Tournament: ISPS HANDA Senior Open
Venue: Sunningdale Golf Club, Sunningdale, Berkshire, England
Prize Fund: $2,850,000
Hashtag: #SeniorOpen
K.J. Choi can’t wait to begin his defence of his ISPS HANDA Senior Open title as Europe’s only Senior Major returns to Sunningdale this week.
Choi made history at this event last year when he triumphed at Carnoustie, becoming the first South Korean player to win a Senior Major. He arrives at the famed Berkshire venue having competed at The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush, with the winner of the Senior Open traditionally receiving an exemption each year.
He is part of a worldclass field competing this week, with Major Champions Darren Clarke, Ernie Els and Pádraig Harrington also teeing it up.
Harrington is making his fourth appearance in the ISPS HANDA Senior Open, previously finishing runner-up twice and fifth in his three outings. Like Choi, Harrington also played at Royal Portrush last week, and had the honour of hitting the opening tee shot of the final men’s Major Championship of the season.
The pair will tee it up together in the opening two rounds of the Senior Open, also joined by nine-time PGA TOUR Champions winner Steven Alker, who won the season-long Schwab Cup in 2022, the same year he won the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.
Els is competing in his first Senior Open since 2022, after finishing in a share of third at Gleneagles and then tied for eighth at Sunningdale in 2021. The South African is longing for a victory at this venue, having resided on the nearby Wentworth Estate for a number years.
Els will be joined by two-time Major winner Angel Cabrera and 2018 Senior Open Champion Miguel Angel Jiménez, who won his 17th PGA TOUR Champions title and third Senior Major at last month’s Kaulig Companies Championship.
Clarke became just the fourth person in history to have won both The Open and Senior Open when he beat Harrington to the title at Gleneagles in 2022. Clarke is teeing it up alongside two-time Senior Major winner Jerry Kelly and 2023 Senior Open Champion Alex Čejka.
Player Quotes
K.J. Choi: “I look around the site and the walls, big pictures (of me), I’m so happy. It’s very nice. The feeling is not nervous but a little excited. Still, my golf game, striking the ball and my control is all right. A little bit my short game, a little improving, the putting more better. This week get a good chance.
“On this course, anybody, long hitter, short hitter, has a good chance. Because of the reachable par 5 and some reachable par 4, not too long, some long. But we can do our best and I will try to do my best.”
Pádraig Harrington: “I’m in a good place to compete for sure. You know, coming down here I wasn’t too sure how well this course would suit me. I know it’s a great course, but it can get very fiery. It’s in the fiery at the moment.
“So right now I’m very happy. I’m happy with the lot we’ve got in front of us. I would like it to stay that way for the week. It’s a little green around the greens which is quite nice.”
Ernie Els: “I’ve been looking forward to this all year. When I saw it on the schedule, you know, even last year, I was like, man, that’s the one we want to be at. You know, feels like home, being at home. Been here for 28 years. Played the golf course so many times, so many friends here. So really pleased to be here.
“I’ve been playing decent the last couple of seasons. I’ve been a little bit quiet the last month or so. So I’d like to get some form back. This will be a great week to try and do that, being so familiar with the surroundings and friends.”
Darren Clarke: “I used to live here. I used to play a lot of golf at Sunningdale. Live just a couple minutes away. I’m staying at the other course I’m a member of called Queenwood which is very nice. I’ve got best of both worlds. But any chance you come and play Sunningdale is always wonderful.
“It’s not quite as fiery as it was (in 2021). Fairways are a little bit softer. Greens are a little bit softer right now. But if it dries out a little bit, I’m sure we’ll get that little bit more fiery that I’m more used to Sunningdale playing like.”
