Regarded as the Legends Tour’s flagship tournament, the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship is also the tour’s oldest event where regular Tour players rub shoulders with the over-50s elite. This year’s showpiece will feature a stellar line-up of champions, headlined by two-time US Masters winner Jose Maria Olazabal.
The 57-year-old Spaniard – who won the Green Jacket at Augusta National in 1994 and 1999 and has 23 DP World Tour wins to his name – joins an impressive roster of Major winners at Trump International Golf Links. Alongside him, there will be a strong American presence in the form of Shaun Micheel and Tom Lehman – former winners of the PGA Championship and The Open Championship respectively – as well as eight-time PGA Tour winner, Fred Funk.
In 2003, at Oak Hill Country Club (Rochester, New York, USA), Micheel hit what is widely regarded as the greatest 72nd-hole shot in major championship history – flushing a 7-iron approach from 175 yards that almost found the bottom of the cup. From there, he would tap in for a birdie three to get his hands on the famous Wanamaker Trophy.
Lehman, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour and a former world number one who also captained the 2006 US Ryder Cup team, lifted the Claret Jug at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 1996. Funk, meanwhile, enjoyed a distinguished career on the PGA Tour and has recorded a further nine victories on the over-50s US Champions Tour.
Olazabal said: “The field for this year’s Staysure PGA Seniors Championship looks incredibly strong and only highlights the strength of the Legends Tour and the prestige of this event. It promises to be a great spectacle on a fantastic links course that is rightly hailed as one of the UK’s finest layouts.”
Other big names in the field include former world number one, 1991 US Masters and Ryder Cup legend, Ian Woosnam. Paul Lawrie, winner of The Open Championship at Carnoustie in 1999, will also tee it up in Aberdeenshire, along with 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell, who famously held off the charge of Tiger Woods to claim a famous victory at Pinehurst.
“I cannot wait to play the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship once again, a tournament that has a very special feel,” Micheel said. “Playing in Scotland is always something I relish, and Trump International Golf Links looks spectacular. It will be good to lock horns again with so many great champions. It promises to be a tremendous week for the players and fans.”
Lehman is also looking forward to being back on the links. “It is an honour for me to join so many distinguished names on the Legends Tour at this year’s Staysure PGA Seniors Championship,” he said. “I have always had an affinity with links golf and the intricacies of how the game is played on such courses, and it is exciting to be heading to this special part of the world to play in the Legends Tour’s flagship event.”
General tickets are now on sale for the event, with day tickets priced at £15 for adults, £10 for concessions (over 50s), while juniors (under 16s) are free.
Phil Harrison, chief executive officer of the Legends Tour, said: “We are extremely excited to be hosting the 2023 Staysure PGA Seniors Championship event at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire – and it promises to live up to its status as our flagship tournament.
“With such a strong field of professionals taking part, including Jose Maria Olazabal, and Shaun Micheel, Tom Lehman and Fred Funk travelling over to support the event from the USA, we believe it promises to be a tournament that will reflect the status and positioning of the Legends Tour.”
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