Super Senior

Oldest Winner

His ‘oldest winner’ record is one of which he is naturally very proud, but he believes he isn’t done yet. “I’m still playing here in Europe because I still want to break my record,” he admits. “I enjoy it very much. I enjoy competing. This is my 27th year on tour. It’s the only thing I know how to do properly in my life - and you don’t want to give that up, do you?” I ask how old he feels mentally. “Fifty has come quickly to me. I don’t know if that answers your question, but always I feel young, and I want to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Of course, when you’re still riding high at 55th in the world, and competing strongly in big events such as last season’s Turkish Airlines Open where he finished 4th, and this season’s Nedbank Challenge where he finished 6th, all the evidence suggests that the need for a wholesale senior switchover is still some way away. Despite this, he is not naïve enough to believe it can go on forever, and is certainly setting his sights on a few more senior outings.

"Why not?” he says with the confident air of a man who has averaged nearly US$300,000 per start from his two US Champions Tour events to date. “I won in the States first time last year in Atlanta and will probably play a few more this year. I’m going to combine things. I don’t want to leave the European Tour because I still hit the ball well, I still feel competitive and I would like to keep doing that. But I would also like to play the Champions Tour because when I played last year I enjoyed it very much. It’s more friendly than the main tour, it’s very relaxing, but still very competitive because they are all top players and top competitors.”