The 43rd United States Senior Open Golf Championship is a day away at SentryWorld in Stevens Point. Tuesday was a practice and press conference day for the field of the best 156 players over the age 50 in the world. A handful of players met reporters after their practice round and everyone commented how pristine, challenging and beautiful the course in Stevens Point is for the championship. Two time US Open champion Ernie Els lauded the conditions saying this is clearly an “Open” level course with a high rough reminiscent of courses like Oakmont, calling it “juicy”. The Wisconsin contingent also held media sessions, including Steve Stricker, the hottest player on the Champions Tour. Stricker returns to SentryWorld, the site of his 1984 WIAA State Championship for Edgerton High School having won both of the Champions Tour majors already this season, the Traditions and the Senior PGA Championship. Two weeks ago, he won his own American Family Insurance Open at University Ridge. Stricker said it’s cool to be able to hop in a car and head north from his Madison home to play in a major event, especially at a site with fond memories from 39, blink of an eye, years ago. After a solid career on the regular tour, Stricker had a major health scare a couple of years ago, hospitalized with a rare heart and blood disorder that saw him lose 30 pounds. He recovered and changed his approach from the intense pressure of competition at the highest level to simply enjoying the game and he’s been on a rocket ride of success since. He was the winning Ryder Cup Captain at Whistling Straits a year ago and he’s finished in the 10 ten of every Champions Tour event he’s entered this year, winning two of it’s biggest trophies before the first of July. Jerry Kelly also met with reporters and he’s also happy to be back on a course he’s played often, but not since the most recent re-design and construction project. Kelly was amazed at the result, joking it will be nice to have marshals on the course to help him find any balls that land in the grown out rough. Kelly knows there will be big crowds around the state favorites but he welcomes the fans who give him energy. On the serious side, the DNR air quality alerts that have been posted all week because of drifting smoke from Canadian wildfires, is a cause for concern because Kelly said it affects his nasal breathing and he’ll need to be careful. Perhaps the most heartwarming story going into the tournament revolves around Bradley Lanning. The Hortonville native will be the first to tee off at the tournament’s start Thursday morning at 7:00 AM. Lanning became an Open qualifier by shooting a one over, 73 at the Stevens Point Country Club earlier this spring. He was among the first finishers and didn’t think the score would hold but was coaxed into hanging around. As it turned out, only one player bettered that and Lanning’s dream came true, although a few years too late. Always a solid player, Lanning said he lost his father at the age of 15 and always dreamed of playing in a US Open on Father’s Day to honor his dad and his first teacher of the game. He came close, reaching qualifying sectionals four times and was a US Open alternate once. He came close but he also came away from each experience knowing he did his best. Now on the senior circuit, Lanning finally made it and admitted it was an emotional moment. Having the US Senior Open so close to home just west of the Fox Valley is a bonus and he hopes to make the most of it.
The first round pairings will have Kelly playing with Davis Love III and Kevin Sutherland, going off number one at 8:24 AM Thursday. Stricker gets a late start, paired with Stephen Ames and David Toms off number one at 2:04 PM.
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