It is more than two years since Barry Lane lifted a trophy on the European Senior Tour, but the Englishman is hoping to convert his superb summer form into a victory at this week’s Travis Perkins Masters.
The former Ryder Cup player has been one of the most consistent players on the Senior Tour over the past four seasons, and is again inside the top five on the Order of Merit after sharing third place in The Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex and second place at last week’s English Senior Open.
Lane is now targeting his fifth Senior Tour title, which would match his haul on The European Tour, when he tees it up in the first round at Woburn Golf Club on Friday alongside Spaniard José Rivero and Ireland’s Des Smyth, a two-time winner of the Travis Perkins Masters.
“I missed the cut in the first event of the season, the US Senior PGA Championship, and that was a shock, but since the form has been pretty good, finishing third in the Senior Open and second last week. So I’ve found my form and I’m looking forward to this stretch of tournaments.
“I finished second here in 2011 and I should have won really – I just messed up a bit in the final round. I also finished fifth here on The European Tour at the Heritage and did alright at the British Masters over the years. So I love it here and the course suits me well.
“Driving is key here and my driving has been good this year. I’ve been hitting it a long way. I led the driving statistics at The Senior Open with an average of 323 yards, beating Bernhard Langer by a yard.
That must have been the only thing he didn’t win that week! But it shows I’m hitting it good, I’m hitting it pretty straight and I’m pretty happy right now.”
With more than 20,000 spectators expected to line the fairways of the Duke’s Course again this year, Lane admits the Travis Perkins Masters title is one he and the players are desperate to win.
“It’s a great golf course, a great venue and a great sponsor,” he said. “It’s always a really nice tournament which is always supported by the players, but more so by the spectators.
“Of all which means it is one of the titles we all really want to win. It’s a big tournament for us and particularly for the English players, it is up there with the Senior Open and the PGA Seniors as one we want to win on home soil.”
