Barry Lane enters this week’s Benahavis Senior Masters determined to close the gap on European Senior Tour Order of Merit leader Peter Fowler, having made a late decision to travel to Spain as their intriguing duel for the John Jacobs Trophy nears a climax.
The Englishman is currently trailing Fowler by €23,503 in the Order of Merit and having withdrawn from the Portugal Masters on The European Tour in favour of coming to La Quinta Golf and Country Club, close to the south coast of Spain, he is now bent on making sure his battle with Fowler goes right down to the wire.
“I only made the decision to play here last Saturday,” said the three time Senior Tour winner, “I was in two minds but I thought I should come here and keep the pressure on Peter and keep within a certain amount of Euro of him so I'm close when the (season-ending) MCB Tour Championship comes around in December.
“If I can keep within touching distance then it would be nice going to the MCB in Mauritius knowing that if I win there, even if Peter finishes second he couldn’t overtake me, so that was one of the big reasons why I came here.”
The battle for the 2011 John Jacobs Trophy has proven a riveting one and the Order of Merit Rankings, where Fowler leads with €283,805 and Lane follows close behind with €260,302, paints a perfectly accurate picture of two players who have been shoulder-to-shoulder all year in the consistency stakes.
Both have won two tournaments each in the 2011 season and while Lane has had ten top 20 finishes in 13 appearances, Fowler has earned 12 top 20s in 16 tournaments, with not a single missed cut between them all year.
“I am enjoying the race, very much so,” continued Lane, “I didn’t know whether Peter was playing this week but he’s decided to play too so it’s really good for the race and for the Tour.
“It’s nice for Peter and myself and everybody else that there remains two people in the race and that it’s not all over after this week, so if I play well and even if I don’t win, I could gain a few thousand Euro on him.”
Lane is now unlikely to receive a European Tour card for next year having split his 2011 schedule with the Senior Tour but the 51 year old is more than happy to devote his time to senior golf next year and beyond.
“I won’t be exempt for The European Tour next year so I’ll just have to see how it goes,” he said. “If I want to play maybe I could get a few invites, but it’s just nice to be still playing and in contention on the Senior Tour.
“It was difficult to play enough to retain a card on The European Tour and still play in the Senior Tour, where I obviously wanted to compete. I've played 13 times on The European Tour and made ten cuts so I've done pretty well.
“I wanted to play Senior Tour golf as well and 26 tournaments in a year is a lot, but it’s been really fun, I've enjoyed playing on both tours. I'm a little bit disappointed I wasn’t able to keep my European Tour card but that’s the way it is.
“I'm 51 and I don’t want to take one of the youngster’s spots, plus I love it on the Senior Tour.”
Fowler enters the tournament after finishing outside of the top ten for the first time since June at the Belas Clube de Campo Senior Open de Portugal, where he was tied 29th, but could take a big step towards sealing the John Jacobs Trophy with a win this week.
Carl Mason, meanwhile, returns to the country which has provided him with some of the most memorable moments of his career when he joins the strong field at Benahavis.
The Englishman has celebrated two of his biggest career landmarks in Spain, the first at the Open de Andalucia in 1994, which was his first European Tour victory, and the second coming at the OKI Open de Espana Senior by Cleveland Golf/Srixon last May, when he broke Tommy Horton’s record for most European Senior Tour wins with his 24th victory.
Gordon Brand Jnr will be hoping to bounce back after the disappointment of a triple bogey on the final hole in Portugal which saw him drop out of contention as Mark Mouland emerged victorious. The Welshman is also present this week as he searches for a second successive victory.
Juan Quirós leads the home challenge alongside four Spanish former Ryder Cup players; José Maria Cañizares, Antonio Garrido, Manuel Piñero and José Rivero.
Cañizares played on four Ryder Cup teams (1981, 1983, 1985 and 1989), once proving a hero when, in 1989 at The Belfry, his putt to beat Ken Green on the 18th ensured a 14-14 draw which kept The Ryder Cup in European hands.
Piñero was also a member of the 1985 team, claiming four points out of five as the European Team clinched the title for the first time on a score of 16½ to 11½.
He will have local knowledge on his side this week, having designed the La Quinta Course which hosts the Benahavis Senior Masters for the third consecutive year.
Garrido is another former Ryder Cup star, having played alongside Seve Ballesteros to become the first Continental Europeans to play in golf’s marquee team competition in 1979, while Rivero was on the winning team in both his appearances in 1985 and 1987.
