Tuesday 28 July 2015 10:35, UK
Marco Dawson put in an ‘extraordinary’ performance to win the Senior Open Championship, according to two-time major champion Tony Jacklin.
Dawson recovered from being three shots back during the final round at Sunningdale to claim a surprise victory in difficult conditions, holding off the challenge of former multiple Senior major champions Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer.
Victory was just Dawson’s third in a long professional career, with Jacklin impressed at just how the 51-year-old coped with the pressure of leading during the closing holes.
“For me, he had the toughest job this week,” Jacklin told Sky Sports. “He was playing away from home, in a strange place and against guys that were used to their environment.
“He was a stranger coming in here, but stood tall and took these guys on like a great champion. He showed amazing courage, especially over the last nine holes after bogeying the sixth and eighth.
“The momentum all went to Langer and Montgomerie in the group but he pushed on and came through. At the end of the day, it’s courage that counts and we saw it in spades from Marco Dawson.
"It’s courage that counts and we saw it in spades from Marco Dawson."
“With a one-shot lead and Bernhard Langer on his tail, he needed to get it in there (at the 18th) reasonably close which is what he did.
“To shoot 64 around this golf course in those conditions with a couple of bogeys thrown in was something extraordinary.
“It’s said there were no longer fairytales out on the Senior Tour or the Champions Tour, but that was a fairytale story for Dawson. It was great to witness a well-deserved win.”
Sunningdale received plenty of praise from those in the field this week but still has no home in the European Tour schedule, although Jacklin believes the course should still be hosting the world’s best.
“Sadly for the young golfers and the power-hitters like Spieth and McIlroy, this course is too short for them,” Jacklin added. “I just think to make a course like this redundant for the world’s best players is nothing but crazy.
“It’s not the golf equipment that’s making the difference, it’s the golf ball moving literally 40 or 50 yards further than it did when I was in my pomp.
“Mowing more grass, getting more length out there and getting the best part of 8,000 yards like they played at Chambers Bay just costs more money and is just too time consuming for players.
“We want courses where players can get around in three or three and a half hours rather than taking much longer.
“It’s a shame that we rely the powers to be, the R&A and the USPGA, to shepherd the game as sometimes one wonders whether they’re doing all they can to keep it as it needs to be.”
