Scottish Past Masters in Brunei

Ryder Cup winning Captains Bernard Gallacher and Sam Torrance and two time Major winner Sandy Lyle will ensure the new European Senior Tour season gets off to a flying start when they tee up in the inaugural Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters presented by The Stapleford Forum from February 27-March 1. The Scottish trio will headline an impressive field at The Empire Hotel & Country Club in Brunei as the Senior Tour breaks new ground when it reaches its most easterly venue. Torrance, who captained Europe to Ryder Cup victory against the United States in 2002 at The Belfry, will be hoping to build on an impressive end to the 2008 season as he targets reclaiming the Number One spot and succeeding another Ryder Cup winning Captain, Ian Woosnam, as winner of the John Jacobs Trophy, which is awarded to the leading Senior Tour player. After struggling with a hand injury for the past two seasons, 55 year old Torrance showed glimpses of the form that saw him win the Order of Merit in 2005 and 2006 when he finished runner up in the Scottish Seniors Open before capturing his tenth Senior Tour title in the OKI Castellón Open España – Senior Tour Championship. Compatriot Lyle will be hoping to kick-start his own Senior Tour career with a maiden victory in Brunei, with his best finish so far coming in the Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open where he led after the first round before finishing tied 11th. The 1985 Open and 1988 Masters Champion, who won 18 European Tour titles in total, will be hoping for a belated present after celebrating his 51st birthday on February 9. Coincidentally Lyle shares the same birthday as Gallacher, who will be 60 years old when he tees up in Brunei for his first Senior Tour appearance since the Scottish Seniors Open in 2006.
Gallacher, who has one Senior Tour victory and 13 European Tour titles, competed in eight Ryder Cup Matches before captaining the European Team in 1991, 1993 and 1995. The presence of such an illustrious Scottish trio in the field reflects their support for sponsors Aberdeen Asset Management, the Scottish global investment management group which also sponsors The 2010 Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie. Aberdeen Asset Management renews its association with the Senior Tour having previously sponsored The Senior Open Championship between 2005 and 2007. Gallacher, Lyle and Torrance are joined in the field by former Ryder Cup players, England’s Gordon J Brand, who was runner up to Woosnam in the 2008 Order of Merit, and Italian Costantino Rocca. Another player targeting a strong opening to the new campaign in Brunei is Englishman Carl Mason, the all-time leading money winner on the Senior Tour, who this season is looking to become the first player to break through the €2million barrier. Mason, who has won three Order of Merit crowns in five years on the Senior Tour, will be hoping for a return to form after dropping to seventh last season. Meanwhile Australian Mike Harwood, a five time winner on The European Tour, will make his Senior Tour debut in the Brunei tournament, which is one of four events being promoted on the 2009 European Senior Tour by long-term partners WSM Sponsorship. The Jack Nicklaus designed course at The Empire Hotel & Country Club is built upon a stunning cliff top location and has hosted the Asian Tour’s Brunei Open since 2006. The beginning of the tournament week will coincide with Brunei’s National Day which falls on Monday, February 23.