2023 Senior Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates27–30 July 2023
LocationPorthcawl, Wales, United Kingdom
51°29′31″N 3°43′34″W / 51.492°N 3.726°W / 51.492; -3.726
Course(s)Royal Porthcawl Golf Club
Organised byThe R&A
Tour(s)
Format72 holes stroke play
Statistics
Par71
Length6,901 yd (6,310 m)
Field144 players
Cut147 (71 players)
Prize fundUS$2,750,000
£2,200,000
Winner's shareUS$447,800
€407,630
Champion
Germany Alex Čejka
289 (+5)
Location Map
Location in Europe
Location on the British Isles
Location in Wales

The 2023 Senior Open Championship was a senior major golf championship for players aged 50 and over and the 36th Senior Open Championship. It was held 27–30 July at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Porthcawl, Wales. It was the 20th Senior Open Championship played as a senior major championship.[1][2][3][4][5] The presenting sponsor was Rolex.

Venue

The club was founded in 1891. In 1895, the club moved to its present location.

The 2023 event is the third Senior Open Championship played at Royal Porthcawl. The club previously hosted the 2014 and 2017 Senior Open Championships, both won by Bernhard Langer. It has also been the venue for The Amateur Championship on six occasions and the Welsh Golf Classic on the European Tour in the early 1980s.

Royal Porthcawl Clubhouse
Royal Porthcawl Golf Club

Course layout

HoleYardsPar  HoleYardsPar
14274104004
23744113554
34514121943
44554135515
52123144354
65155151733
73814164664
81223174304
94564185045
Out3,39335In3,50836
Source:[6]Total6,90171

Field

The field consisted of 144 competitors, 136 professionals and eight amateurs, either exempt via different criteria or advancing from qualifying competitions.[7][8][9]

For players who were not already exempt, four 18-hole stroke play qualifying events took place on Monday 24 July at four venues in Wales; Southerndown Golf Club, Pyle and Kenfig Golf Club (both in Bridgend), Machynys Peninsula Golf Club, Monk’s Island, in Llanelli and Ashburnham Golf Club in Burry Port.

View from Southerndown golf course
View from Machynys Golf Course

One 18-hole stroke play qualifying event took place on 10 July, at Firestone Country Club (Fazio Course), Akron, Ohio, United States.[10][11]

35 places became available to players not qualified under the exemption categories. The qualifying event in United States received 1/5 of the places available. The remaining places were proportionately divided by the amount of players taking part in each of the four qualifying events in Wales.[12]

Exemption categories and exempt players

Each exemption category required players to have reached their 50th birthday on or before 27 July 2023.[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]

1. Former winners of The Senior Open aged 65 or under

2. Former winners of the Masters Tournament, US PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open Championship aged 65 or under

3. Top 60 players on career money (including the Legends Tour, the European Tour and the Challenge Tour) list as of 3 July 2023

4. Top 60 players on the PGA Tour Champions all time money list as of 3 July 2023

5. The leading 20 players, not otherwise exempt on the closing date, on the Legends Tour Order of Merit for 2022

6. The leading 20 players, not otherwise exempt on the closing date, on the Charles Schwab Cup points list for 2022

7. Players finishing in positions 1-15, and those tying for 15th place, in The Senior Open 2022

8. Winners of official tournaments on the Legends Tour or PGA Tour Champions since The Senior Open 2022

9. Winners of official tournaments on the European Tour or PGA Tour, when aged 50 years on 27 July 2023

10. Past members of Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup teams aged 50 on 27 July 2023

11. Former winners of the European Tour or PGA Tour Order of Merit aged 50–55 years on 27 July 2023

12. Winners of the US Senior Open 2018 – 2023

13. Winners of the Senior PGA Championship 2018 – 2023

14. The leading 2 players, not otherwise exempt, in the top 10 of the Japan PGA Senior Tour money list for 2022

15. The first 4 players, and those tying for 4th place, who are not otherwise exempt, in the top 30 of the current Legends Tour Order of Merit as of 24 July 2023

16. The first 4 players, and those tying for 4th place, who are not otherwise exempt, in the top 30 of the current Charles Schwab Cup money list as of 24 July 2023

17. The leading amateur in the 2022 Senior Open who completed 72 holes

  • John Kemp (a)

18. The Senior Amateur champion for 2023

  • Brent Paterson (a)

19. The US Senior Amateur champion for 2022

  • Rusty Strawn (a)

20. The European Senior Men’s Amateur champion for 2023

  • Edward McCormack (a)

21. Special exemptions

Qualifying competitions and qualifiers

10 July 2023 at Firestone Country Club (Fazio Course), Akron, Ohio, United States

24 July 2023 at Southerndown Golf Club, Bridgend, Wales, Pyle and Kenfig Golf Club, Bridgend, Wales, Machynys Peninsula Golf Club, Monk's Island, Llanelli, Wales and Ashburnham Golf Club, Burry Port, Wales

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, 27 July 2023

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1Spain Miguel Ángel Jiménez66−5
T2Germany Alex Čejka68−3
United States Mario Tiziani
T3India Jeev Milkha Singh69−2
Fiji Vijay Singh
T6New Zealand Steven Alker70−1
England Paul Broadhurst
United States Tom Gillis
South Africa Keith Horne
Scotland Paul Lawrie
Sweden Jarmo Sandelin

Source:[13]

Second round

Friday, 28 July 2023

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1New Zealand Steven Alker70-68=138−4
2Germany Alex Čejka68-71=139−3
3Scotland Greig Hutcheon72-68=140−2
T4England Paul Broadhurst70-71=141−1
Denmark Anders Hansen72-69=141
Scotland Paul Lawrie70-71=141
Fiji Vijay Singh69-72=141
T8United States Shane Bertsch73-69=142E
Italy Emanuele Canonica72-70=142
South Africa Keith Horne70-72=142
Spain Miguel Ángel Jiménez66-76=142
Germany Bernhard Langer73-69=142
Spain Santiago Luna75-67=142
Scotland Colin Montgomerie72-70=142
Denmark Steen Tinning72-70=142

Third round

Saturday, 29 July 2023

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1Germany Alex Čejka68-71-74=213E
T3New Zealand Steven Alker70-68-76=214+1
England Phillip Archer73-70-71=214
Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington75-68-71=214
Fiji Vijay Singh69-72-73=214
T6Scotland Greig Hutcheon72-68-75=215+2
United States Jerry Kelly73-71-71=215
T8Australia Richard Green72-73-71=216+3
Scotland Paul Lawrie70-71-75=216
United States Mario Tiziani68-75-73=216

Final round

Sunday, 30 July 2023

The final round was played in strong winds and recurring rain. Scores were significantly higher than in previous rounds. Pádraig Harrington, who finished second the year before, birdied his 72nd hole to tie the lead with his playing partner Alex Čejka after regulation play. A playoff, to start at 7 p.m. local time, was necessary to decide the winner. Defending champion Darren Clarke finished tied 33rd, ten shots behind the leaders. The only amateur to make the cut, John Kemp, finished tied 14th.

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (€)
T1Germany Alex Čejka68-71-74-76=289+5Playoff
Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington75-68-71-75=289
3Fiji Vijay Singh69-72-73-77=291+7152,963
4Sweden Michael Jonzon72-72-71-75=292+8122,245
T5England Phillip Archer73-70-71-79=293+994,538
Wales Phillip Price72-72-73-76=293
T7Australia Richard Green72-73-71-78=294+1059,488
United States Jerry Kelly73-71-71-79=294
Germany Bernhard Langer73-69-75-77=294
Scotland Euan McIntosh74-71-72-77=294

Playoff

Sunday, 30 July 2023

Alex Čejka and Pádraig Harrington went to a sudden death playoff, the 11th playoff in the history of the championship, playing the par-5 18th hole until one of the two players had a lower score than the other. On the first playoff hole Čejka reached the green in two while Harrington's second shot went slightly over the green, from were he choose to putt. Both players two-putted for easy birdies. On the second playoff hole Čejka reached the green in two again. Harrington's second shot rolled a few yards past the green. He missed his chip shot, witch did not reach the green. From their positions, both players two-putted, why Čejka won by a shot and captured his first Senior Open Championship and third senior major championship.[14]

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (€)
1Germany Alex Čejka4-4=8−2407,631
2Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington4-5=9−1271,887

Notes

  1. ↑ (a) – denotes amateur
  2. ↑ Players who did not play in the championship, despite being qualified, written in italics.
  3. 1 2 Applications for entry from Lee Westwood and Richard Bland was denied due to outstanding fines to the European Tour.

References

  1. ↑ "Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex". European Tour. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  2. ↑ "The Senior Open Championship". The R&A. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  3. ↑ "Champiopns Tour, Schedule, 2023 Season, The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex". The PGA Tour. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  4. ↑ "The Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex will return to Royal Porthcawl Golf Club". Royal Porthcawl Golf Club. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  5. ↑ Hagfeldt, Tomas (26 July 2023). "Karlsson missar årets sista major" [Karlsson will miss the last major of the year]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  6. ↑ "Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex 2023 – Course – Course card". European Tour. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  7. ↑ "Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex, Entry List". European Tour. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  8. ↑ Hall, Mike (25 July 2023). "The Senior Open Purse, Prize Money And Field 2023". Golf Monthly. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  9. ↑ Cradock, Mike (15 June 2023). "Lee Westwood And Richard Bland Denied Entry To Senior Open". Golf Monthly. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "Senior Open Presented by Rolex Qualifying Venues confirmed". European Tour. 1 March 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  11. ↑ "Qualifying venues for 2023 Senior Open announced". Golf Business News. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  12. ↑ "Seven players earn Senior Open spots via Firestone qualifier". PGA Tour. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  13. ↑ "Miguel Angel Jimenez takes first round lead at The Senior Open Championship". PGA Tour. Associated Press. 27 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  14. ↑ Huggan, John (30 July 2023). "Sideways rain! 40 mph gales! Alex Cejka emerges as Senior British Open's weathered winner". Golf Digest. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
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