in the last few weeks,” said Remesy. “I’ve worked very hard and things are turning in the right direction.” With a top ten finish at the Senior Italian Open in June and a trophy-week in his next start, the Frenchman has clearly found something in his game. Remesy has never competed on the WINSTONlinks course before, but a clean slate without any bad memories can often be a blessing, and coupled with his passion, seen here, he is a force to be reckoned with.

2)     Philip Golding-The four-time Staysure Tour winner may not have had the start to the season he was hoping for, but in returning to the WINSTONgolf Senior Open, he arrives at a place where he has enjoyed a good measure of success. Having played the tournament every year since its inception in 2012, the Englishman has not finished outside the top 20. Although he is yet to lift the trophy, he came incredibly close in 2014 — advancing to a three-way play-off with German superstar Bernhard Langer and fellow countryman Paul Wesselingh. In the end, it was Wesselingh who finished on top, but the memories of his fine play in this event over the years may be all the inspiration he needs to get over the line this week.

3)     Greg Turner-Good things usually happen when a form-player competes on a course he has had success on and New Zealand’s Greg Turner fits that description perfectly. Turner finished eighth in the 2016 WINSTONgolf Senior Open, which was the first year the tournament was held on the WINSTONlinks course. He improved on that result last year, carding rounds of 65-71-68 to finish in third on 12 under par. The Kiwi now comes into the 2018 tournament fresh from a tied fifth place finish at last week’s Swiss Seniors Open, where he co-led after an opening 65. While Turner did not display his best stuff on Day Two, he fired a final round 66 to move up seven spots on the leaderboard and will be carrying plenty of momentum into his fifth start at Germany’s premier over-50s golf tournament.

4)     Ian Woosnam-Having finished inside the top ten in his first two starts on the Staysure Tour this year, Woosnam seems to be inching closer to his sixth Staysure Tour title. The World Golf Hall of Fame Member finished tenth on the WINSTONlinks course in 2016, and with a jaw-dropping 52 professional wins to his name, including the 1991 Masters Tournament, it is perfectly clear that ‘Woosie’ knows how to get the job done. Captain of the winning side at The 2006 Ryder Cup, the Welshman will tee it up in northern Germany on the heels of his final-round 65 at last week’s Swiss Seniors Open.

5)     Jarmo Sandelin-Sometimes hunger is the best ingredient, and Sandelin will surely be hungrier than ever after finishing one shot behind Remesy in a tie for second place last week. The 51 year old has already amassed eight top ten finishes in his short career on the Staysure Tour and is knocking on the door for his first win on the over-50s circuit. A member of Team Europe at The 1999 Ryder Cup, the Swede — who was born in Finland — ended last year’s WINSTONgolf Senior Open in a tie for 16^th. While the five-time European Tour winner is carrying plenty of form into this week, he can also call upon positive golfing memories of Germany, where he triumphed in 1999 at the German Open.