Alex Čejka is hoping to become just the third player to successfully defend The Senior Open when he tees it up at Carnoustie Golf Links this week.
The German defeated Pádraig Harrington in a play-off to claim his third Senior Major Championship title on a dramatic final day at Royal Porthcawl last year, adding to his wins at the Regions Tradition and KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in 2021.
The four-time DP World Tour winner sealed victory on the second extra hole after making a two-putt birdie at the par-five 18th in punishing conditions in Wales.
Čejka’s victory 12 months ago saw him become the second German to win the Senior Open after four-time champion Bernhard Langer, and he is now looking to follow in the footsteps of Brian Barnes and Christy O’Connor Jnr who successfully defended the title in 1996 and 2000.
The 53-year-old has missed a large part of the campaign due to a back injury, however he arrives at Europe’s only Senior Major Championship in a confident mood having made the cut at last week’s Open Championship at Royal Troon.
Čejka said: “I’m looking forward to defending my title on a different track, hopefully in better conditions against a similar field. There’s a lot of people who are in form and it will be a great challenge, but hopefully I can retain the trophy this week.
“I’m struggling a little bit because I had two months off due to a back injury. I’m slowly coming back and my game felt much better last week at Royal Troon. Making the cut at The Open last week was a really big deal because I didn’t even give myself a chance to make the cut.”
Čejka joins 15 Major winners in the field this week, including Ian Woosnam, Paul Lawrie, Darren Clarke, Michael Campbell, Angel Cabrera, John Daly, Shaun Micheel, Retief Goosen, Justin Leonard, Jose Maria Olazábal, Rich Beem, Vijay Singh, Y.E. Yang, Langer and Harrington.
Lawrie, Harrington – both winners of The Open at Carnoustie – and Daly will bid to become the fifth player to win both The Open and The Senior Open, joining Bob Charles, Gary Player, Tom Watson and Clarke as the only men to do so.
To follow the live scores from the Senior Open Championship, which is being held from July 25-28, click here.
