Recalling the first Senior Open and its underrated champion

The great Argentinian Roberto De Vicenzo hasa perennially sad tie-in with the 1968 Mastersbut more upbeat is to recall his competitivelongevity, including his stellar 1967 BritishOpen victory, which he won at age 44, theoldest Open Championship winner of themodern era.

When De Vicenzo won the first-ever U.S. Senior Open in 1980, he was already 57 years, 2 monthsand 15 days old, and 35 years later that ranks as the second oldest age of a Senior Open winner,behind Allen Doyle (58 years, 13 days in 2006).

The minimum age to enter the first Senior Open was 55, putting De Vicenzo at the prime age tocontend. Played on the East Course at Winged Foot, the inaugural event finished on June 29, 1980,so this Sunday's winner at Del Paso CC will be crowned almost 35 years to the day from Roberto'sfour-shot victory over amateur legend Bill Campbell. De Vicenzo shot four under on the weekend tofinish at one over par, 285, for the championship.

De Vicenzo's post-victory comments showed acompetitive mindset that works at any age. "Towin, you have to fight. Men 57 years old can stilldo anything -- score a 1 or a 10," he said. "But atthe start we didn't think anybody would break290."

Begun as a "result of the remarkable growth insenior golf, both at the professional and amateurlevels," the debut of the U.S. Senior Opencoincided with the formation of the PGA SeniorTour, although notes from the 1969 USGA AnnualMeeting show a Senior Open was discussed backthen. It wasn't until the 1979 meeting, however,that the Senior Open was a go.

With his Legends of Golf success on thenew senior tour, De Vicenzo wasdemonstrating his staying power there,too. In 1984 at age 61 he won the GolfDigest Commemorative. In 1981, theUSGA lowered the Senior Open ageminimum to 50 to "make thechampionship more competitive" and tomore closely align it with other senior-age events. That also made the favoriteplayers more likely to be in their early50s rather than late, making it unlikelythe oldest winning ages will bechallenged.

With the passing of Kel Nagle earlier this year at age 94, De Vicenzo is now the third-oldestsurviving major champion. Doug Ford will be 93 on August 6; Jack Burke Jr. was 92 in January, andDe Vicenzo turned 92 on April 14. The list continues with Peter Thomson (86 in August), DowFinsterwald (86 on September 6), Arnold Palmer (86 on September 10), and Gene Littler (85 on July21).

--------------------------------------------------------

WATCH: GOLF DIGEST VIDEOS

http://www.golfdigest.com/blogs/the-loop/2015/06/recalling-the-first-senior-ope.html