By Martin Dempster - The Scotsman
2014 Ryder Cup team-mates set for reunion in over-50s’ Claret Jug event in Perthshire in July
Talk
about going full circle. Initially as a spectator at the Bell’s
Scottish Open before playing in the 1993 event as an amateur, Stephen
Gallacher got his first introduction to tournament golf on the King’s
Course at Gleneagles and now he’s licking his lips about being back
there later this year on senior service.
“It’s
kind of a weird one for me, but I’m looking forward to it,” he admitted
of the first of what ended up as a whopping 664 DP World Tour
appearances coming on the most iconic of the three courses at the
Perthshire venues and returning there 33 years later as a Staysure
Legends Tour card holder to play in the ISPS Handa Senior Open on 22-26
July.
Add in the fact that he played in a winning Ryder Cup team at Gleneagles
in 2014 - it was held on the PGA Centenary Course rather than the
King’s Course - and is now an ambassador for the five-star resort, it’s
understandable that Gallacher is excited about what will be a second
appearance in the over-50s’ Claret Jug joust.
“There’s a uniqueness about this place and there’s going to be a great
field,” said the 51-year-old. “I can’t wait for it to come around and
it’s one I am going to be practising so hard for. I’ll be up here once a
week just to try and familiarise myself with the course.”
Gallacher
played it for the first time in 20 years on Monday before enjoying his
first stay in the hotel since being part of Paul McGinley’s triumphant
team in the Ryder Cup 12 years ago. “It’s just a classic course that has
stood the test of time,” observed the Bathgate man. “It looks wide open
and the greens look huge. But the greens are slopey and you can tuck
the pins away. It’s a great track and a brilliant test. All the players
love playing here and that’s why the field is going to be so great.”
Darren
Clarke, who won the event’s first staging at Gleneagles in 2022, will
be back to try and emulate that feat while others already confirmed
include 2025 champion Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els, both two-time
Open winners. Harrington not only made the cut in the 108th PGA
Championship last week at the age of 54 but finished joint-18th behind
Aaron Rai at Aronimink.
“Padraig is amazing, isn’t he?” said Gallacher. “You just watch him last
week in the PGA, finishing in the top 20 after chipping in twice in the
last three holes. He’s just infectious. I see him on the Champions Tour
and the Legends Tour and he’s looking forward to coming back here.
“I
was talking to him about his strategy here, including playing down the
Queen’s Course on the last. He’s just bonkers Padraig, really. There’s
not one thing he’s not tried. He’s tried everything to try and get that
extra one per cent.
“He’s
so open as well. He talked about being aggressive on certain holes here
and others where he wasn’t aggressive. You’ve got to learn from these
guys. I look up to Padraig. I talk to him a lot.
“I
played Walker Cup with him in 1995 and I try to pick his brains. At
senior level, he’s the one you’ve got to try and beat because he hits it
like a youngster and tries so hard. He’s the benchmark, if you beat
him, you know you’ve done alright.”
Stephen Gallacher speaks to reporters at a media day for the ISPS Handa
Senior Open, which is being held at Gleneagles for a second time this
summer | Kenny Smith/ISPS Handa Senior Open
In
the 1993 Bell’s Scottish Open, Swede Jesper Parnevik was the player who
claimed the coveted crown after coming out on top against the likes of
Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam, Vijay Singh, Colin
Montgomerie and Payne Stewart.
“It
was a tournament I always came up to with my family as my introduction
to tournament golf was watching my uncle Bernard at the Bell’s Scottish
Open,” recalled Gallacher, who is being joined in July by Jamie
Donaldson, who clinched Europe’s victory in the 2014 Ryder Cup after
hitting a majestic approach at the par-4 15th in his singles match
against Keegan Bradley. “I remember Sam Torrance coming to Bathgate and
shooting 58 before coming up to play in the Bell’s Scottish Open.
“I’d
won the Scottish Amateur in 1992 and that got me into the Scottish Open
the following year. I played with Alberto Binaghi and a big Swiss guy. I
couldn’t believe being on the range with Seve, Woosnam, Sam Torrance,
Vijay Singh - guys I’d only read about at that point in Golf Monthly and
that would have been about it. To see them close up and end up playing
with them was fantastic.
“Back
then I was a proper amateur whereas the kids nowadays are so much
better-equipped to play tournament golf. I was so nervous. Basically, I
was too young. I was still playing for the Bathgate team on a Friday
night. I had to miss my team match to play in the Bell’s Scottish Open.
“I’m
sure Tony Jacklin played that year and guys like Peter Oosterhuis as
well. I ended up playing in 664 events and that was the first one. So to
come back and play my first Senior Open here as well is a bit special.”
Gallacher,
who finished joint-12th on his Senior Open debut at Sunningdale last
summer, came close to landing a maiden over-50s’ win earlier this year
on the Staysure Legends Tour at La Manga, where he was pipped by a
brilliant finish from Donaldson.
Like
lots of others before him, the Bathgate man has found a new lease of
life at the end of a long career on the regular tour. “Both JD
[Donaldson] and I played on the DP World Tour right up until we were 50
and golf has changed,” said Gallacher. “Tiger [Woods] changed it for me
and now the young team hit it so far, meaning it is just tough to
compete.
“You
got into a tournament now and get yourself into contention and feel you
have a chance of winning again. We are now the youngsters and can
hopefully take advantage of the first five or six years out here.
“Just
to be in contention and have a chance of winning again is what got us
into the sport. It has rejuvenated us a little bit. We still work as
hard and that is the beauty of this game. You can still compete and
still win. Look at Bernard Langer, who is 68.
“I
played in a tournament a fortnight ago and he is first in the gym.
[Miguel Angel] Jimenez is 63 and he’s in the gym and also hits more
balls than he used to. Monty is back really well, too. Golf is such a
great sport and we are almost starting to love it again where it was a
bit of a bind the last five years. The love and enthusiasm comes back
and that’s what makes you happy.”
Langer,
a record four-time Senior Open winner, is still going strong at 68,”
replied Gallacher, smiling, after being asked if he felt he still had
another 17 years or so in the tank. “That’s golf, isn’t it. It has to be
the best sport. We are talking about welcoming the likes of Ernie Els,
Padraig Harrington Vijay Singh and Monty here later this year and
hopefully Tiger one day as well.
“It’s
just brilliant to be competing with them again because they are still
competitive and that’s the bit myself and JD probably couldn’t believe -
how they are still competitive, how much they practice, how well they
putt. It’s not just a case of turning up on the Senior Tour and it’s
easy to win. You’ve still got to put in hard yards, but, when you get
your love for the game back, you don’t mind that. The body is the hard
bit. So just keep taking Advil, paracetamol and other potions
(laughing).”
