Mark Mouland travels to the Benahavis Senior Masters in Spain this week with a renewed focus after his win in Portugal last week blew the race for the 2011 European Senior Tour’s Rookie of the Year award wide open.
Gary Wolstenholme is currently leading rookie on the Senior Tour Order of Merit, in fifth position after an extremely consistent first full year which has included 11 top 20 finishes in 18 appearances and coincidentally, four third place finishes.
However, Mouland’s first Senior Tour victory at the Belas Clube de Campo Senior Open de Portugal last week means Wolstenholme is far from guaranteed to claim the Rookie of the Year award.
Mouland moved from 28thplace to 17thin the Senior Tour Rankings with that win and is now only €45,996 behind six time Walker Cup player Wolstenholme, who was in contention in Portugal before finishing in third place.
With €180,000 on offer and a first prize of €27,000 at the Benahavis Senior Masters at La Quinta Golf and Country Club, Mouland will be hoping to better the Englishman in order to close the gap in the race for the Rookie of the Year title.
“I am only playing this tournament and then the MCB Tour Championship in Mauritius at the end of the year so it would be great to go to Mauritius, where I have a good record, still vying for the Rookie of the Year award,” said Mouland. “A good finish or even another win at Benahavis would certainly help me achieve that.”
Wolstenholme also plays in the Benahavis Senior Masters as he continues his search for a first win of the 2011 season.
The 51 year old claimed the first title of his professional career at the 2010 Casa Serena Open, after a long and successful amateur career but has yet to win a second in his first full year on the Senior Tour.
All signs were pointing to Wolstenholme early in the final day at the Belas Clube de Campo Senior Open de Portugal as he stormed to the top of the field, going five under for the day at one point thanks to birdies on the first, third, eighth, 10th, 11thand 13th.
But a double bogey on the par three penultimate hole left him with a 70, putting paid to his chances as he finished in third position for the fourth time this year.
Mouland and Wolstenholme are part of a strong field for the third edition of the Benahavis Senior Masters, which includes Order of Merit leader Peter Fowler, all-time Senior Tour leading money winner Carl Mason, who captured the title in 2009, and former Ryder Cup Captain Mark James.
