Eamonn Darcy makes his long-awaited European Seniors Tour debut when he tees up against a strong field at the Travis Perkins Senior Masters, to be staged over the Edinburgh course at the Wentworth Club from August 16-18.
The former Ryder Cup player turns 50 on August 7 and a mere nine days later will make his first Seniors start as part of an impressive line-up that includes two former Open Champions - Tony Jacklin and Bob Charles - the former Wentworth Club professional, Bernard Gallacher, and the Irishman's great friend and rival, Christy O'Connor Jnr.
Defending champion, America's David Oakley and the 2001European Seniors Tour Number One, Australia's Ian Stanley, are in the field along with Japan's Seiji Ebihara, the current Number One on the 2002 Order of Merit.
Darcy joins the Seniors Tour after winning almost £2 million in 30 successful seasons on The European Tour. During that time he won four Tour titles at the 1977 Greater Manchester Open, the 1983 Benson and Hedges Spanish Open, the 1987 Volvo Belgian Open and the 1990 Emirates Airline Desert Classic but will always be best remembered for the massive contribution he made in his four Ryder Cup appearances.
The Irishman's finest Ryder Cup moment came when he holed a treacherous four foot downhill putt to clinch his singles match against Ben Crenshaw at the 1987 match at Muirfield Village. That putt secured Darcy a one hole win and also enabled Seve Ballesteros to clinch Europe's first success on American soil moments later.
Darcy travels to England in fine form having finished in a tie for sixth place behind Denmark's Søren Hansen at the recent Murphy's Irish Open at Fota Island. However, he knows he will have to play equally well if he is to win on his debut at Wentworth Club and join an illustrious list of previous winners that includes Gary Player (1997), Brian Huggett (1998), Neil Coles (1999), David Creamer (2000) and Oakley (2001).
Twelve months ago, Oakley, a former club professional from Orlando, Florida, led from start to finish to win his third European Seniors Tour title. The American posted rounds of 68, 69 and 71 to finish three shot ahead of England's Malcolm Gregson and four in front of Welshman, Craig Defoy and America's Hank Woodrome. A few weeks later, "the Oak", as he is called by his peers, also won the Scottish Senior Open at The Roxburghe Club near Kelso.
Charles, the 1963 Open champion, started the 2002 season in America where he finished tied fifth at the Greater Baltimore Open and tied eighth at the Bruno Memorial Classic. Since then, he claimed a share of ninth place at the lucrative Wales Seniors Open before winning the £3,000 Hardys Wines Super Seniors prize, awarded to the leading competitor aged 60 and over, at the Senior British Open, presented by MasterCard at The Royal County Down Golf Club.
O'Connor Jnr, the Senior British Open champion in both 1999 and 2000, could only finish third at this year's championship. However, his closing rounds of 73 and 70, compiled in terrible weather conditions, suggested he is now almost back to his best form after missing almost all of the 2001 season as the result of a broken ankle sustained in a freak motorbike accident.
The two Irishmen, O'Connor and Darcy, will start out among the favourites alongside the impressive Ebihara, winner of this year's AIB Irish Open and Wales Seniors Open, but Gallacher could well figure prominently.
Gallacher, the former Ryder Cup Captain and a man who won 13 titles on The European Tour, ended an agonising three year wait for his first Seniors Tour title when he won The Mobile Cup at the Stoke Park Club in Buckinghamshire recently. He also has added incentive to do well at Wentworth Club, not just because he is a former club professional and captain, but also because he teamed up with Gary Player and John Jacobs to design the lauded Edinburgh lay-out.
Gallacher is one of 15 former Ryder Cup golfers to tee up in the Travis Perkins Senior Masters field. That list also includes Neil Coles, winner of the recent Lawrence Batley Seniors Open at the age of 67 and 276 days, as well as Maurice Bembridge, Darcy, Peter Dawson, Antonio Garrido, Malcolm Gregson, Tommy Horton, Brian Huggett, Jacklin, O'Connor, Eddie Polland, Peter Townsend, Brian Waites and Norman Wood.
