Paul Broadhurst finished on Saturday and figured he would have to shoot “66 or 67” on Sunday to have a shot at the Senior Open Championship.
He found out that 68 was plenty good enough at Carnoustie to take his first major title on any tour.
Broadhurst made clutch par saves at the 16th and 17th holes to take the title from Scott McCarron and overnight leader Miguel Angel Jimenez.
“The biggest achievement of my life,” was how Broadhurst termed the victory, a bogey-free round that allowed him to outlast McCarron and overtake Jimenez, whose putter became his enemy during the final 18 holes.
McCarron was five-under through his first 11 holes and seemingly on his way to the title until he made bogeys at the 16th and 18th holes to open the door for Broadhurst. Likewise, Jimenez hurt his chances badly when he went bogey-double-bogey at nine and 10 and never recovered. Jimenez’ 75 dropped him back to eight-under and tied for third with Magnus Atlevi of Sweden.
“It’s absolutely massive,” Broadhurst said of his first major title of any sort. “I played some of my best golf this week. The hard work I’ve put in paid off.”
