US Senior Open concludes with Olin Browne on top
52-year-old Olin Browne finally bagged a high profile title of his 30-year long career when he took over the field at US Senior Open last week to win the title by three shots. Browne and his wife Pamela have toiled meticulously to achieve the victory which
remained elusive for most part of their lives.
“This goes back a long way for us,” said Browne, who admitted that the front nine of the final round took a heavy toll on his nerves. Opening up the tournament with a dazzling first round of 64, Browne had pulled in rounds of 69 and 65 on the proceeding
days. The player did fall for a disappointing final round of 71, but that was good enough to lead him to the summit. He had played 141 consecutive tournaments to finally win the title after his 2005 Deutsche Bank victory.
Browne played safe for the whole day on Sunday, after falling in for a dreadful bogey on par-five, 8th. He made the turn and finally pulled a birdie on the penultimate hole to trigger a huge uproar in the crowd.
“I guess from the middle of the back nine on it became a match-play situation, and I've got zero experience in match play,” Browne said, “But it's about putting your ball in play, keeping it out of the junk. The bottom line is minimize your mistakes, maximize
your effort, and that's all you can do.”
The 1998 Masters and Open Championship winner Mark O’ Meara was the only strong contender in the field who continuously threatened Browne for the lead. Carding three birdies and two bogeys on the front nine, O’ Meara lost much of his composure on the back
nine and dropped two shots to fall behind. He carded final round of one-over, 72 on the final day against opening rounds of 66, 68, and 66.
“This is a huge victory for him,” O'Meara said. “I know it's his first win out here on the Champions Tour. It's a major championship. I think Olin should be very proud of himself.”
Joey Sindelar and evergreen Hale Irwin finished for a joint fourth with their aggregate scores of 274 each. Irwin pulled in four birdies on Sunday and dropped two shots on the back nine. Australian Peter Senior finished for an outright sixth with his aggregate
of 275. Bernhard Langer, the once glorious and most successful German golfer settled for a joint ninth alongside John Huston, Steve Pate and Nick Price.
Mark Calcavecchia, who performed brilliantly at the Open Championship at Sandwich last month, finished for an outright third with his final round score of 69. Calcavecchia posted rounds of 68, 67, 69 in the opening rounds.
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