Green, Mark Hensby, John Senden and Gavin Coles conquered qualifying to secure their spot at Saucon Valley Country Club, bolstering an Aussie contingent that also boasts Rod Pampling, Stuart Appleby, Robert Allenby and Kiwis Steven Alker and 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell.

Green’s graduation into the senior ranks was delayed by the COVID-19 outbreak but the 51-year-old is quickly making up for lost time.

He has spent the past few weeks criss-crossing the Atlantic – topping US Senior Open qualifying in Ohio and missing the cut at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship before making a triumphant debut on the Legends Tour in Europe.

Green defeated 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie in a playoff to claim the Jersey Legends event and after last week’s European Legends Links Championship returns to the US for his second senior major.

A course record 64 in the final round at Carnoustie in 2007 gave Green an anxious wait to see whether his four-round total of 279 would be enough to claim the Claret Jug.

Hours later, however, he was consigned to a share of fourth, two shots out of the playoff won by Padraig Harrington over Sergio Garcia.

Harrington may once again prove to be the player to beat this week as the three-time major champion makes his US Senior Open debut on the back of three runner-up finishes on the Champions Tour in the past 10 weeks.

“I’m coming into these as the new kid on the block,” said Harrington. “I’m in good form, so I’m trying to manage my own expectations.

“It feels like how I would have been trying to manage my tournament preparation back in my heyday, where I’d be going into these events, not hoping to win, but strongly expecting to be in contention.”

As the Aussie over-50s prepare for a typical USGA test, two of our rising stars are returning to the international scene in Europe.

Elvis Smylie is playing his first event on the DP World Tour since last September’s Dutch Open while Gippsland Super 6 champion Jack Thompson is making his Challenge Tour debut at the Blot Open de Bretagne in France.

With seven Aussies teeing it up at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club, Junseok Lee defending his Kolon Korea Open crown and Marc Leishman chasing a second Travelers Championship win it promises to be another busy week for Australia’s international contingent.

Round 1 tee times AEST

Champions Tour
US Senior Open Championship
Saucon Valley Country Club, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
9.31pm*             John Senden, Matt Gogel, Thomas Gillis
9.52pm*             Robert Allenby, Doug Barron, Bob Estes
10.13pm*           Stuart Appleby, Brandt Jobe, Paul Goydos
10.45pm*           Gavin Coles, David Berganio Jr, Ken Duke
3.01am Mark Hensby, Robert Funk (a), Omar Uresti
3.22am Michael Campbell, Scott Verplank, Olin Browne
3.43am Rod Pampling, Paul Broadhurst, Markus Brier
4.04am Steven Alker, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Bernhard Langer
4.25am Richard Green, Brian Wilson, Jack Hall (a)

Defending champion: Jim Furyk (2020)
Past Aussie winners: Graham Marsh (1997)
Top Aussie prediction: Richard Green
TV times: Live 4am-9am Friday, Saturday; Live 6am-9am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 505

LPGA Tour
KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
Congressional Country Club, Bethesda, Maryland
9.16pm*             Katherine Kirk, Allie Knight, Linnea Johansson
9.38pm*             Sarah Kemp, Amy Olson, Sanna Nuutinen
9.55pm Hannah Green, Nasa Hataoka, Lizette Salas
10.44pm*           Su Oh, Gerina Mendoza, Yaeeun Hong
11.12pm             Sarah Jane Smith, Stephanie Connelly-Eiswerth, Nuria Iturrioz
2.17am*             Stephanie Kyriacou, Jenny Suh Thompson, Brittany Lang
2.50am*             Minjee Lee, Sei Young Kim, Anna Nordqvist
3.01am*             Lydia Ko, Ariya Jutanugarn, Jessica Korda

Defending champion: Nelly Korda
Past Aussie winners: Jan Stephenson (1982), Karrie Webb (2001), Hannah Green (2019)
Top Aussie prediction: Minjee Lee
TV times: Live 2am-5am Friday, Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 3am-6am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 505

PGA TOUR
Travelers Championship
TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut
8.45pm*             Danny Lee, Brian Harman, Jonas Blixt
9.15pm Cam Davis, Mark Hubbard, Brandt Snedeker
9.15pm*             Jason Day, Stewart Cink, Charles Howell III
2.40am Marc Leishman, Patrick Cantlay, Harris English
4am*    Brett Drewitt, Curtis Thompson, Adam D’Amario                                        

Defending champion: Harris English
Past Aussie winners: Greg Norman (1995), Marc Leishman (2012)
Top Aussie prediction: Marc Leishman
TV times: Live 5am-8am Friday, Saturday; Live 3am-8am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503

DP World Tour
BMW International Open
Golfclub München Eichenried, Munich, Germany
3.50pm Wade Ormsby, Adrian Otaegui, Oliver Bekker
4.10pm*             Ryan Fox, Billy Horschel, Thomas Pieters
5.10pm Scott Hend, Frederic Lacroix, Rafa Echenique
8.50pm*             Elvis Smylie, Oliver Fisher, Espen Kofstad
9.30pm*             Maverick Antcliff, Nino Bertasio, Jonathan Caldwell
10.20pm             Zach Murray, Julian Suri, Daan Huizing

Defending champion: Viktor Hovland
Past Aussie winners: Peter Fowler (1993)
Top Aussie prediction:
TV times: Live 8.30pm-2am Thursday; Live 11.30pm-2am Friday; Live 9.30pm-2am Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503

Japan Golf Tour
Japan Players Championship
Nishinasuno Country Club, Tochigi
8.10am Dylan Perry, Daijiro Izumida, Shintaro Kobayashi
8.20am Adam Bland, Miraiya Akutsu, Tatsuya Kodai
8.30am Michael Hendry, Kenshiro Ikegami, Tomohiro Kondo
9.20am*             David Bransdon, Yuki Mori, Takeda Nosuke
12.40pm*           Andrew Evans, Yosuke Asaji, Kodai Ichihara

Defending champion: Naoyuki Kataoka
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Dylan Perry

Asian Tour
Kolon The 64th Korea Open Golf Championship
Woo Jeong Hills Country Club, Korea
9.31am Ben Eccles, Jooyeob Baek, Seung Park
12.41pm             Wonjoon Lee, Minchel Choi, Wooyoung Cho (a)
1.03pm Junseok Lee, Bio Kim, Sihwan Kim
1.25pm*             Kevin Yuan, Itthipat Buranatanyarat, Daehyun Jun
1.36pm*             Kevin Chun, Natipong Srithong, Jaemin Hwang
2.09pm*             Cory Crawford, Taewoo Kim, Seonghyeon Jeon

Defending champion: Junseok Lee
Past Aussie winners: Junseok Lee (2021)
Top Aussie prediction: Junseok Lee
TV times: Live 2pm-6pm Thursday, Friday, Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 2pm-6pm Sunday on Fox Sports +

Korn Ferry Tour
Live and Work in Maine Open
Falmouth Country Club, Falmouth, Maine
8.40pm* Curtis Luck, Robby Shelton, Sangmoon Bae
9.43pm*             Nick Voke, Michael Johnson, Alex Weiss
9.54pm*             Ryan Ruffels, Taylor Dickson, John Pak
2.11am Rhein Gibson, Norman Xiong, Charlie Saxon

Defending champion: Chad Ramey
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Curtis Luck

Challenge Tour
Blot Open de Bretagne
Golf Blue Green de Pléneuf Val André, Pléneuf, France
6.50pm*             Jack Thompson, Matias Honkala, Pieter Moolman

Defending champion: Julien Brun
Past Aussie winners: Scott Arnold (2015)
Top Aussie prediction: Jack Thompson

Epson Tour
Island Resort Championship
Sweetgrass Golf Club, Harris, Michigan
Australasians in the field: Laura Hoskin, Robyn Choi, Julienne Soo, Grace Kim, Karis Davidson, Amelia Garvey, Hira Naveed, Gabriela Ruffels, Soo Jin Lee, Stephanie Na, Emily Mahar

Defending champion: Morgane Metraux
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction:

Ladies European Tour
Tipsport Czech Ladies Open
Beroun Golf Club, Czech Republic
Aussies in the field: Amy Walsh

Defending champion: Atthaya Thitikul
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Amy Walsh

PGA TOUR Latinoamerica
Bupa Tour Championship
PGA Riviera Maya, Tulum, Mexico
11.30pm*           Denzel Ieremia, Andreas Halvorsen, Matias Dominguez

Defending champion: Patrick Newcomb
Past Aussie winners: Nil

PGA TOUR Canada
Elk Ridge Open
Elk Ridge Resort (Tournament Cse), Waskesiu Lake, Saskatchewan
10.30pm             Will Barnett, Riley Wheeldon, Philip Barbaree
4.40am Cameron John, Ryan Orr, Parker Coody

Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Cameron John