Simon Griffiths produced another hugely impressive performance to win the opening event of the 2025 Legends Tour season with a -15 total – holding off the likes of Colin Montgomerie, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Stephen Gallacher and Scott Hend in the final round.
He started the day with a two-shot lead and picked up birdies at the 1st and 8th to maintain that advantage as he headed into the back nine. While many of the chasers struggled to mount a serious charge on the way home, Griffiths pulled away with further red numbers at the 10th, 12th and 15th. A closing bogey didn’t matter as the 51-year-old made the perfect start to the new season.
“It’s amazing, I’m over the moon,” said the champion. “I knew I had a two-shot lead and then I birdied the first, but then Monty made a couple of birdies, and I knew someone would make a run. I did have a look at the leaderboard towards the last few holes because Hendy was on the charge, and I made a great birdie on 15, which was huge because you need as many in the bank as you can get. That was massive. I saw he finished on -13, and then it was just about not doing anything stupid coming in.
“Sometimes I probably don’t enjoy it as much as I should because this game is so hard. But I’m thrilled to have got another win so quickly. So yeah, I’m very, very happy.”
Griffiths shared an emotional phone call with his young family after he finished the round: “It’s incredible to share these moments. My family are everything to me.”
Griffiths’ story is one of resilience after narrowly missing out on getting through Legends Tour and PGA Tour Champions Q School for the 2023 season. He finished one place away from earning his card for the PGA Tour Champions Tour in December 2022 and Legends Tour in January 2023, before booking his place 12 months later.
Even then, there was adversity as he suffered a wrist injury that he’s still battling now. He’s been able to manage the pain and showed what he was capable of when playing regularly with a sensational run of form over the second half of last year. He won the Farmfoods European Senior Masters at La Manga, and had a 2nd, a 3rd, a 4th, a 5th, a 6th and an 8th in his last nine tournaments to finish 4th on the Order of Merit and claim the Barry Lane Rookie of the Year Award. He now sits atop the fledgling Order of Merit standings.
Scott Hend emerged as Griffith’s nearest challenger, but the Aussie had to settle for 2nd place. He flew through the field with a best-of-the-week 64 that featured 10 birdies, including seven in an eight-hole stretch from the 9th. It’s a good start to the year for the man who finished 3rd on the Order of Merit in 2024.
Mikael Lundberg signed for a 67 to finish alone in 3rd. The Swede went out in 33 and picked up shots on the 10th and 17th in a bogey-free back nine.
Local hero Jimenez came into the week as favourite after winning the Trophy Hassan II on the PGA Tour Champions last week and he finished in a four-way tie for 4th. The iconic Spaniard birdied all four of the par-5s and gave his adoring fans something to cheer with a fifth birdie of the day at the 18th, but three dropped shots resulted in a 70.
He was joined on -10 by debutant Matthew Cort, 2023 Legends Tour number one Peter Baker and Q School graduate Lionel Alexandre, who shots rounds of 68, 69 and 70, respectively. Former Ryder Cup player Stephen Gallacher finished 8th in his first Legends Tour start on -9.
Montgomerie started the day in 2nd place, but he slipped to tied-9th with a 73. Two-time Masters champion José María Olazábal and last year’s Zambia Golf Legends Championship winner Keith Horne completed the top-10 alongside Monty on -8.
