Tag: 2024 Senior Open Championship

K.J. Choi claims first senior major victory at 2024 Senior Open Championship

For Choi, it’s his second PGA Tour Champions victory and first since 2021.

It was a special Sunday for K.J. Choi in Scotland.

The 54-year-old from South Korea won his first senior major championship at Carnoustie, going low on the back nine to pull away and win the 2024 Senior Open Championship by two shots over Richard Green.

“Very historical for Korean player to win this,” he said.

Choi, who led by one entering the final round, shot 4-under 32 on the back nine to finish at 10 under for the week.

For Choi, it’s his second PGA Tour Champions victory and first since 2021. He was the only player to shoot under par all four rounds in the Senior Open Championship, and only 11 players finished under par for the week.

“I really want it, champion, because my dream come true,” he said. “For player from Korea, is always Open watch on TV.

“This event is historical in Korea, first-time champion in Senior Open. Very proud this week.”

Paul Broadhurst placed third at 6 under while Stephen Ames came in fourth at 3 under. Green birdied the final hole while Choi made bogey, but with a four-shot lead heading to the final hole, the lead was safe.

In 2007, Choi placed T-8 at the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie.

Angel Cabrera still lurking at Carnoustie as K.J. Choi, Richard Green lead Senior Open

“So my caddie say, okay, tomorrow, no mistake.”

Angel Cabrera’s return to competitive golf has gone swimmingly thus far.

Cabrera, 54, was in prison in Brazil and Argentina for more than two years for domestic violence and other charges. In May, he was granted a visa. In June, he made his PGA Tour Champions return in Wisconsin. Two weeks after that, he won a match play event in England, his first professional victory after four years away from the game.

But now, he’s contending at a major, as his 70 in Saturday’s third round of the Senior Open Championship left him just five shots behind K.J. Choi heading into the final round of play.

Cabrera struggled a bit on the front with a pair of bogeys and a single birdie, but after the turn he caught fire, posting a 33 on the back to move into fifth place at 3 under for the tournament. Choi sits at 8 under while Richard Green (7 under), Arjun Atwal (6 under) and Paul Broadhurst (4 under) are ahead of him.

As a past winner on the PGA Tour, Cabrera is a PGA Tour Champions member, but his entry into a field is dependent upon how the field is filled, according to a spokesperson for PGA Tour Champions. As a major championship winner, he is eligible for both restricted and unrestricted sponsor exemptions, and there is no limit to the number of sponsor exemptions he can receive. He also is exempt to compete in an event qualifier as a past champion on the PGA Tour.

Meanwhile, Choi is in position to capture the first major of his illustrious career. The eight-time PGA Tour winner overcame a rough stretch on the back nine Saturday, but posted a birdie on the final hole to regain the lead.

“Today, a couple shot mistake and then more worse than yesterday, last two days,” Choi said. “So my caddie say, okay, tomorrow, no mistake. So we make birdie. Make try on the irons. It’s a good sign today and happy with round.”

KJ Choi leads Senior British Open, Angel Cabrera is five shots back after 36 holes at Carnoustie

Choi is the only golfer in the field with two sub-70 rounds.

KJ Choi has a pair of 69s at Carnoustie Golf Links this week, the only golfer in the field at the 2024 Senior Open with two sub-70 rounds. In fact, he has two of the just eight rounds in the 60s so far out of the 304 scores that have been posted over two days at the Scottish links.

Choi has the solo lead at six under, up two on the field halfway through the final senior men’s major of 2024.

Choi bogeyed the 18th hole for a second day in a row but offset three overall second-round bogeys with four birdies and an eagle on the par-5 12th hole.

Choi, 54, hasn’t won a senior tour event since 2020 and has never won a major on any tour but he’s in good position now to break that streak.

Meanwhile, the comeback story of Angel Cabrera continues. Cabrera, 54, was in prison in Brazil and Argentina 2 ½ years for domestic violence and other lesser charges. In May, he was granted a visa. In June, he made his PGA Tour Champions return in Wisconsin. Two weeks after that, he won a match play event in England, his first professional victory after four years away from the game.

Now, he’s contending at a major. He opened with a 73 but posted a 1-under 70 on Friday to climb into a tie for sixth. He’s one of just nine golfers in the field under par after 36 holes.

Stephen Ames is solo second at 4 under. Richard Green and Padraig Harrington are tied for third at 3 under. Miguel Angel Martin is solo fifth at 2 under. Cabrera is in a group of five golfers tied for sixth at 1 under, alongside Darren Clarke, Peter Baker, Arjun Atwal and Paul Broadhurst, who became a viral hit in the first round after whiffing on a putt from two inches away from the cup.

Three golfers are tied for 11th at even par: Bernhard Langer, Steven Alker and Thomas Bjorn, who will serve as a vice captain for the European Ryder Cup team in 2025.

The cut came in at 7 over. Among those not advancing to the weekend include Justin Leonard, Tim Herron, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jerry Kelly.

Watch: Pro whiffs putt from inches away at major championship

Missing a short putt can leave scar tissue — just ask Rory McIlroy — but it happens to the best of us.

Missing a short putt can leave scar tissue — just ask Rory McIlroy — but it happens to the best of us. What’s worse is to miss the ball completely. That’s what happened to British pro Paul Broadhurst, 58, during the first round of the British Senior Open at Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland.

“I had a fresh air putt,” said the winner of the 2016 Senior Open after the round.

That’s never a good thing. Broadhurst’s first putt came up inches short at the seventh hole and when he went to tap-in, he whiffed.

“I sort of pulled out of it but the putter passed over the ball and went past it,” he explained. “I checked with the referee. I made a legitimate attempt at it. I sort of went back and didn’t get to the ball. ”

He marked a double-bogey six on the card and proceeded to bogey the ninth and could feel the round slipping away. But he rallied to come home in 31, making a birdie at No. 10 that seemed to right the ship, birdies both of the par 5’s at Nos. 12 and 14 and closed with back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18 to shoot 69.

Most golfers would have been mentally broken by missing from inches away but Broadhurst found a way to overcome the gaffe. Still, this will be shown on blooper reels for years to come.

After being frustrated by pace of play, ‘happy’ Stephen Ames has stayed steady at Senior Open

“I think it’s overall just everything is kind of clicking nicely for me.”

After posting an impressive 68 during the opening round at the 2024 Senior Open Championship, Stephen Ames said that sluggish play might have kept him from going even lower.

“The pace of play kind of hindered us a little bit coming down at the end there. So that kind of threw me off-balance,” Ames said Thursday.

On Friday the winds picked up in the morning and although Ames could only manage an even-par 72 at Carnoustie, he was happy to do so. The score put him at 4 under at the midway point and had him in the lead after the early wave finished during the second round.

“It was more going for the middle of the greens, 25-, 30-footers. It was tough to make birdies from there,” he said. “And also they did a good job of tucking the pins. It was obviously a bit more difficult to get birdies out there.”

Ames is no stranger to being atop the leaderboard. In 15 PGA Tour Champions starts this season, he has a pair of victories and 10 top-10 finishes. And although he was perturbed with Thursday’s slow play, he’s in a happy place overall, and that’s led to his consistency.

“Being calm, I guess, more than anything else. You’re going to hit bad shots. That’s golf. You’re human. Accepting those and moving on rather than trying to analyze why I hit the bad shot. Short game has been good and putter has been working nicely, too,” he said. “I think it’s overall just everything is kind of clicking nicely for me, and I’m in a happier part of my life right now, so it’s wonderful.”

And how did a native of Trinidad and Tobago who has also lived in Canada and Florida become an expert at links golf? Practice, of course. Ames is a regular at Royal Birkdale and also played St. Andrews with his wife in advance of this event.

“I think getting used to the grasses, playing the bump-and-runs, running it up, all those kind of shots, I had to kind of relearn as we normally do when we come over here,” Ames said. ” I think it did a lot, yes, for sure.”