2000 Senior British Open Explained

2000 Senior British Open
Dates:27–30 July 2000
Location:Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Coordinates:54.218°N -5.884°W
Course:Royal County Down Golf Club
Lang:uk
Org:The R&A
Format:72 holes stroke play
Par:71
Yardage:6609yd
Field:132 players, 64 after cut
Cut:150 (+8)
Champion: Christy O'Connor Jnr
Score:275 (−9)
Map:Europe#British Isles#Ireland#Northern Ireland
Map Label:Royal County Down GC
Map Relief:yes
Map Size:220
Previous:1999
Next:2001

The 2000 Senior British Open, for sponsor reasons named Senior British Open presented by MasterCard, was a professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and above and the 14th British Senior Open Championship, held from 27 to 30 July at Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

In 2018, the tournament was, as all Senior British Open Championships played 1987–2002, retroactively recognized as a senior major golf championship and a PGA Tour Champions (at the time named the Senior PGA Tour) event.[1]

Christy O'Connor Jnr beat John Bland by two strokes and successfully defended his Senior British Open title from 1999. Bland repeated his second-place finish from the year before.[2] [3]

Venue

See main article: Royal County Down Golf Club.

The hosting course, one of the oldest on the island of Ireland, originally designed by Old Tom Morris and located in naturally links settings in the Murlough Nature Reserve, stretching along the shores of Dundrum Bay, was established in 1889.[4]

The course had previously hosted several editions of the Irish Open, The Amateur Championship, the British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship and the 1968 Curtis Cup.

The event was the first of three editions of the Senior British Open held at the Royal County Down Golf Club three years in a row.[5]

Course layout

HoleYardsParHoleYardsPar
15025101973
23714113844
34544124795
41943134214
54164142023
63694154494
71443162764
84244173754
94244185285
Out3,29835In3,31136
Source:[6] Total6,60971

Field

132 players, 124 professionals and eight amateurs, entered the competition.

Two qualifying tournaments were held on Tuesday 25 July. 28 players, 25 professionals and three amateurs qualified through an 18-hole qualifying round at Kilkeel Golf Club. 28 players, 25 professionals and three amateurs qualified through an 18-hole qualifying round at Spa Golf Club on 24 July. They joined 76 players, who were exempt into the championship.[7] [8]

One player withdraw before the cut. 64 players, 60 professionals and four amateurs, made the 36-hole cut. Ken Forster finished leading amateur at tied 33rd.

Past champions in the field

Eight past Senior Open champions participated. Four of them made the 36-hole cut; 1999 champion Christy O'Connor Jnr (won), 1989 and 1993 champion Bob Charles (tied 5th). 1987 champion Neil Coles, (tied 10th) and 1991 champion Bobby Verway (tied 12th).1992 champion John Fourie, 1998 champion Brian Huggett, 1988, 1990 and 1997 champion Gary Player missed the cut. 1995 and 1996 champion Brian Barnes withdraw during the first round.

Past winners and runners-up at The Open Championship in the field

The field included two former winners of The Open Championship. One of them made the cut; 1963 Open champion Bob Charles (tied 5th). 1959, 1968 and 1974 Open champion Gary Player did not make the cut.

The field also included two former runners-up at The Open Championship; Neil Coles (tied 10th) and Brian Huggett (missed the cut).

Final results

Sunday, 30 July 2000

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ()
1 Christy O'Connor Jnr69-68-70-68=275−9102,758.06
2 John Bland68-67-71-71=277−765,421.01
3 Hubert Green68-72-68-71=279−538,018.86
4 John Morgan71-71-69-69=280−430,843.65
5 Bob Charles75-68-71-67=281−325,324.26
T6 Seiji Ebihara71-70-70-74=285+120,291.88
Tommy Horton75-69-68-73=285
Noel Ratcliffe67-73-71-74=285
Dave Stockton73-69-73-70=285
T10 Neil Coles72-71-71-72=286+215,503.00
Malcolm Gregson76-68-69-73=286
Source:

External links

54.218°N -5.884°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Senior Open Championship . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220213182045/https://www.randa.org/en/championships . 13 February 2022 . 13 February 2022 . The R&A.
  2. Web site: The Senior Open Championship presented by MasterCard – Results . 16 March 2022 . European Tour.
  3. Web site: Successful defence for O'connor Jnr . 16 March 2022 . European Tour.
  4. Web site: Royal County Down Golf Course . 22 December 2021 . Discover Northern Ireland.
  5. Web site: The Royal County Down Golf Club - History - Major Events . 16 March 2022 . Royal County Down Golf Club.
  6. Web site: Senior British Open, presented by MasterCard – Venue – Course Card . 16 March 2022 . European Tour.
  7. Web site: Pre Qualifying Scores - Kilkeel GC . July 2000 . 1 May 2022. European Tour.
  8. Web site: Pre Qualifying Scores - SPA GC . July 2000 . 1 May 2022. European Tour.