In-form Haas heads Senior Open field
BY Bruce Young | Champions Tour | 2007 US Senior Open | Preview | 05 Jul 2007
In what is the Open month on the US golfing calendar, another will take place this week when the US Senior Open is played over the brilliant Whistling Straits layout on the shores of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin.
The venue for the USPGA Championship in 2004, Whistling Straits is the brainchild of Herbert Kholer, the head of the Kholer Company, a huge manufacturer of bathroom products. Kohler engaged the husband and wife team of Pete and Alice Dye to build the two courses at Whistling Straits. The Straits course has not only held the PGA Championship and this week’s event but also it will hold the PGA Championship again in 2010 and 2015.
The US Senior Open was first played in 1980 and has grown to be the most significant event in the game for the over fifties. Last year the event was played at Prairie Dunes in Kansas and was won for the second consecutive year by Allen Doyle, who beat Tom Watson by two shots.
Jay Haas, the winner of four events on the Champions Tour in 2007 and twice runner up, is the outstanding favourite to take the title with Loren Roberts expected to be his biggest challenger. Eduardo Romero might just make it a unique double for Argentina this week with a win to back up Angel Cabrera’s effort at Oakmont. Sam Torrance flies the British flag this week and on a golf course which might suit him more than others, he might have an outside chance.
A player of interest will be Seve Ballesteros who has only recently become eligible age wise to play the event and gets a start as a one time exemption into the event as a multiple major winner. Ballesteros will not be at a stage with his game after returning from back and knee injury to be ready to do well but his performance will be watched with interest.
Graham Marsh, the winner in 1997 and runner up in 1994 is the only Australian in the field. At the age of 63, Marsh is still plying his trade on the Champions Tour but is unlikely to feature this week.
