Amateur golfers of mature years, largely forgotten in an age of teenaged brilliance, can take heart from Allen Doyle's victory in the United States Seniors Open this week.
And Kiwis with good memories will recall the part New Zealand played in the career of the genial 57-year-old from Georgia. Doyle
didn't turn professional until he was 48 after a long and distinguished career in the amateur ranks. Since he qualified for the Seniors Tour, he has won three Majors.
New Zealanders first saw him in 1990 when, with youngsters Phil Mickelson and David Duval, he was in the United States team who finished equal second with New Zealand at the Eisenhower Trophy world amateur tournament in Christchurch.
Mickelson was the star of that team, but Doyle caught the eye for his unusual low-swinging style, which was described as like a hockey player with a bad back. He had been a hockey player in his university days but reckoned his swing came from practising in a room with a low ceiling.
Doyle was again an Eisenhower representative two years later when the US were second to NZ at Vancouver, Canada. As Phil Tataurangi, Michael Campbell, Grant Moorhead and Steve Scahill held their nerve, the Americans faltered, with Doyle hitting his ball into the water on the 12th and his team-mates also dropping shots, allowing the Kiwis to win by seven shots. Doyle finally had an Eisenhower victory at Versailles, France, two years later when he played alongside a promising teenager called Tiger Woods.
This week it was Doyle who held his nerve while some better-known seniors succumbed to the pressure. He shot a course record final round of 63, including eight birdies, for a 10-under 274 and then waited around to see if anyone could catch him. Craig Stadler led by three shots with 10 holes to play, but two double-bogeys and four bogeys left him four shots behind Doyle.
Loren Roberts looked likely until he had a double on the 11th and D. A. Weibring was a shot ahead with two holes to play but bogeyed them both. Doyle, who had not been in anyone's calculations before the final round, pocketed the winner's cheque of US$470,000 ($684,000).
