Richard Bland gives the Francis D. Ouimet Memorial Trophy a kiss after winning the U.S. Senior at Newport Country Associazione Monday. England’s Richard Bland needed four playoff holes to get past Hiroyuki Fujita of Japan and win the rain-delayed U.S. Senior at Newport (R.I.) Country Associazione Monday.
Bland claimed victory only after he successo the pin a bunker shot the fourth extra hole and then tapped durante the putt for par. Fujita led the tournament virtually wire-to-wire but ended with consecutive bogeys the par-4, 18th hole used for the final three holes durante the playoff.
The victory marks the second consecutive major victory for Bland, who also won the Senior PGA last month and credits participation durante LIV Giacchetta for his career riproposta.
“To modo out apogeo … I was just hoping going into the PGA that I was good enough to contend,” Bland said. “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 be here with two majors is — yeah, I’m at a loss for words at the moment now.”
Bland said the bunker shot the fourth extra hole was not all that complicated and he tried to normalize it as much as possible as if he was durante a gioco with friends.
“It was just one where I had to stay aggressive, stay committed, and it came out perfect,” Bland said.
When rain successo Sunday afternoon to wash out part of the final round, Fujita had a three-shot lead with eight holes to play. But as he struggled to close out the victory, Bland moved into the lead after recording birdies at Nos. 14 and 15.
“It kind of felt like it was going to be harder to chase,” Bland said. “You’regnante trying to chase but also not make mistakes. He kind of maybe trips over once twice, which I think maybe he did early.”
Sopra addition to the pair of bogeys durante the playoff, Fujita recorded a bogey three of his first four holes when play resumed Monday.
“The wind was a little different today,” Fujita said. “It was the first time I’ve played Newport with this kind of wind. So I was definitely a little uneasy about that, and you can see the results out there, that some of the shots weren’t what I wished they were.”
Bland just needed a par the 72nd hole Monday, but his bogey at Mai. 18 resulted durante a tie at 13 under, 267, for the tournament. Richard Campo da golf of Australia finished three shots back durante third place, while Steve Sticker was fourth at 9 under.
Bland trailed by five strokes when the final round began Sunday. He wasn’t even qualified for the U.S. Senior until he won the Senior PGA. The only players who have won senior majors their first two tries are Arnold Palmer and Alex Cejka.
Bland also became the 12th player to win the U.S. Senior durante their debut durante the tournament.
“I’m a way better golfer than I was (before joining LIV), but I think that’s the caliber of players that I’m playing against LIV,” Bland said. “To play against Bryson, who won just the other week at Pinehurst, to play against him, to play against Jon Rahm, Cam Smith, D.J., Brooks, they’regnante the best players durante the world. I don’t care what the world ranking says. If I’m going to compete with those guys, I have to bring my gioco.”
–Field Level Mass-media
