The Staysure Tour heads to East Lothian for the 27th edition of the Scottish Senior Open. Here are five things to watch out for at Craigielaw Golf Club.
Major look
The star-studded field at Craigielaw will be the biggest gathering of Major Champions in the event’s 27-year history, with four Major winners teeing it up.
Two-time Major Champion Sandy Lyle, who will make his Scottish Senior Open debut, 1991 Masters Tournament winner Ian Woosnam, 2005 U.S. Open Champion Michael Campbell and Paul Lawrie, who lifted the Claret Jug in 1999, will be looking to add the Scottish Senior Open title to their name when they take to the course this week.
Homegrown stars
There are seven Scotsman who will tee it up on home soil with eyes closely fixed on the Major winners in the field.
Lyle won his first Major Championship at The 1985 Open at Royal St George’s Golf Club, before becoming the first British player to don the Green Jacket three years later in 1988. His victory at Augusta National is well remembered for his approach shot on the 18th hole, hitting his seven iron from the fairway bunker to less than ten feet before holing the birdie putt to seal the victory.
Another homegrown Major favourite this week is Lawrie, who came through a play-off to win The Open in 1999 at Carnoustie Golf Links, becoming the first Scot to win the Championship since Lyle 14 years beforehand.
Gary Orr is the defending champion, having won his maiden Staysure Tour title at Craigielaw 12 months ago. The Scotsman, who went on to win again in 2018 at the Paris Legends Championship, battled against the field and testing weather conditions to reign supreme on home soil.
British run
The Scottish Senior Open is the third event in a run of four tournaments to be held on British soil on the Staysure Tour International Schedule. It is also one of six events during 2019 to be played within the British Isles.
Following The Senior Open Presented by Rolex, the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship, and two weeks before The Sinclair Invitational, the Scottish Senior Open is part of a run of highly rated British events on the Staysure Tour.
East Lothian love-in
Scottish golf is synonymous with great links courses and the Scottish Senior Open is no different. Since the inaugural event 27 years ago, it has been hosted by several iconic links layouts including one of the oldest golf clubs in the world – Royal Aberdeen Golf Club – which was the host venue for the first three editions of the event.
During the last four seasons, the event has been a mainstay in East Lothian, first at Archerfield Links in 2015 and 2016, before moving to the Renaissance Club a year later, and then to its current home at Craigielaw Golf Club.
Ryder Cup dozen
A dozen Ryder Cup stars will test their game on the links track at Craigielaw, including two former Ryder Cup Captains in Mark James and Ian Woosnam. Both players featured prominently as players before captaining Team Europe in 1999 and 2006, respectively.
The pair are joined in the field by; Peter Baker, David Gilford, Barry Lane, Lawrie, Phillip Price, Steven Richardson, Jarmo Sandelin, Des Smyth and Philip Walton.
