Despite putting himself in contention in all four seniors majors so far this year, a win has eluded Richard Green.
His most agonising chances slipped by at the US Senior Open and the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship where he finished in second and third place respectively.
Though if you asked the Victorian at the beginning of the year which major he has the best chance of winning, he would have likely answered this week’s Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex, where 13 Australians will be teeing it up.
Green has fond memories of Carnoustie, this week’s host venue, and what’s more, as Jimmy Emanuel points out in his tournament preview, life on the Bellarine Peninsula and a career spent largely in Europe has honed Green’s game for links golf and wind.
In his pre-seniors career, Green’s best major championship finish came in the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie, where a final round 7-under 64 saw him finish in a share of fourth with Ernie Els.
At the time, that 64 matched Carnoustie’s course-record and stood for 10 years until a Tommy Fleetwood 63 took the mantle.
“I was as focused as I ever was in a golf tournament. In situations where I’ve won before it was equal to today,” Green said in 2007.
With the form he is in, if Green can find that same focus, he may just go one better this time at Carnoustie.
Elsewhere, Australia is well represented on the LPGA Tour, with eight players heading to the CPKC Women’s Open in Canada.
While last season’s Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner Kazuma Kobori makes his Korn Ferry Tour debut at the NV5 Invitational alongside six Australians including youngster Karl Vilips.
PGA TOUR
3M Open
TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, Minnesota
10:51pm* Cam Davis
3:21am* Aaron Baddeley
Defending champion: Lee Hodges
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US8.1 million
TV times: 9:30pm-8:30am Thursday, Friday Fox Sports 503 and Kayo. 11pm-8am Saturday Fox Sports 503 and Kayo. 10pm-8am Sunday Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
PGA TOUR Champions
The Senior Open Championship
Carnoustie Golf Club, Carnoustie, Scotland
5:00pm Vijay Singh (FIJI)
5:10pm Steven Alker (NZ)
5:20pm Richard Green
5:30pm Stuart Appleby
5:40pm John Senden
6:15pm David Mackenzie
6:35pm Stephen Allan
6:45pm Peter O’Malley
7:20pm Rod Pampling
7:30pm Jason Norris
8:25pm Peter Fowler
8:35pm Mark Hensby
9:05pm Michael Campbell (NZ)
9:15pm Scott Hend
10:20pm Michael Long (NZ)
11:25pm Greg Chalmers
12:30am Michael Wright
Defending champion: Alex Cejka
Past Aussie winners: Ian Stanley (2001)
Prize money: $US2.85 million
TV times: 9:30pm-3am Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.
LPGA Tour
CPKC Women’s Open
Earl Grey Golf Club, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
11:44pm Stephanie Kyriacou
11:48pm* Sarah Kemp
11:55pm Gabriela Ruffels
12:06am Grace Kim, Hira Naveed
12:21am* Minjee Lee
5:16am Lydia Ko (NZ)
5:27am Hannah Green
6:15am* Robyn Choi
Defending champion: Megan Khang
Past Aussie winners: Katherine Kirk (2008)
Prize money: $US2.6 million
TV times: 8:30am-11:30am Friday, Saturday Fox Sports 503 and Kayo. 8am-11am Sunday, Monday Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
LIV Golf
LIV Golf UK
JCB Golf and Country Club, Rocester, England
11:15pm Cam Smith, Matt Jones, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert, Danny Lee (NZ)
Defending champion: Cameron Smith
Past Aussie winners: Cameron Smith (2023)
Prize money: $US20 million
TV times: Live 2am Saturday, Sunday, Monday on 7 Plus.
Korn Ferry Tour
NV5 Invitational
The Glen Club, Glenview, Illinois
9:30pm Brett Drewitt
9:30pm* Dimi Papadatos
11:20pm Karl Vilips
11:42pm* Danny List
3:23pm Curtis Luck
3:45am* Rhein Gibson
5:02am Kazuma Kobori (NZ)
Defending champion: Trace Crowe
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US1 million
Challenge Tour
Black Desert NI Open
Galgorm Castle Golf Club, Northern Ireland
5:20pm Connor McKinney
5:30pm Hayden Hopewell
11:30pm Tom Power Horan
Defending champion: Euan Walker
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: £250,000
PGA TOUR Americas
Commissionaires Ottawa Open
Eagle Creek Golf Club, Ottawa, Ontario
3:40am Grant Booth
4:00am* Harry Hillier (NZ)
4:20am* Charlie Hillier (NZ)
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US225,000
TV times:
Sunshine Tour
SunBet Challenge
Wild Coast Sun Country Club, Port Edward, South Africa
Australasians in the field: Austin Bautista.
Defending champion: CJ du Plessis
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: R2 million