A year on from his remarkable play-off victory over Bernhard Langer, Mark Wiebe is hoping a return to links golf can inspire him to a successful defence of his title in The Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex at Royal Porthcawl.
The American memorably battled former Ryder Cup captain Langer in near darkness at Royal Birkdale 12 months ago, before eventually lifting the Senior Claret Jug following the first Monday finish in the history of the Championship.
That victory earned Wiebe a place in last week’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, and although he missed the cut, he took the chance on his way down to Wales to revisit the scene of his greatest triumph, presenting Royal Birkdale with the five iron he used last year, which will now be included in the club’s memorabilia display.
Despite struggling with injury since his win, Wiebe admits he has thoroughly enjoyed his year as Senior Open champion and is looking forward to taking on a new course in Royal Porthcawl, which becomes the 12thdifferent venue – and first in Wales – to host the prestigious Championship.
“I think I celebrated for a few months,” he said. “It was the thrill of a lifetime for a golfer to win a Senior Open. Playing back‑to‑back weeks, with The Open last week, I'm kind of living in heaven right now. This kind of golf is inspiring. So I hope I play inspired golf this week.”
He added: “They say you can see the sea from every hole here and I saw it on every hole today. It's not just the water, it's the coastline with the rocks. It really looks a lot like Pebble Beach, which is my favourite course in the United States to play. So it's just neat. We don't get that every day.”
Wiebe and Langer will be reunited for the first two rounds at Royal Porthcawl, alongside Spanish debutant Miguel Angel Jiménez, and Wiebe is relishing the being part of one of the marquee groups on Thursday and Friday.
“Miguel has won his first tournament as a senior and we all know what he's done, and he continues to play wonderful golf at 50,” he said. “He's kind of a timeless player, isn't he? He never plays like he's older. The only thing that comes across to me for him is he's older so he's wiser and he's more experienced. But I think he plays like a young man.
“Bernie is a wonderful man and obviously an incredible golfer and I'm honoured to play with both of them to tell you the truth. That's a great pairing. I don't know who I would pick that would be a better pairing than that.”
While Royal Porthcawl will be a new challenge for many of the American players in the field, strategically Wiebe is trying to draw upon some of the similarities the Bridgend links has with Royal Birkdale.
“Visually it's a little bit different,” he said. “This seems to be kind of on a hillside, not a huge hillside but it just seems like we're always facing the water or we're leaning down towards the water so to speak, where Birkdale, you didn't have that. But the traps, the bunkers, are pretty similar and you did not want to be in them there, and you don't want to be in them here.
“And it's that links brand. I think there's some similarity off the tee. I had a wonderful week last year of driving the golf ball off the tee. It's the best I've hit my driver, maybe ever as far as my strategy and staying within myself. This golf course might be a tougher driving golf course, but we don't always hit driver.
“There's some holes that are three‑woods and a couple two‑irons off the tees, but equally as difficult, no matter if it's a driver or a three‑wood or two‑iron. They are tough driving holes. I can only imagine that if the wind blows, or when the wind blows, it's going to be hard.”
