{"id":291642,"date":"2025-04-27T13:15:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T13:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/27\/why-are-there-more-successful-older-golfers-today\/"},"modified":"2025-04-27T13:15:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T13:15:16","slug":"why-are-there-more-successful-older-golfers-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/27\/why-are-there-more-successful-older-golfers-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are there more successful older golfers today?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Why<\/div>


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From the 18th fairway in the final group of the British Open in 2009, Tom Watson, the five-time Open champion, hit a shot that flew right at the pin. For a moment, it looked like Watson, then age 59, would win the tournament for a record sixth time and become the oldest player to win a major championship.<\/p>\n

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A firm bounce sent the ball off the back of the green, and Watson needed three more shots to get the ball into the hole. That dropped him into a tie for first. In the four-hole playoff, he ran out of gas and lost by six shots.<\/p>\n

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A decade ago, the idea of an older golfer contending in, let alone winning, a major championship was something few considered. That was still the time when most golfers petered out in their mid-40s and kicked around the golf world before having a brief resurgence on the Champions Tour when they turned 50.<\/p>\n

The man who beat Watson that day, Stewart Cink, is now part of a group of professional golfers defying age and expectation to contend and win tournaments and majors. Cink, 48, has won twice this season on the PGA Tour, his first wins since the 2009 Open.<\/p>\n

Stewart Cink. (FILE)<\/span><\/p>\n

Leading these middle-age mavericks is Phil Mickelson, who, about to turn 51, won the PGA Championship in May. He beat Brooks Koepka, a four-time major winner, and Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, who are both in their 30s.<\/p>\n

The group also includes Lee Westwood, 48, who won his third Race to Dubai in 2020. He then finished second to Bryson DeChambeau at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and runner-up the next week at the Players Championship to Justin Thomas.<\/p>\n

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At last month\u2019s U.S. Open, Richard Bland, 48, of England, became the oldest person to ever lead that tournament at the halfway mark. He had also been the oldest first-time winner on the European Tour, when he won the Betfred British Masters in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll these guys have taken a new approach,\u201d said Dave Phillips, co-founder of the Titleist Performance Institute, which focuses on golf and fitness. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of money out there. They realize they can still compete with the younger guys, but they need to spend more time on their body and what they fuel their body with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phillips, who trains Jon Rahm, the 26-year-old winner of this year\u2019s U.S. Open, has for years been part of Mickelson\u2019s training team.<\/p>\n

Cink, who is in the field this week at Royal St. George\u2019s, said his two wins this season could not be attributed to any one thing. \u201cBeing 47, 48, just doesn\u2019t feel like I thought it might feel when I was 28,\u201d he said. \u201cMy heart and mind make me feel like I\u2019m 10, 15 years younger.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He credits club technology, but also the fitness regimen that players who came up with Tiger Woods embraced to compete against him.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger In this file photo, Tiger Woods lines up a putt (Source: USA TODAY Sports)<\/span><\/p>\n

Westwood said he had always worked on being fit, and it has paid off. But he also knows his limits.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone talks about how far Bryson hits it, and he hits it miles,\u201d Westwood said. \u201cIf you\u2019re younger you might try to keep up with him. At 47, 48, you\u2019re wiser and more knowledgeable. I couldn\u2019t keep up with him if I wanted to. But I can hit it first and closer to the pin and put a bit of pressure on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mickelson has been very public about his training regimen, including how he hits \u201cbombs\u201d \u2014 his term for the very long drives he hits past younger players. But he is also making better decisions on the course, Phillips said, like his strategic play in winning the PGA Championship this year. (His caddie is his brother, Tim.)<\/p>\n

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Phillips said what Mickelson and the others were doing provided lessons for older golfers. \u201cIt\u2019s not strength, but the recovery and the downtime that matter,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s letting your body recover. Everyone wants to get fitter, stronger, faster. They\u2019re upset when they don\u2019t see the results. But what they\u2019re doing is fatiguing to the body more so than a round of golf.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crucial for older players? Maintain leg strength, Phillips said, and that means walk, don\u2019t ride, when you play golf.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt when I came out on tour in 1996 generally you were thought to retire from professional golf in your mid-30s and take a club professional job,\u201d said Padraig Harrington, 49, winner of three majors and the European captain for the Ryder Cup this year. \u201cThen more money came into the game. And now there is no job that would pay you as well as being on tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, earning money and winning are very different things, he said. When the players he competed with in their prime win today, he attributes it to their ability to focus on that moment.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOne of the big things you see with Phil, myself, Lee Westwood is when we\u2019re not in contention it\u2019s tough,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we do get into contention, we get back into it. We\u2019re much better when we\u2019re in contention than when we\u2019re in that gray zone. Sunday when there\u2019s a bit of energy, we get going.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n