02Jul
THE EXCITING LEGENDARY 44TH U.S. SENIOR OPEN GOLF MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP HELD JUNE 27TH-30TH,2024 AT NEWPORT COUNTRY CLUB ENDED WITH INTERESTING AND AMAZING SCENES AND PERFORMANCE FROM ELIGIBLE LEGENDARY SUPERSTAR GOLFERS.
The 44th U.S. Senior Open, conducted by the United States Golf Association, will be held June 27-30, 2024, at Newport (R.I.) Country Club, and Initially featured a field of the world’s best professional and Legendary Senior Golfers (over the age 35 - 50)
Professional and Legendary Golfers who initially competed includes Mr.Thongchai Jaidee ,Mr. Bob Estes ,Mr. Vijay Singh, Mr.Ernie Els, Mr.Stephen Ames and Mr. Paul Stankowski,Mr.Jim Furyk, Mr.Padraig Harrington, Mr.Bernhard Langer, Mr.Retief Goosen, Mr.Stewart Cink, Mr.Jerry Kelly,Mr.Steve Stricker,Mr.Richard Bland,Mr.Hiroyuki Fujita and Mr.Richard Green.
The 44th U.S. Senior Open is the fifth USGA championship held at Newport Country Club. And amazingly NBCUniversal provided live broadcast coverage of all four rounds of the U.S. Senior Open Golf Major championship from June 27th -1StJuly,2024.
England's Mr.Richard Bland won the 44th U.S. Senior Open with a par on the fourth playoff hole at Newport Country Club, outlasting Japan's Mr.Hiroyuki Fujita in a marathon Monday finish in Rhode Island. Both players finished regulation at 13-under 267, requiring a two-hole aggregate playoff on Nos. 10 and 18.
initially thirty-five days ago, Richard Bland had no intention of teeing it up at the 44th U.S. Senior major Open Championship at historic Newport Country Club Rhode island. The 51-year-old Englishman didn’t file an entry, and even after his remarkable debut on the 50-and-older circuit when he claimed the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship on May 26, Bland was unsure about coming to the Ocean State.A few weeks later, he had a change of heart and it turned out to be a great decision.
Mr Bland, who entered the final round five strokes back of 18-, 36-hole and 54-hole leader Mr.Hiroyuki Fujita, had closed the gap to three before weather halted play on Sunday afternoon, early in the final nine. Bland completed his charge on Monday morning, forging a tie with the frontrunner after 72 holes at 13-under 267.Mr. Bland’s 4-under-par 66 matched the second-lowest round of the day, while Mr.Fujita, who only had two bogeys through 64 holes, struggled after the restart with three bogeys over a four-hole stretch, leading to a 1-over 71.
After the pair matched scores for three playoff holes (two in a two-hole aggregate format and one sudden-death), Bland delivered one of the best bunker shots of his career on the fourth playoff hole as he nearly holed out for a 3, the ball hitting the flagstick and stopping inches away.When Mr.Fujita, 55, of Japan, failed to convert his 20-foot par putt that curled just around the hole, all Bland had to do was tap in for his par to earn a second consecutive senior major title.
“I think this one’s going to take a little while [to sink in],” said Mr.Bland, the 12th player to win this championship in his debut and the second from England (Roger Chapman). “Your first two senior tournaments to be majors, and to come out on top … I was just hoping going into the [Senior] PGA that I was good enough to contend. I hadn’t played against these guys. “I knew if I played the way I know I can play, it should be good enough to be able to compete. But, yeah, to [stand] here with two majors is … I’m at a loss for words at the moment now.”
Mr.Bland joins Mr.Arnold Palmer (1980-81) and Alex Cejka (2021) as the only golfers to win in their first two senior major starts. Mr.Palmer claimed the Senior PGA Championship in December 1980 and followed up with the 1981 U.S. Senior Open victory in his first year of eligibility. Mr.Cejka won the Regions Tradition and Senior PGA Championship.
Mr.Fujita was bidding to become the first male golfer from Japan to win a USGA title, but now joins countryman Isao Aoki (2001) as a bridesmaid in the U.S. Senior Open. Aoki was also the 1980 U.S. Open runner-up to Jack Nicklaus. Three Japanese females have claimed titles, including Yuka Saso earlier this year at the U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally.
Mr.Fujita also is the first player since Jerry Kelly in 2018 to hold the lead after the first three rounds and not hoist the trophy.“I started the day with a three-shot lead,” said Mr.Fujita, who made more bogeys in his final round (4) than he did in the previous three (1). “I didn’t play my best and got into a playoff.
Definitely disappointed I didn’t hit the ball as well as I have all week.“I had a lot of people rooting for me and watching in Japan. I was really hoping to take that trophy home.”Australian lefty Mr.Richard Green also carded a final-round 71 to finish solo third at 10-under 270, one stroke ahead of 2019 champion Mr.Steve Stricker, whose 73 was his worst in a U.S. Senior Open round in four starts. The solo fourth finish by the 57-year-old from Madison, Wis., follows the win and back-to-back seconds in 2022 and 2023.
Thongchai Jaidee (67) and Bob Estes (70) shared fifth at 8-under 282, with Vijay Singh (66) solo seventh (273). Ernie Els (65), Stephen Ames (68) and Paul Stankowski (71) rounded out the top 10, sharing eighth at 274.
Because of Sunday’s two-hour fog delay and afternoon storms, the championship required its first regulation Monday finish since 2016 at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. More than a half-inch of rain fell on the property, requiring yeoman’s work by Newport superintendent Chris Coen, his staff of 16 and 20 volunteers to get this classic venue playable for the 8 a.m. EDT restart on Monday.
The U.S. Senior Major Championship initially led to it's first U.S. Senior Open aggregate playoff on monday since 2014 when Mr.Colin Montgomerie edged Mr.Gene Sauers by a stroke in what was then a three-hole affair.
After brilliant play over the first 3.5 rounds, runner-up Hiroyuki Fujita, 51, of Japan, was frustrated on Monday when the weather-delayed final round resumed.Mr.Fujita however,tied Bland on No. 10 with a clutch par putt from 6 feet. Each parred 18 as well, sending the players back to the closing hole.
This time, each made bogey – Bland hitting his approach well right of the green and Mr.Fujita finding a greenside bunker to the left of the putting surface. But in the second go-around, Bland’s 214-yard approach with a hybrid found the same left-greenside bunker, while Mr.Fujita came up short from 259 yards.
Mr.Fujita’s pitch stopped 15 feet away, leading to Mr.Bland’s shot of the week. The ball took one hop, hit the flagstick and somehow stayed out of the hole.“It wasn’t that tough of a shot,” said Bland of his third on the fourth playoff hole. “My main aim was just to get it right because he had, what, 20 feet across the slope. He’s got to know that I’m making 4. That was my objective there. If I can get this as close as I possibly can, so it puts the pressure on him that he now knows he's got to hole it".
Mr.Richard Bland won the 44th U.S. Senior Open with a par on the fourth playoff hole at Newport Country Club, outlasting Japan's Mr.Hiroyuki Fujita in a marathon Monday finish in Rhode Island. Both players finished regulation at 13-under 267, requiring a two-hole aggregate playoff on Nos. 10 and 18.
“It's up there. When everything's on the line, you've always got to think that he's going to hole that putt. Obviously, it does creep into your mind, right, if I get this up-and-down there's a good chance that I'm U.S. [Senior] Open champion. I just wanted to be just fully committed to it. I didn't want to kind of just hit the sort of duff-and-run shot. It was one that I can be aggressive with. I probably knew it was going to spin,and It came out perfect.” – Mr.Richard Bland on final bunker shot.
WATCH THE AMAZING AND EXCITING BRIEF RECAP VIDEO:"THE LEGENDARY 44TH U.S. SENIOR MAJOR OPEN GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP 2024"
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE ELIGIBLE LEGENDARY GOLFERS WHO PARTICIPATED AND COMPETED AT THE LEGENDARY 44TH EDITION OF THE U.S. SENIOR MAJOR OPEN GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP JUNE 27TH-1STJULY 2024.
Thank you for the Scheduled Quality Ample Time.
