Telfer's Thoughts

It’s been an unusual and probably an uncomfortable last fortnight for the US Senior Tour. This is the one for over 50’s, the one where Steve Alker has prospered greatly.

In what appears an unusual move the USPGA scheduled two of the Senior Majors this year back-to- back. Now comes the uncomfortable bit - both tournaments were won by the same golfer, Angel Cabrera, arguably South America’s finest ever golfer. In 2007 he won the US Open and two years later he won the 2009 Masters.

Unfortunately there is a lot more to Cabrera than his golfing abilities. He’s also a convicted criminal who in recent years was sentenced to 48 months in prison for his crimes. He was released on parole after serving 28 months in jail for assaulting and threatening two of his ex-girlfriends. Now at the age of 55 he’s been granted membership of the Senior PGA Tour.

To win back-to-back Majors, albeit on the Seniors Tour, suggests this fellow has lost little of the skills that brought him two Majors earlier this century.

I suspect there’s some measure of disquiet behind closed doors on the Seniors Tour. Some might argue his behaviour towards his ex-girlfriends should have disqualified him from ever playing on any tour. However he has served his time in prison and been released back into civilian life and entitled, by law in most countries one imagines, to resume his normal life.

Cabrera himself has opened up about his violent past. He hasn’t tried to walk away or hide from any of the unpleasant behaviours he displayed five years ago. He admits his life was out of control, his problems fuelled and amplified by alcohol. He said life ‘inside’ was terrible - one jail in Argentina is known as the prison from hell. He has publicly apologised to his two ex-girlfriends, begging them to forgive him. No word yet from the girlfriends.

Meanwhile back to the golf, Steve Alker with two largely poor rounds by his standards had played himself out of this Senior PGA title after 36 holes, but he did show on the last day what he is still capable of when he fired a 6 under par 66, sparking memories of his last day 63 back in 2022 which carried him to his first Senior Major’s title in this event. In the end Steve finished in a tie for 14th place.

No tournament golf this past week for Ryan Fox and Lydia Ko but I’m sure both were hard at work in preparation for their respective big tournaments coming up this week. Lydia is teeing it up in the Women’s US Open, the second Major for 2025 for women and Foxy is readying himself for his big week, his first appearance in a Signature event where the money is huge (US$20 million), a no cut field of just 70 with extra FedEx Cup points and a big pile of world ranking points because of the calibre of the field.

Meanwhile across the ditch in Belgium a very mixed week for the two Kiwis plying their trade on this tour. Daniel Hillier missed the cut at the Soudal Open in Antwerp, but yet another cut was made by our rookie pro Kazuma Kobori, becoming the personification of consistency. He’s now made the cut in his last five tournaments and has only missed two this year in 13 starts. His tie for 25th place in Antwerp lifts his earnings this year to E192,000 which equates to something just over NZ$200,000.

It’s worth noting as well that Kobori has probably never played any of the courses prior to his appearance at them this year which normally is a significant disadvantage for a player.