Profile - Des Smyth

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Full Name: Desmond John Smyth
Age: 51
Hometown: Drogheda, Ireland
Birthplace: Drogheda, Ireland
Birthdate: December 2, 1953
Family: Wife: Vicki (m. 1981); Children: Karen (1982), Gregory (1984), Shane (1988)
Turned Professional: 1974

RYDER CUP EXPERIENCE

Years Played: 1979, 81, 2006 (Vice Captain) (winners), 2014 (Vice Captain)
Total Matches: 7
Career Ryder Cup Record (W-L-H): 2-5-0
Singles (W-L-H): 0-2-0
Foursomes (W-L-H): 1-2-0
Fourballs (W-L-H): 1-1-0
Total Points Won: 2
Total Points Won Point %: 28.57

RYDER CUP RESULTS

1979: The Greenbrier
USA 17, Europe 11
Day 1 Foursomes: Smyth/Brown lost to Irwin/Kite (7 & 6)
Singles: Smyth lost to Irwin (5 & 3)

1981: Walton Heath
USA 18 1/2, Europe 9 1/2
Day 1 Foursomes: Smyth/Gallacher beat Irwin/Floyd (3 & 2)
Day 1 Fourballs: Smyth/Cañizares beat Rogers/Lietzke (6 & 5)
Day 2 Fourballs: Smyth/Cañizares lost to Nicklaus/Watson (3 & 2)
Day 2 Foursomes: Smyth/Gallacher lost to Kite/Nelson (3 & 2)
Singles: Smyth lost to Crenshaw (6 & 4)

EUROPEAN TOUR CAREER RECORD

Events played: 594
Top Ten finishes: 90
In Money: 412
Official Career Earnings € 2,554,241

Smyth was the oldest winner in European Tour history, between March 2001 and November 2012, when he won the 2001 Madeira Island Open, aged 48 years and 34 days.  Alongside Mark McNulty was the only other player to win a European Tour event in each of the first four decades of the European Tour. (In all has won a professional event in each of the last five different decades).

CAREER VICTORIES

EUROPEAN TOUR INTERNATIONAL SCHEDULE VICTORIES: Total 8
1979 Sun Alliance European Match Play Championship
1980 Newcastle Brown ’900’ Open, Cold Shield Greater Manchester Open (play-off)
1981 Coral Classic
1983 Sanyo Open
1988 BNP Jersey Open (play-off)
1993 Madrid Open
2001 Madeira Island Open

EUROPEAN SENIOR TOUR VICTORIES: Total 5
2005 Arcapita Seniors Tour Championship
2007 Wentworth Senior Masters
2010 Travis Perkins plc Senior Masters
2011 Van Lanschot Senior Open
2012 Travis Perkins plc Senior Masters

CHAMPIONS TOUR VICTORIES: Total 2
2005 SBC Classic, Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf

OTHER TOURNAMENT VICTORIES: Total 8
1979 Irish National PGA Championship, Irish Fourball Championship (with Jimmy Heggarty)
1985 Irish National PGA Championship
1986 Irish National PGA Championship
1990 Irish National PGA Championship
1995 Glen Dimplex Irish Match Play
1996 Irish National PGA Championship
2001 Irish National PGA Championship

TEAMS (PRO)

Ryder Cup 1979, 81, 2006 (Vice Captain) (winners), 2014 (Vice Captain)
Alfred Dunhill Cup 1985, 86, 87, 88 (winners), 2000
World Cup 1979, 80, 82, 88, 89
Hennessy Cognac Cup 1980 (winners), 82 (winners), 84
UBS Cup 2001
EURASIA CUP 2014 (Vice Captain)

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Windy Senior PGA Gives Walton Cut Worry

Philip Walton was one of a number of casualties in the very strong winds at Harbor Shores on Michigan, undoing a very positive start on Thursday afternoon, at the Senior PGA Championship - leaving him now facing the cut on Friday.

Despite being two over par at the turn -in his maiden Champions Tour event - after a double  bogey on the 7th, the Dub liner then birdied the first to steady the ship.

However Walton then dropped  six on the windy route to the clubhouse - finally signing for a round of 78. 

In contrast, after playing only one event on the European Senior Tour this year, Roger Chapman shot 3-under 68 to take the first-round lead.

"We have only played one event in Europe this year, so this is probably my fourth real competitive round this year," the Englishman said. "It's a long way to come, a long wait. But I'm very pleased with the way things are going."

John Cook was a stroke back, and Steve Pate, J.L. Lewis, Jeff Sluman, Jay Haas, David Frost and Jim Carter shot 70.

Chapman tied for 27th last year in the Senior PGA in Kentucky, his best showing in his first three starts in the major championship.

Harbor Shores opened two years ago for its first full season, and the Jack Nicklaus-designed layout gave players quite a challenge on a windy day along the shore of Lake Michigan. Chapman hit all 13 fairways and made five birdies and two bogeys. He birdied Nos. 7, 8 and 9 on the part of the course closest to the lake.

"My expectations were, just go in and come into the tournament and play as well as I can," Chapman said. "And I must say I'm very happy with what's happened today, so just keep it going."

Chapman's performance came somewhat out of nowhere after his pedestrian showing in Europe.

"We had one event, our first event, which was second week in May. We lost a couple sponsors in China and Brunei, which we normally play a couple in March," he explained. "We never really start very early anyway, but this is probably normally about the third or fourth event of the year."

Defending champion Tom Watson is sitting out the tournament because of a wrist problem. Four-time champion Hale Irwin shot 71 -- a solid score that puts him in position to contend again if he can keep it up. Irwin, who turns 67 on June 3, last won the event in 2004, but finished fourth last year.

Fred Couples, who won at Fallen Oak in Mississippi on the Champions Tour in March, made a double bogey on the par-5 15th and shot 76.

"Anything under par is a good score," he said. "It's just another round of golf. I'm 52 years old. If I'm worried what I shot every single round, then that's a problem."

Cook has three top-five finishes on the Champions Tour this year. He missed four fairways, but had only one bogey.

"Today the wind decided it was going to switch completely on us right from the first tee ball. We were trying to figure out what to do there," Cook said. "I know the wind's supposed to be different almost every single day. I know it's supposed to be hot on Sunday. So it just, it just adds those variables."

Bernhard Langer and Mark Calcavecchia shot 73. Fred Funk, coming off a victory May 6 at The Woodlands in the last Champions Tour's event, had a 74. Tom Lehman shot 76.

Birdie Start for Waltz at US Senior PGA

Philip Walton opened his inaugural appearance at the 73rd US Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid with a birdie on the hist first hole - the 538 yard par 5 10th - at Harbor Shores in Michigan.

With wind usually pushing from left to right, the par-5 normally forces the drive along the left side of the fairway to avoid bunkers and hazards in the landing area, with the layup shot to the left side of the fairway on order to give the best shot at the treacherous four-tiered green. 

Known as one of Nicklaus’ most famous greens and at nearly 10,500 sq. ft, players must hit the correct tier to avoid long and undulated lag putts. For the 1995 Ryder Cup legend it proved  grist  to the mill, signing for a one under par four and getting the Malahide golfer off to a good start.

He remains within two shots of the leader after five holes. 

Roger Chapman took the early clubhouse lead after a run of four birdies in five holes around the turn helped the Englishman to a three under par 68.

Chapman fared best among the morning starters in testing winds at Harbor Shores, Michigan, thanks to his hat-trick of birdies from the seventh for a front nine of 34 and then another birdie on the par three 11th. Indeed it could have been five in a row but for a three-putt from distance on the tenth.

The fact he hit every fairway and 16 of the 18 greens in regulation underlined the quality of his ball-striking in the season’s first Senior Major, and only his second event of the season.

“I drove the ball very well, didn't miss a fairway,” he said. “And the iron play was good as well. I had a couple of three putts out there, but I think that if you don't have a three putt in 72 holes around here, then you've done really well.”

“It was a solid round,” he continued. “Surprising really, because we have only played one event in Europe this year, so this is probably my fourth real competitive round this year. So it's a long way to come, and a long wait. But I'm very pleased with the way things are going.”

Chapman’s birdie run began with a 30 foot putt on the seventh, followed by some lovely wedge play on the next two holes as he pitched to 12 feet twice and holed out each time.

“That was a nice little run there and for the momentum going for the round.”

And after the slight blip of a three putt on ten he drained a 40 foot putt on the very next hole.

The 16th was arguably the best indication of the strength of the wind as after hitting nine iron approaches in practice he was forced to go in with a four iron.

“The wind was really starting to pick up about the sixth and seventh. That's when we noticed it. With the wind, and the greens are quite firm, it's very difficult to actually get the ball close. So you might hit a good shot in and it might just go with the wind a bit and go 25, 30 feet past. And then with the slopes on the greens that it makes the putting quite tricky as well.”

Chapman’s closest early challenger was American John Cook, in the clubhouse one behind after a two under par 69.

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Walton in Maiden US Senior PGA

A strong European Senior Tour contingent will travel across the Atlantic this week for the season’s first Senior Major, the US Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid in Michigan.

In total, 29 Senior Tour members will tee it up at Harbor Shores, in Benton Harbor, trying to succeed Tom Watson as champion, with the American unable to defend his title due to a wrist injury.

Looking for his first US Senior PGA Championship title is Germany’s Bernhard Langer, winner of The Senior Open Championship and US Senior Open Championship in 2010. Langer, who was runner-up to Jay Haas in this event in 2008, is joined in the field by fellow former European Ryder Cup Captain Mark James, while Sandy Lyle continues his quest for a first Major as a Senior.

Another Ryder Cup winner on US soil, Philip Walton, is in the field  and is the only Irish entry this week.

Englishman Gary Wolstenholme will be hoping to build on his impressive start to the 2012 season. The former Walker Cup player captured his second Senior Tour title in the Mallorca Open Senior two weeks ago to go into the season’s first Senior Major top of the Senior Tour Order of Merit, having finished fourth on the money list in 2011.

The three men who finished above him last year will also travel to America, with Peter Fowler, Barry Lane and Andrew Oldcorn all having made solid starts to the season in Mallorca. Fowler opened his defence of the John Jacobs Trophy with a share of 16th position, while Lane finished sixth and Oldcorn tied eighth.

There is a debut for Englishman Paul Wesselingh who finished joint runner-up on his debut in Mallorca to earn his spot in the field. That meant the 50 year old, who also came runner-up in the Qualifying School in February to gain his Senior Tour card, will have to forfeit his place in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club, but it is a sacrifice he hopes will benefit his Senior Tour aspirations.

“Any money I win there will count towards the Order of Merit, which will help give me a head start on a lot of the other players, while there’s also the experience as well,” said Wesselingh.

Watson, an honorary member of The European Tour, was forced to withdraw at the weekend with a wrist problem having claimed his sixth Senior Major and 14th overall with victory 12 months ago at Valhalla Golf Club.

The American defeated compatriot David Eger in a play-off to become the oldest player to win a Senior major since the establishment of either the Senior Tour or US Champions Tour, and the second youngest in history after Jock Hutchinson, who was 62 when he won the title in 1947.

Opened in 2010, Harbor Shores is hosting a Major Championship for the first time and was designed by 18-time Major Champion Jack Nicklaus. It will also host the US Senior PGA Championship in 2014.

Walton tees off on Thursday at 1:50 local time and is paired with American duo, Russ Cochran and Joey Sindelar.

 

Walton Plays Senior PGA Championship

Bernhard Langer recovered from 2011 thumb surgery and making his impact felt again in senior golf and heads a list of 36 international players, representing 18 countries, in the 73rd Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid, from May 24 - 27 at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

Begun in 1937, the Senior PGA Championship has featured six international Champions combining for nine titles. Denis Watson, a native of Zimbabwe, who triumphed in 2007, was the last international-born Champion of the most historic and prestigious event in senior golf.

Langer, 54, missed the Senior PGA Championship a year ago after a freak left-thumb injury suffered in an off-season biking accident. That mishap delayed his return to play until mid-June.

Prior to the injury, Langer had finished among the top 25 in three consecutive Senior PGA Championships, including a runner-up finish in 2008. This year, he has posted six top-10 finishes, including two runner-up and one third-place performance.

The 2012 Senior PGA Championship international roster includes England's Gary Wolstenholme, winner of last week's Mallorca Senior Open, the season-opening event on the European Senior Tour. He will make his second Championship appearance. England's Paul Wesselingh, who makes his debut in the Senior PGA Championship, is a former club professional and a six-time PGA Cup standout. He shared runner-up honors in Mallorca in his European Senior Tour debut.

The complete international roster competing at the 73rd Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid: Gordon Brand Jr. (Scotland); Roger Chapman (England); Trevor Dodds (Namibia); Marc Farry (France); Peter Fowler (Australia); Angel Franco (Paraguay); David Frost (South Africa); Michael Harwood (Australia); Mark James (England); Jong-Duck Kim (South Korea); Barry Lane (England); Bernhard Langer (Germany); Chien-Soon Lu (Taiwan); Sandy Lyle (Scotland); Graham Marsh (Australia); Miguel Angel Martin (Spain); Mark McNulty (Zimbabwe); Francisco Minoza (Philippines); Mark Mouland (England); Kiyoshi Murota (Japan); Andrew Oldcorn (Scotland); Juan Quiros (Spain); Eduardo Romero (Argentina); Boonchu Ruangkit (Thailand); David Russell (Scotland); Jim Rutledge (Canada); Peter Seniors (Australia); Nobuo Serizawa (Japan); Andrew Sherborne (England); Ikuo Shirahama (Japan); Rod Spittle (Canada); Philip Walton (Ireland); Denis Watson (Zimbabwe); Paul Wesselingh (England); Christopher Williams (South Africa); and Gary Wolstenholme (England).

Past international Senior PGA Champions include: Jock Hutchison (Scotland), 1937, '47; Fred McLeod (Scotland), 1938; Roberto De Vicenzo (Argentina), 1974; Peter Thomson (Australia), 1984; Gary Player (South Africa) 1986, '88, '90; Denis Watson (Zimbabwe), 2007.

The 73rd Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid welcomes back defending Champion Tom Watson, who also captured the Alfred S. Bourne Trophy in 2001. He is joined by seven other past Champions: Michael Allen (2009); Jay Haas (2006, '08), Denis Watson; Mike Reid (2005); Hale Irwin (1996, '97, '98, 2004); Tom Lehman (2010); and Tom Wargo (1993).

Joining Watson are seven other past Senior PGA Champions: Tom Lehman (2010), Michael Allen (2009), Jay Haas (2006, '08), Denis Watson (2007), Mike Reid (2005), Hale Irwin (1996, '97, '98, 2004), and Tom Wargo (1993).

The Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid is the oldest event on the Champions Tour, originating in 1937 at Augusta National Golf Club at the invitation of the legendary amateur Bobby Jones.