SBC Senior Open

The week after a dramatic Ford Senior Players Championship and the week before the British Seniors Open, which is not a major, this event could be expected to suffer from a weak field. But that is not the case. Only Gil Morgan is missing from this event, though so too is Tom Watson who is competing in the British Open. One player who is in the field this week is Bruce Lietzke who has just turned 50. He may find the transition to this Tour not a smooth one, but he looks to be a serious contender on this Tour in the years to come.

One of three SBC-sponsored events on the Senior PGA Tour, the event takes place at Kemper Lakes which was the venue for the 1989 PGA Championship and is ranked inside the top-100 public courses in the US. The fairways are flat and narrow and there is a lot of water to contend with on this course. Low-scoring is not common in this event.

Passing over Doyle and Tewell after their gripping duel last week, the three selections this week are Bruce Fleisher, Dana Quigley and John Bland. Fleisher is due a win in this event. He has played it twice and finished 2nd both times. In 1999, he was leading the event when on the 16th hole on the Sunday his approach shot hit a rock and ricocheted into the water. He would finish a shot behind Irwin. Last year, he was again leading the event coming down the final stretch, but suffered a two-shot swing on the last hole to lose the title. With three wins in the past three months, he could rights the wrongs of his past here and make it #4.

Quigley had a quiet week last week and that has also been the case on this course in the past. However, he has been in excellent form with six top-10 finishes since May and will surely do better this year. The third selection, John Bland, is a little short on top-10 finishes this year - just three with one runners-up spot at the Home Depot Invitational - but he has had twelve top-20 finishes, including six of his last eight events. His course record is very good though with three top-10 finishes in his four visits. Like Tom Jenkins at the Instinet Classic, hopefully he can break out of his run of top-20 finishes and break into the real money on a course on which he excels.

Outright plays:

Bruce Fleisher to win 5/1 @ Surrey

Dana Quigley to win 33/1 e.w. @ Stan James [5 places option]

John Bland to win 80/1 e.w. @ Stan James [5 places option]

Final update: 1-2 and +17.80 units

Nothing of interest from the matchups, but a very nice return from the outrights to make up for it. Quigley was a wire-to-wire winner   They had to come back on the Monday morning to complete the last two holes - Quigley was willing to plays under the Tour's artificial lighting - and he completed a five-shot win.