Mansell finds Prestwick a tough

drive in the windy conditions

FROM THE SCOTSMAN SPORTSWEBSITE
By NICK RODGER
Nigel Mansell, the former Formula 1 world champion, was given a tough introduction to the old links of Prestwick yesterday in the first round of the Senior Open Amateur championship.
While Canadian Graham Cooke harnessed the testing, windy conditions and posted a battling one-under 71 to set the early pace, Mansell, making his debut in the over-55s amateur major, emerged with a 12-over 84.
The 1992 F1 champion, who won 31 grand prix during his career, has only managed 12 rounds of golf in the past three years due to various commitments and admitted he was simply happy to be involved in the cut-and-thrust of competitive action again. “This was a tough re-introduction to the game but it was great,” said one-handicapper Mansell, who played in the 1988 Australian Open.
“The conditions made it very difficult. I was hitting a seven-iron 100 yards into the wind and that took a bit of getting used to mentally. Prestwick is a course where you need a bit of local knowledge. I need to learn to put the brakes on at some of these holes as I was flying through the greens and getting myself into trouble.”
Early pacesetter Cooke, a three-times Canadian Seniors champion, has finished second and third in the British event over the past two years and the 62-year-old set himself up for another assault on the title with a tidy round highlighted by two birdies on his closing three holes.
Bermuda-based Robert Vallis, fifth in the Scottish Seniors Open at Panmure earlier this season, opened with a 73 while Berkshire’s David Lane, the British champion at nearby Western Gailes in 1998 and the winner of this year’s Scottish event, carded a 78.
He was joined on that mark by Glasgow debutant Peter Jamieson. Defending champion Paul Simson shot an 80.