Who will be the happiest golfer in the field come Sunday evening at the 42nd U.S. Senior Open at historic Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania?
Jim Furyk?
Ernie Els?
Bernhard Langer?
Or, maybe someone else?
We take our best guesses here with the 10 players to watch as the Senior Open returns to Saucon Valley for the third time (1992, 2000) beginning Thursday. And we tell you who we think will win.
This marks the third of five majors on the senior circuit in 2022.
The field has 156 players. Here’s our 10 with their Thursday tee times in parentheses.
Steve Stricker (2:04 p.m. on the 10th tee)
He won the Senior Open three years ago, still spends some time playing the regular PGA Tour, and has 30 top 10s in 36 Champions Tour starts. Pretty impressive stuff.
Bernhard Langer (2:04 p.m. on the 1st tee)
He’ll be 65 in August and is still beating guys on this Tour (where the minimum age is 50) regularly. In 10 starts this season, he has a win, a second and two thirds. Remarkable.
Bob Estes (7:52 a.m. on 10th tee)
Bob Estes? Yeah, a bit of a dark horse pick here, but he’s the leading putter on the Champions tour and Saucon Valley’s greens are nasty.
Jim Furyk (8:34 a.m. on 10th tee)
He’s the defending Senior Open champ; the crowd will be behind him because he’s a Pennsylvania native (Manheim Township High School); and he’s a name player with plenty of game.
Darren Clarke (7:52 a.m. on 1st tee)
Maybe I’m falling for the name recognition here since Clarke has no top 10s on the Champions tour this season, but just call it a hunch.
Ernie Els (2:04 p.m. on 10th tee)
The “Big Easy” can still bomb it off the tee (he’s second in driving distance on the Champions tour at nearly 294 yards) and knows all about pressure situations (two U.S. Open wins and two British Open wins).
Padraig Harrington (7:52 a.m. on 1st tee)
He’s a three-time major champion who has had three runner-up showings in his last five Champions events. He comes in hot and that’s never a bad thing.
Jerry Kelly (8:34 a.m. on 1st tee)
One of the Champions tour’s good guys, he’s worth following around the course just for his commentary. But he can play, too, and has a win and a third place this season.
Miguel Angel Jimenez (2:04 p.m. on 1st tee)
Still going strong, and still enjoying his cigars, Jimenez has two wins and two third-place finishes in 11 Champions starts this season. That’s smokin’.
Steven Alker (2:04 p.m. on 1st tee)
If you follow the Champions, you know about this guy. He won the Senior PGA Championship last month and is the top-ranked player among the 50-and-over set.
The winner?
I’d love to see Kelly get his first major and it would be a blast if Jimenez won, with his cigar and freewheeling style reminding many here of legendary 1992 champion Larry Laoretti. But the nod here goes to the steady and straight off the tee Stricker as your winner.
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