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U.S. Senior Open: Best bets

US SENIOR OPEN PRACTICE

The U.S. Senior Open field, as usual, is crowded with familiar names like Hale Irwin, Fred Couples, Tom Kite who have been golf fixtures for decades. But like nearly all sports, this is a (relatively) young man’s game, and while the old-time greats draw the crowds, the winner typically comes from a different pool of competitors.

To find the profile of a potential champion, we analyzed the results of the past 20 U.S. Senior Opens. Here’s what we found for a profile of a typical champion:

  • 52 years old (nobody older than 57 has won in the past 20 years)
  • American (16 of the 20 champions were from the U.S., with another two from English-speaking countries).
  • About four titles during career on PGA Tour
  • No major titles on regular tour
  • One senior major
  • Based on that, here are the top golfers to track this week:

Scott McCarron

The Californian, 52, had three wins on the PGA Tour, never won a major and owns one senior major (2017 Senior Players Championship). He also comes in hot, having won last week on the PGA Tour Champions and four times in the past year.

Paul Broadhurst

The Englishman, 52, won the Senior PGA Championship last month and also took the Senior Open Championship in 2016. He’s a multiple winner on the European PGA Tour. He never won a major and played just one U.S. Open, making the cut and placing 52th in 1997.

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Jerry Kelly

The Wisconsin native, 51, also won three times on the PGA Tour and hasn’t won a major. He also hasn’t claimed a senior major, but has come close with two top-10 finishes. He currently leads the Champions Tour money list.

Tim Petrovic

The Massachusetts native, 51, had one win on the PGA Tour, never won a major (but his two top-25 finishes came at the U.S. Open) and, though he’s never captured a senior major, he was runner-up at the Senior PGA Championship last month.

Miguel Angel Jimenez

The Spanish golfer, 54, comes in with a very similar background as 2014 Senior Open champion Colin Montgomerie (no majors, but a slew of European Tour victories). He breaks the profile mold in that he’s not American or from an English-speaking country, but one exception to that rule was Eduardo Romero, who won right here at The Broadmoor.

Also keep an eye on: Marco Dawson, Jeff Maggert


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