Senior PGA notes: Harbor Shores provides good memories for Broadhurst, Monty, Leonard and Els
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — The clock strikes midnight this coming Sunday afternoon for the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores.
One of the senior golfers who will be sad to see the Jack Nicklaus-designed course’s relationship with the PGA of America end is 58-year-old Paul Broadhurst of England, for obvious reasons. Back in 2018, Broadhurst matched 2016 champion Rocco Mediate’s winning score shooting 19-under-par 265 to beat Tim Petrovic by four strokes.
“You know, it’s always nice to go back to somewhere where you’ve won,” said Broadhurst, who followed a one-over-par 72 first round with rounds of five-under 66, seven-under 64 and eight-under 63. “Extra sort of the buzz about the week, a course that you played well on in the past.”
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Broadhurst is third on the PGA Champions Tour money list with $813,446 thanks to five Top 10 finishes in 10 events, including a first at the Invited Celebrity Classic April 21 and a tie for second a week later at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic. He spent last week at home in England after finishing tied for 22nd at the first seniors major of the season, the Regions Tradition, when a string of three 69s were interrupted by a third-round 76.
“The game has been pretty good the last few weeks,” Broadhurst said. “Regions had a bit of a blip on the Saturday. Been home for six days, back in the UK. I worked with my son a little bit, had a game last Friday. Just worked on a couple of things, so hopefully that will engrain itself, ready for tomorrow hopefully.”
Broadhurst is scheduled to tee off Thursday’s first round from the No. 1 tee at 8:21 a.m. in a pairing which includes Americans Stewart Cink and Steve Stricker, two other pre-tournament favorites. Broadhurst will be the one driving a golf cart – he obtained the use of one because of an arthritic right ankle which makes walking difficult on any course and especially the 6,852-yard Harbor Shores which is an even longer walk with the distances between greens and tees.
The memory of winning here in 2018 will always be with Broadhurst, who also won the 2016 Senior Open Championship at Carnoustie.
“It was just my weekend,” said Broadhurst, who plans to step away from competition at age 60 because of the ankle. “I putted unbelievable. Obviously I played nicely from tee to green. But the putter was on fire that week. I don’t think I’ve ever holed so many 30- and 40-foot putts in a short space of time.”
Monty back again at Harbor Shores
Another past Senior PGA winner at Harbor Shores is 60-year-old Colin Montgomerie, who won the title here in 2014 with a 13-under-par 271 total, four strokes better than Tom Watson. Montgomerie then won the Senior PGA in 2015 at French Lick and then finished three strokes behind Mediate’s 265 winning score here in 2016.
“This is a special place for me — my first stroke-play win in America,” said the native of Glasgow, Scotland. “I got to play golf all four days with Bernhard Langer and came out on top, so it means a lot to me. Plus we got to know the people from Whirlpool and KitchenAid. And it’s a bloody good golf course. Hole-by-hole it’s as good as any. There is not a bad hole on this course. It’s such a shame that it has come to an end. This golf course has changed the community in a lot of ways.”
The 60-year-old Montgomerie has struggled this season on the PGA Champions Tour, winning just $92,349 in six events, the best finish a tie for 17th at the Cologuard Classic March 10. He’s coming off a tie for 67th in the Regions Tradition.
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Just down the road at Point O'Woods
For many years, the focal point of tournament golf in southwestern Michigan was Point O’Woods Golf & Country in Millburg, the long-time home of the Western Amateur, about eight miles from Harbor Shores.
One of the golfers in this week’s field is 51-year-old Justin Leonard, the 1997 winner of The Open Championship at Royal Troon. Leonard, who drained the winning putt for Ben Crenshaw’s winning U.S. team in the 1999 Ryder Cup, is an honorary member of “The Point” where he followed a runner-up finish to Phil Mickelson in 1991 with back-to-back Western Amateur titles in 1992 and ’93. He was 11-1 in match play.
“It’s fun, it’s fun,” Leonard said about coming back to the area. “I think we’re going to go over and have dinner later in the week. It’s nice to be back in a place where you’ve had success.”
Point O’Woods and Harbor Shores are as different as night and day to Leonard, who has won $139,766 on the money list and is coming off a tie for 22nd place in the Regions Tradition.
“This (Harbor Shores) is a challenging golf course,” Leonard said. “You have to pay attention to what you are doing. There are very small areas on the greens where you have to put the ball. There’s a lot of strategy involved to what you do off the tee to get it in the right spot. This is a very different course than Point O’Woods.”
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The Big Easy
Ernie Els, the 54-year-old South African who has won four major titles (U.S. Opens in 1994 and ’97; Open Championships in 2002 and ’12), is still looking for his first senior major title. He tied for 14th in his previous visit to Harbor Shores in 2022.
“Nicklaus courses are risk/reward a lot, especially on second shots,” Els said. “If the shot comes off, you look great. If you keep being overly aggressive and it doesn’t come off, you can make some numbers.”
Els currently stands 21st on the money list with $367,377. He tied for third at the Chubb Classic in Naples, Fla., Feb. 18 four shots behind champion Stephen Ames. Two Sundays ago, Els tied for third at the Regions with Steve Stricker and Stewart Cink three shots behind winner Doug Barron.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Harbor Shores provides good memories for Broadhurst, Monty, Leonard, Els
