Defending Champ Hobday Thrilled By Mediocre Finish

Simon Hobday is no longer the defending U.S. Senior Open champion, and he’s not the least bit disappointed to lose the title.

“In a way this is good. Now I can get along with the rest of my life,” he said, shortly after Tom Weiskopf’s victory Sunday.

Hobday, of South Africa, was never comfortable with the role as reigning U.S. Senior Open champion.

“It affects you when you’re really just a middle-class golfer,” he said. “I think you should be told by some sort of therapist that there’s a downside.”

Hobday has had one top-10 finish in 15 events on the Senior PGA Tour this season. He shot 75 Sunday to finish in a tie for 35th.

Have a cold one

Local pro Larry Ringer ended his dreamy week with a 74 and took home $9,797 and a whole bunch of fond memories.

Ringer led after the first round, but shot an 80 the next day and finished the day tied for 21st.

“My goal coming in was to get into the top 25, and I’m tickled pink,” he said. “I felt more pressure this week than my total career up until now.”

Ringer’s parting commment showed why the fans took this rather average fellow during his whirlwind week: “I’m dog tired. I’m going into the locker room and getting a cold beer.”

Money bags

Weiskopf had to feel like a million bucks.

His $175,000 first-place check pushed his career earnings on the Senior PGA Tour to $1,042,574. That’s an average of $26,733 over the 39 tournaments he has participated in since 1993.

Weiskopf was the only player to shoot under 70 in all four rounds and now has six straight sub-70 rounds, the longest streak on the tour this season. Not bad for a guy who spends most of his time designing courses instead of playing on them.

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN - U.S. Senior Open notebook