Play it again, Sam! Torrance ready to pounce

By MICHAEL GIBBONS, European Seniors Tour Press Officer
Sam Torrance will line up in this week’s Casa Serena Open on the European Senior Tour, looking for a performance which will go a long way to securing his third Order of Merit crown in five years.
The 56 year old former Ryder Cup Captain claimed the John Jacobs Trophy for topping the rankings in both 2005 and 2006 and is in a good position to repeat the feat in 2009.
An early season victory in Barbados, coupled with three top five finishes in his last four outings, sees the man from Largs go into this week’s event at the delightful Casa Serena Golf some 70 kilometres south east of Prague in the Czech Republic in second place on the Order of Merit.
Leading the way is Mark McNulty but with the former Zimbabwean, who now has Irish citizenship, absent and with the prize fund of €600,000 the biggest on the European Senior Tour outside the Majors, the chance is there for both Torrance, and third placed Ian Woosnam of Wales to make a significant move.
“It felt awesome to be Number One a few years ago,” said Torrance, who is a mere €261 behind McNulty. “It was something that I had wanted my whole life. It will be a huge challenge to win it for a third time, especially as there are so many good players reaching 50 every year, but I’m up for the challenge.”
Woosnam, and the in-form Tony Johnstone of Zimbabwe who won the last event – the Travis Perkins plc Senior Masters at Woburn a fortnight ago to move up to fourth place – will be a threat to Torrance’s ambitions but perhaps the biggest danger stands in the shape of the third former European Ryder Cup captain in the field this week – Bernhard Langer.
The 52 year old German captured the inaugural Casa Serena title last year and, understandably will begin his title defence as tournament favourite. Langer has won four times on the US Champions Tour in 2009 but has yet to taste victory on this side of the Atlantic, a statistic he admitted he was keen to address.
“I have been playing all right recently and fairly decent for most of the year to be honest,” he said. “I have performed well in the States but I haven’t won in my last five tournament outings, so it is time to win again!
“I would like to think that I would be in the mix come Sunday – obviously I would love to defend my title successfully but there are no guarantees. There are a lot of good golfers out here and I will have to make some putts, it often comes down to just that.
“There are a lot of players who can hit fairways and greens but it sometimes comes down to who makes the most putts and avoids making major mistakes who wins out in the end. Those are the guys who will play for the title and hopefully I will be one of them.”
The 54 hole Casa Serena Open will take place from Friday to Sunday with the winner picking up a cheque for €90,000.