U.S. Senior Open preview
The greatest players in senior golf are heading back across the Atlantic after battling it out on the demanding Carnoustie course against Bernhard Langer. Players have been readjusting from jet lag in preparation for Thursday’s US Senior Open at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington State. Can Langer get back to back majors? More importantly, who does he have to defeat to accomplish this?
Defending champion Fred Funk played well in Scotland last week, not well enough to beat Langer but he did manage to come in tied for third. Funk has had success at Sahalee course when he came runner up to Craig Parry in 2002, and deserves favouritism on this basis alone, not to mention he was runner up in 2008 Seniors Open as well.
Peter Senior tied with Funk for third place after playing a great round of 68 on Sunday at Carnoustie and will also play the US Seniors Open. Senior has a good chance if he can get his putter to behave, not to mention the course seems to favour Australians what with Parry winning there in 2002, and Senior could be getting his first Champions Tour victory if he plays his game right.
The other usuals such as Fred Couples, Loren Roberts, Corey Pavin and Nick Price will be showing up to tee off. They have all had solid seasons this year and should be considered good chances. Wildcard Dan Forsman has had a spectacular run on the Champions Tour, putting himself into contention in just about every event he participated in this season.
Couples was feeling the love as adoring fans came out to show their support of the Seattle native during Tuesday’s practice round. He stopped to sign autographs, t-shirts, hats, programs and pictures after walking off every green. Though it didn’t really matter, fans ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ when Couples drove it hard across the fairways, and groaned when he shot from the rough on the eight.
"I have a lot of people rallying around me, but that doesn't help you hit a driver any better or any worse. There's going to be a lot of people out there following our group, and the goal is to see all those people out there and play well and continue to play well until Sunday."
This will be the second time that Couples has played a PGA or Champions Tour event in the Northwest. He will be the talk of the town whether or not he makes Champions Tour history and wins this major, or doesn’t make the cut at all. Couples has been anxiously awaiting this rare homecoming opportunity,
"I think I'll be more antsy to play and more excited to play this week," Couples said after his practice round. "This is a one-time shot playing here, and I've been waiting since they said we were coming here and I knew I'd be 50 when it came.”
Couples has been paired with Tom Watson and Eduardo Romero for the first two rounds, and though he seems to be one of the few lucky players born to the sport, Couples admits he needs to “start playing a heck of a lot better to win on a course like this.”
The Sahalee golf course was originally designed by Tom Robinson in 1968, and was redesigned in anticipation for the 1996 PGA Championship by Rees Jones. Sahalee is Chinook for “high heavenly ground,” as the course is located on a heavily forested plateau just east of Lake Sammamish.
Sahalee’s 27 holes are scattered throughout the 6,952 yard course in which trees present the greatest obstacle. The hilly fairways are lined with tall evergreens, the fashion of most Pacific Northwest courses, and the course is littered with bunkers and several water hazards. On average there are five to six hazards per hole.
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