Senior Open Championship: Tom Watson eyeing Sunningdale glory

Thursday 23 July 2015 11:20, UK

Tom Watson will be aiming to claim an unprecedented fourth Senior Open title at Sunningdale this week, live on Sky Sports.

A truly world class field of no fewer than 32 major champions with 77 major titles between them will tee up over one of the most iconic courses in the world.

An evergreen Watson, 65, was almost overcome by emotion after completing his final round at the 144th Open last Friday.

The five-time champion bade farewell to the event at St Andrews with which he is synonymous with a poignant walk up to the 18th green at close to 10pm.

"I've been around 40 years playing the Open, and it was a joyous occasion last week," he told the official European Tour website.

"Now we’re onto this week, and Sunningdale is a wonderful golf course. We professional golfers look forward to coming to golf courses that we love to play and this is one of them.

"This is a course you look forward to coming to play, and the reason is the variety of the shots that you have to play here. You have some blind tee shots you have to understand. You have to deal with flag positions on greens.

"And of course there's always the halfway house and the sausage rolls you always come back for!"

The two-time Ryder Cup captain is now looking forward to the challenge of the picturesque Old Course in Surrey (6,618 yards) where he will be joined by a who's who of golfing royalty.

The tournament is the last of the Champions Tour's five majors. Jeff Maggert won the US Senior Open and Regions Tradition while Bernhard Langer took the Senior Players Championship, and Colin Montgomerie won the Senior PGA Championship.

Langer won at Royal Porthcawl in Wales by a Champions Tour-record 13 strokes last year and he will be among the favourites with Scotsman Montgomerie, who has won the last two US Senior PGA Championships and the 2014 US Senior Open.

"It would mean the world to me to win here as well. It's a lovely place to be, just to walk around even, never mind even playing the great golf course," said the 52-year-old Montgomerie, who leads the US Champions Tour standings.

"It's playing quite short because the firmness of the heat we've had down in London this year, so that will help soften the course and make it less fiery, which will make the course play better."

Watson, Langer and Montgomerie will be joined by the likes of Fred Couples, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Tom Lehman, Mark O’Meara and Sandy Lyle, who is still searching for his first Senior Major.

Watch all the action from the Senior Open Championship, live on your home of golf, Sky Sports 4 HD, from 12pm this Thursday.