Peter Senior (53!) Wins Australian Open!

Absolutely amazing story Down Under at the Emirates Australian Open: Martin Blake reports on the wacky, windy final day from The Lakes where Peter Senior held off Justin Rose and Brendan Jones to become the oldest winner of the historic tournament.

Senior’s two Australian Open wins – he also won at Kingston Heath in 1989 – came 23 years apart, another record. He is the oldest winner of any top-level Australian tour event, having set the previous record himself when he won the Australian PGA at Coolum in 2010 at 51.

“It doesn’t get any better than this,’’ said Senior, a profoundly popular figure in the Australian golf industry over three decades.

He paid tribute to his son, who has carried the bag on the Champions Tour in the United States including two playoff losses. “We finally did it mate,’’ he said. “Mitch’s one percent (cut) is looking pretty good.’’

The tournament website's live blog covered the day beautifully, including posting some photos of the wind damage. The tournament replay on Golf Channel is at 1 ET.

Comments

[Rob]

I love the way he gave a mid round interview just after he took the lead.

[RickABQ]

I watched much of it last night. To give IBF credit, he "liked his chances" (Senior's) early on and said so.

Great and descriptive name for the champ, by the way!! I can't hear his name without thinking there is a Peter Junior somewhere around.

[Simon]

Senior did not miss a fairway all day and has always been a superb ball striker regardless of how it looks. Watch his swing in slow mo and you will see a great golf swing. Great to see him win and knock off the young guns

[Hilltop]

I got up this morning and looked for the result and couldn't find it on Golf, Golf Digest or Golf Week's websites....Pretty sad. I finally resorted to google and found it on the Aus Golf digest site.

[Adam Clayman]

He used a broom. :)

Throw some wind at these young flat belly bombers, and they can't pull it off.

Heck, Huggan was even kvetching about the wind on twitter.

What a sport.

[Ivan Morris]

Peter Senior has always had a lot of heart. Once again, the old adage you never know in golf, comes true. The story gets better for the older brigade - Tom Watson shot the best score of the day in round four.

[Ghillie]

@hilltop: I read it early on the BBC Golf website. But if I want a scoreboard that has not yet been posted in press/media sites, I usually go to the Tour site...:)

And try golfalot.com for pretty speedy postings of golf news.

[KLG]

Billy Payne, here is a deserving international golfer for your field in 2013. Put him in a group with Watson and Crenshaw on Thursday. How about it?

[Anchorman]

Shame about the long putter. Double asterix for this win.

[digsouth]

@RickABQ

Thought about you as I had some BBQ ribs. I think it is Peter Senior Junior.

@Anchorman

Yes. I have started denying awards to those who putt with training aids. No soup for Senior.

[RickABQ]

Ahh dig - I miss the Austin BBQ. We have a County Line here but it isn't the same as sitting on the river....

OT - any chance they'll get rid of Mack Brown this year?

[Vossy from Melbourne]

Congratulations to the 'old master' . He won because he could control his straight driving in the atrocious conditions. Who needs length in those conditions. Keep the ball in play must have been his motto no doubt. As for his putting and short game chipping no one could equal his skill on the day .... great result..

[Simon]

I backed Senior two weeks ago at big odds as he has always been and still is a very good Pro. He was hitting it good on the range and when you factor in 5 runner up finishes on the Champions Tour he was always a good bet. He also seems like a really good bloke who just gets on with the job, i think its a great story regardless of me winning some cash.

He beat Ogilvy from memory 2yrs ago in the Aus PGA

[johnnnycz]

A beer abstaining, Senior Aussie with a chin anchored broomstick beat a field of long hitting flat-bellys...any more proof that Golf is the BEST game out there folks???

An invite to The Masters would be apropos methinks.

An how about Watson putting up the best score of the day 2/4 times...whatta stick!

[RickABQ]

Fortunately, the ball doesn't know how old the person is who is hitting it....

[digsouth]

@Rick...

I'm in Victoria most of the time now, though most of my family is still in Austin...wife here 2 days a week, but works in Austin...2/3 kids in Austin 1 in Houston....whew!

Good BBQ here, but not beef ribs at the place I went..... bummer.....BTW, the friend where my wife lives in Westlake is the lady who came up with the recipe for the bread at The County Line....some of the best there is!

As to MB's future...I'll ask a buddy who has a friend on the coaching staff, and one of my kids boyfriends, who bleeds burnt orange. To br continued.....

[Hilltop]

@Ghillie Thanks for the tips. It was good to see Senior get his due in Golf World Monday at least.