By Will Pearson, europeantour.com
in St Andrews
Form horse Rick Gibson is seeking another electrifying performance at this week’s SSE Scottish Senior Open as he looks to replicate the “heart-pumping” golf that has seen the Canadian soar to fourth in the Order of Merit as the 2014 season continues apace in Scotland.
With the breath-taking Fairmont St Andrews set to host a sixth Scottish Senior Open in succession as the prestigious tournament reaches its 22nd edition, the Calgary native knows another strong finish this week will mark him out as a serious contender in the race for the coveted John Jacobs Trophy.
After securing his maiden Senior Tour triumph at the Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open in early July, Gibson posted a tied third place at Royal Porthcawl in The Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex to surge up the Order of Merit.
And with the current top three of Colin Montgomerie (1), Bernhard Langer (2) and Tom Watson (3) all absent from Scotland this week, the 52 year old has a chance to close the gap in the £250,000 event.
Genial, pleasant, and thoughtful, however, Gibson eschews hyperbole in favour of extolling the many virtues of simply getting back into tournament contention.
“I’m trying not to think too far ahead but the bulk of our season is right here so it’s important to continue to play well and finish up as high on the Order of Merit as possible,” said Gibson.
“Like everybody else out here, it’s trying to get into contention, get nervous as hell, get the heart pounding and make some mistakes while trying to make the most of whatever comes your way.
“I’ve been on Tour for 30 years and there are a lot of guys out here who have been at it even longer and that’s basically it: you get yourself in the mix and see if the nerves hold up.”
Gibson, who finished 34th in both his first two years on the Senior Tour, resides in Manila after spending much of his career playing in Asia and the Far East and he credits a handful of starts in some small tournaments on the Philippines Golf Tour in the off-season as invaluable in getting himself back “tournament-ready”.
“I haven’t played all that great the last couple of years,” Gibson admitted. “I haven’t finished inside the top 30 on the Order of Merit and only had a couple of top tens without really being in contention so compared to the way I played 20 years ago, the results hadn’t been all that good.
“But everything certainly came together in Switzerland and the extra preparation seems to be paying off now. There was one part of my game – my shoulder alignment – which seemed to affect every part of my game and all the stars, and my shoulders, aligned at Bad Ragaz and I played extremely well and that seems to have continued.”
It is a fond homecoming, too, for Gibson, returning to St Andrews 20 years after helping Canada to victory in the Alfred Dunhill Cup down the road on the iconic Old Course.
Alongside compatriots Dave Barr and Ray Stewart, Gibson’s side became the first unseeded team to win the event in 1994 after a remarkable 2 and 1 triumph in the final over the world-class threesome of Fred Couples, Tom Kite and Curtis Strange.
Priceless memories of the Home of Golf to draw upon, then, as Rick Gibson continues his bid for more heart-stopping action…
