The Staysure Tour returns to action this week with the second Senior Major Championship of the 2019 season. Here are five things to know before competitors tee it up at Oak Hill on Thursday…
Ryder Cup represented
Oak Hill Country Club was the host venue of the 1995 Ryder Cup, and seven participants from that year will be teeing it up this week.
Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie were members of the victorious European side, who secured just their second away Ryder Cup victory by a narrow 14 ½ - 13 ½ margin. Both are also former winners of the Senior PGA Championship, with Montgomerie winning back-to-back titles in 2014 and 15, and Langer completing the Senior Major Grand Slam when he won in 2017 at Trump National Golf Club.
From the American side, Jay Haas, Peter Jacobsen, Tom Lehman, Corey Pavin and Loren Roberts are taking part this week. Pavin earned four points from five matches in 1995, while the other four competitors have 12 Senior Major Championships between them.
Return to Oak Hill
The aforementioned Haas won his second Senior Major title when the Senior PGA Championship was last held at Oak Hill in 2008.
Haas won his first Senior PGA Championship at Oak Tree Golf Club in 2006, defeating Brad Bryant in a play-off, and two years later he was pushed to the 72ndhole by Bernhard Langer, who was playing in his first Senior PGA Championship. Haas carded rounds of 69-72-72-74 for a seven over par total, defeating Langer by one stroke.
Seven over par was the joint-second highest score to par in Senior PGA history, equaling Jock Hutchison’s score set in 1937 at Augusta National, host venue of the first two Senior PGA Championships. Scotland’s Fred McLeod’s ten over par total the following year is the highest winning score in the Championship’s history.
Major Pedigree
No fewer than 20 Major Champions will be teeing it up this week, with debut appearances in this event for Michael Campbell, Darren Clarke, Retief Goosen, Paul Lawrie and Shaun Micheel.
There are eight Open Champions, five Masters winners, five PGA Championship victors and five winners of the U.S. Open in the field. Of these 20 players, Vijay Singh has the most Major Championships, winning the PGA Championship in 1998 and 2004 and the Masters in 2000.
European dominance
Four of the last six winners of the Senior PGA Championship hail from this side of the Atlantic Ocean. In 2012, Roger Chapman became the first European winner since McLeod, 72 years previous, with his victory at The Golf Club at Harbor Shores.
Colin Montgomerie went back-to-back in 2014 and 15, also winning his first at Harbor Shores and then defending at French Lick Resort.
Bernhard Langer completed the Senior Major Slam in 2017, becoming the first golfer to have won all five Senior Majors at least once, finishing one stroke ahead of Vijay Singh.
Last year, Paul Broadhurst recovered from a one over par first round, playing the next 54 holes 20 under par to sign for a 19 under par total, eventually finishing four strokes ahead of Tim Petrovic.
Staysure Tour members out in force
There are 38 Staysure Tour members teeing it up in New York state this week including four former John Jacobs Trophy winners – Paul Broadhurst, Roger Chapman, Clark Dennis and Colin Montgomerie.
There are ten members making their Senior PGA debuts this week, including 2018 Staysure Tour Rookie of the Year Paul Streeter.
