Champions Tour Insider: Vaughan looking for answers
By Vartan Kupelian, PGATOUR.COM Contributor
Bruce Vaughan acknowledges it took some time to digest the significance of winning last year's Senior British Open.
"It was nice to win," Vaughan said. "(But) I didn't really get the full magnitude of exactly what I did or didn't do and how big the tournament was."
He would find out in time, and be reminded of it wherever he went on the Champions Tour.
"Every week when we are playing at home, they announce, 'The Senior Open Champion,'" Vaughan said. "It kind of gives you a little pump up on the first tee every week. It was pretty nice.
"You know, it's helped me a lot. It's got me a lot of notoriety and stuff like that. It's nice for that, and plus from the players, get a little more respect. But it's taken a while to figure out exactly what I did do a little bit. It's very nice."
This week on the Old Course at Sunningdale, England, Vaughan defends the title he won a year ago at Royal Troon in a playoff over John Cook.
Vaughan began the 2008 campaign as a partially exempt player on the Champions Tour and open-qualified three times to play himself into the top 30 on the final money list. His first and -- so far, only -- Champions Tour victory came at Royal Troon, where he was the 18- and 36-hole leader before slipping behind Cook through three rounds. A back-nine charge Sunday enabled Vaughan to catch Cook and set up a playoff that earned Vaughan a career-best payday of $315,600 and a handful of other nice perks.
Vaughan is getting his first look at Sunningdale's venerable Old Course.
"It's a beautiful place," Vaughan said Tuesday during the champion's pre-tournament press conference. "I tell you what stands out the most are the trees. I wasn't expecting all the trees. You come over here and think it's going to be just like last week (at Turnberry). But it's a beautiful place. I mean, rolling fairways and stuff. The greens are phenomenal. I'm looking forward to it. Everybody I've talked to, I haven't heard one person say anything bad about this place. It's very nice."
There is a uniqueness to returning as defending champion at the Senior British Open.
"Like a lot of tournaments at home, you're defending on that course where you got good feelings of how you played this hole and how you played," Vaughan said. "So being on a different golf course, it 's a little different because you don't know the course that well."
One thing doesn't change at a major championship wherever it is held. The quality of the opposition is of the highest caliber.
"They are all good players," Vaughan said. "There were a lot of good players last year, too. You had almost the same scenario. You had (Greg) Norman, he almost won The Open the week before and he was right there Sunday, too.
"I know that if I play good, I know I've got a good chance to win. Not saying I'm going to win, but I know when I play good, I can. And that's been a disappointment this year is I haven't played well."
Vaughan's best finishes this year are a T11 at the Regions Charity Classic in May and a T12 at the Toshiba Classic in March. His victory last year at Royal Troon earned him a spot in last week's Open Championship, where he shot 78-75 and missed the cut.
"I've been working on some things," he said. "Seems like the same old stuff: A guy wins a big tournament, the guy makes some changes in his swing. Nobody's ever accused golfers of being smart.
"But it's taken a little bit, and last week was probably the lowest point of my career. I hit it so bad. I mean, I had no clue where it was going. I just kept hitting toe-hooks. I finally just had enough of it after last week. I'm doing something different. I stayed on Saturday and Sunday and I pounded balls 'til I got tired of hitting it the other way."
Vaughan arrived at Sunningdale Monday and played a practice round with Gene Jones, who saw a marked improvement in Vaughan's swing.
"It feels like what I was trying t o get to before but I just couldn't figure out how to get there," Vaughan said. "And finally Saturday and Sunday, it kind of clicked a little bit, and actually went from the lowest point to excited to play again. Just have to see what happens."
Champions Tour Insider notes:
• Vaughan is from Kansas, like Tom Watson, the Master of links golf who nearly captured the Open Championship Sunday for the sixth time at age 59.
"We are in the same state, and that's about it," said Vaughan, who was a fireman in Hutchinson, Kansas, before turning to golf. "He's where civilization is and I'm out in God's country. I say God's country because he's the only one that could love it. My wife's from South Africa and I told her, I said, 'I'm taking you from the best climate in the world to the worst.'"
Vaughan called Watson's achievement at Turnberry "phenomenal ... I think he just got a little bit gooned on 18.
"I mean, if that ball rolls a few inches farther, then he's chipping it back up instead of hav ing it right against that cut," he said. "I think it makes a big difference, I really do. Or that ball could just easily have stopped and not gone down that hill. He can't be ashamed of what he did. The guy played great."
• Tom Lehman (T60) and Mark O'Meara (T70) made the cut at Turnberry while several other Champions Tour regulars played in Milwaukee at the U.S. Bank Championship and also made the cut: Jeff Sluman (T18), Scott Hoch (T24), Loren Roberts (T24), Bob Tway (T36) and Ronnie Black (T59).
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