Major Champion Ian Woosnam warmed up for this week’s ISPS Handa PGA Seniors Championship, held at De Vere Mottram Hall in Cheshire, with a top ten finish on the US Champions Tour.
The Welshman closed with a stunning round of 67 at the Principal Charity Classic for a seven under par aggregate total, which was good enough to take joint seventh place behind the eventual winner Russ Cochran of America, who won The Senior Open Championship in 2011.
Woosnam’s game is thus in fine fettle ahead of the first regular event of the 2013 European Senior Tour season, which will start on Thursday at the recently-renovated Mottram St Andrew venue.
Joining Woosnam at the 57th edition of the ISPS Handa PGA Seniors Championship will be his fellow former Ryder Cup Captains Mark James of England and Scotland’s Sam Torrance.
Torrance boasts a formidable record in the £260,000 tournament, having won on two occasions – in 2005 and 2006 – and finished tied third behind England’s Gordon J Brand in 2008.
Brand returns for another tilt at the title this year, as does the defending champion Paul Wesselingh, who finished fifth in the 2012 Order of Merit and was named the Rookie of the Year in an impressive debut campaign.
Other notable names in the field include Zimbabwean Tony Johnstone, who mixes his appearances on the Senior Tour with his commentary work for Sky Sports; and the Senior Tour’s most successful player, Carl Mason, whose record haul of 25 titles includes three victories at the ISPS Handa PGA Seniors Championship.
Amongst those making their Senior Tour debuts this week are Spaniard Santiago Luna, England’s Paul Way, who won three titles – including the 1985 BMW PGA Championship – in a glittering career on The European Tour, and his close friend and compatriot Mike McLean, the winner of the 1990 Portuguese Open.
First played in 1957, the ISPS Handa PGA Seniors Championship is the longest-running tournament on the Senior Tour Schedule.
Having recently undergone a £6million refurbishment, De Vere Mottram Hall will be hosting the Championship for the first time this year.
Designed by renowned architect Dave Thomas, the Championship course is set in 270 acres of rolling Cheshire parkland.
Tickets for the tournament can be purchased on the gate, priced at £15 for any one day ticket and £35 for a season ticket.
Tour preview
