Barry Lane climbed to fifth place on the Senior Tour Order of Merit after finishing fifth at The Senior Open Championship, his best performance in a Senior Major.
The Englishman, who returns to European Tour duty at next week’s Irish Open presented by Discover Ireland, was proud to have flown the flag for the host nation after finishing as the highest European in the 156-man field.
Lane closed with a four birdie round of 70 which also included an eagle at the sixth hole.
He said: “That was fantastic. The reason we play this game is to have that feeling of being nervous and getting in contention. It was great to get the juices flowing, I really enjoyed it. We have some very good players over here, and it was great to compete with the Americans like Tom Watson, Mark Calcavecchia and Corey Pavin. I’ve been competing with them all my life because they’re my generation, so it was just like the good old days.
“I hit every green on the back nine, and managed to hole a good putt on the 13th and had a putt for eagle on the 11th from about 15 feet, but I didn’t hole that one. I probably left a few shots out there, but all in all, it’s been a great week. You can only do your best, and I did my best today, but it wasn’t quite good enough in the end. Still, I kept trying, and I kept the flag flying.”
Senior Tour champion David Frost of South Africa, who had jointly held the lead overnight, had to settle for sixth place after signing for a round of 72 for a seven under par aggregate total.
Australian Peter Fowler was the next best Senior Tour Member, finishing in a tie for seventh place on six under par after closing with a round of 70.
