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THE SENIOR OPEN PRESENTED BY ROLEX

July 25, 2018

Paul Broadhurst

St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, United Kingdom

TOM CARLISLE: Like to welcome Paul Broadhurst, Senior Open Champion at Carnoustie in 2016. After The Open this year at Carnoustie, does that build the excitement and anticipation for this week after seeing the guys in The Open?

PAUL BROADHURST: Yeah, a little disappointed I couldn't qualify for the three spots, I would have liked to have tried in that but I couldn't get back from the States early enough to qualify on the Tuesday. So had to miss that one but would have been nice to have a go and play in the real Open.

But no, glad to be here and looking forward to the week.

TOM CARLISLE: And St. Andrews, you made quite the impression back in 1990 when you played in The Open.

PAUL BROADHURST: Yeah, I watched the rerun of Faldo's open on SKY the week before the open, and had a couple of glimpse of a really skinny Paul Broadhurst with long, curly hair and a mustache, much to the amusement of my kids.

Yeah, good memories from 1990. I can still remember most of the round, out in 29 and sort of hung on around the tough holes and birdied the last. Something like that or somewhere close would be great.

TOM CARLISLE: Obviously the course record is 63, but there's a bit of a story to go with that, as well.

PAUL BROADHURST: The one with the telephone? On the Friday night, ringing up for the tee time, obviously no mobile phones back in 1990 and it was the red telephone box with a big iron door which had got, I don't know, some sort of super-spring in it and as I opened it, it swung back and caught me straight in the eyebrow, so I had a nice gash going into Saturday. But didn't have any effect fortunately.

Q. I take it that winning at St. Andrews would be one of the real highlights of your career?
PAUL BROADHURST: Yeah, I've been coming here for 40 years, first as a 13-year-old on holiday with my dad and golfing pals. We used to come and play St. Andrews and Carnoustie and some of the smaller courses, Crail. And we used to do that every week, I've been coming up here for a long time and it is, it's my favourite place to come, come and visit. Even I love the Old Course, but I love the town of St. Andrews and the atmosphere everything and about it. This is my No. 1 place. I'm really pleased The Senior Open is here this week.

Q. I take it, because of the history of St. Andrews -- different from everywhere in the world of golf?
PAUL BROADHURST: Yeah, in America, Pebble Beach is their St. Andrews maybe and the American guys love Pebble Beach and what it means to them, but this is my home, not literally, but the Home of Golf, and I feel comfortable on the golf course, most of the time.

You know, some good memories, and it's always great to come back and visit the place, whether I play a course or not, I still come and play the Senior Open, or Scottish Seniors last year, and we came over here for an evening just to walk around the town and have a meal and stuff. You know, really enjoy the place.

Q. You mention you love Scotland, as well. You've had four starts as a senior golfer and you've won three times?
PAUL BROADHURST: Yeah, it would be nice to make that four out of five, but it's a good field this week. Under no illusions on how well I'm going to have to play. You know, it's funny, there are some countries, you seem to do well and I've done well in Portugal and France and the U.S., but Scotland -- Home of Golf, why not play golf at the Home of Golf.

Q. Given the kind of renaissance you've enjoyed on the scene I don't understand, do you still sometimes pinch yourself occasionally at the magnitude of your success here in the last couple of years?
PAUL BROADHURST: A little bit. You know, I've had a fairly successful career on The European Tour, although that was a bit of a roller coaster some years. It was really up-and-down.

I worked hard from 47 to 50 on my game to try and get it ready for when I turned 50, and I wouldn't say I'm being rewarded for that hard work, but I put the hard work in, and sometimes nice to get that reward for, you know, some hard work, a few changes being made. Worked with Tim Rouse, my coach now, and we've made a few changes from my younger days. Touch wood, it's gone pretty well.

Q. Would you say you're playing as well or better now than you did for spells on the main tour?
PAUL BROADHURST: Definitely. Definitely. I'm not -- I wouldn't be long enough to compete on the main tour most weeks nowadays, but yeah, certainly I'm more comfortable with my game. I know my swing so much better than I used to. Some weeks I have no idea what I was working on, or where the ball was going. Still have a few days where the driver misbehaves but on the whole, I drive it much better now and you know, I know my swing and I know what goes wrong and I know how to fix it now, which I didn't know 20 years ago.

Q. Now you're playing against most of them -- what are the similarities between now and years ago playing with those guys?
PAUL BROADHURST: Similarities -- he's still the man to beat at 60 years of age. Sandy still sort of plays occasionally, although he's not what I consider full-time. It's just great to play against those guys that you grew up watching, grew up -- or matured as a golfer playing against, you know, at the age of 50, you can still compete against them and you're still trying to beat them and they are still at the top, the Langers in this world.

Playing in the States more so nowadays; to play against the people that you grew up and admired, Tom Kite and Hale Irwin and Tom Watson. Yeah, it's been, I don't want to use the phrase, journey, but it's been a good journey for the past three years.

Similarities, I don't know, because I feel as though I'm a better player. I'm more able to compete against those guys nowadays than I was 15, 20 years ago.

Won a few times and quite a few over in the States, as well. I don't know, I mean, I -- you always feel, though, you have a point to prove over in the States, as what's perceived as a foreign player. That keeps me on my toes. I try not to take foot off the gas after a win. You know, you need to keep playing and keep practicing, and Langer is the perfect example of that, really.

Q. Woosie --
PAUL BROADHURST: Woosie has been a great player over the years. I think injuries play a part in Woosie's performances nowadays. He's still keen to play but he's not featuring high up on the leaderboard and I think it's just down to his back, really. I've just seen him in the locker room having a rub-down with a physio this morning.

You never write Woosie out of the game. He still hits it great tee-to-green. He's concerned a little bit about his putting and I've heard he's gone to the claw and he's putting really well now again. Wouldn't surprise me if he's in the frame this wake. He's that good a player.

Q. Wonder what you remember about your first visit to the course?
PAUL BROADHURST: Not sure I can remember too much about the course from a 13-year-old. The Tom Morris Golf Shoppe used to be called -- I just remember going in there as a youngster buying the St. Andrews bag tag and the square St. Andrews towel and attaching it to the bag and stuff like that, buy markers and stuff.

I remember I used to collect the bag tags, so St. Andrews, Carnoustie, Gleneagles, and at the end, I put a piece of spring on the bag so I've got enough room to attach them. I had about 20 -- as a 14-year-old, clanking around the golf course. Those are the sort of memories I remember.

I can't remember honestly how I used to play the course all those years ago. I played here in the St. Andrews Trophy I think in '87 or '88 mand that was really my first real memory of playing the Old Course.

Q. You had a very successful career on the main tour, but you seem to be having an even more successful career on The Senior Tour. Have you got any regrets at all that perhaps -- I'm not saying you didn't work hard on the main tour, but is there regret at all that maybe you didn't quite fulfill your potential?
PAUL BROADHURST: Absolutely. I wish I'd met my coach of now 20 years ago. I actually knew him. I knew him when I was an 18-year-old and he was a club pro starting out. I never sort of considered going to see him at the time. I had my own coach from when I was a 16-year-old and stuck with him until I was probably about 30 years of age and then moved on to other sort of coaches.

But you know, the regret is that I perhaps didn't start working with him earlier. There was another point I was going to say and I can't remember what it was.

I realise that I didn't fulfill my potential on the main tour and I did work hard on my game but I didn't have the answers to the faults in my swing. I didn't have the answers to put them right week-in, week-out and hence, I was really inconsistent. When it was on, it was really on, and when it was off, I was home on Saturday.

You know, that's changed considerably, and knowing my game a little bit better than I used to. But yeah, there are regrets, absolutely. I do feel that while I had a decent career, I underachieved a little bit.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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