Brand aiming to make his mark

Two-time Ryder Cup player Gordon Brand Jr is back where it all started as he prepares to tee up in the ISPS Handa PGA Seniors Championship.

It is seven years since the jocular Scot made his debut among the legends of the game in this event. It was almost a dream a debut having been out of the limelight for a couple of years however, he has revealed he as the master of his own downfall at the end of an epic six-hole play-off for the title against his namesake Gordon Brand.

“This was my first tournament on the European Senior Tour,” said Brand, still sporting his trademark goatee beard albeit having now turned a shade of white.

“I finished on the main tour in 2006 and I had a two and half year wait to get on the Senior Tour. This was my first opportunity and after two and half years not being competitive I got into a play-off with the other Gordon (Brand).

“Then we had an epic play-off. We played the 18^th five times, or something like that, and then went to 17, a short hole, and someone’s phone goes off.

“I’m thinking whose phone is that and it’s mine! I ended up with an eight or something like that and that sorted that tournament out!”

Brand, an eight time winner on the European Tour, finally got off the mark in 2010 – winning in Jersey, an added a second title in 2013 landing the Winston Golf Senior Open.

Wins have been few and far between and that is something the 56-year-old acknowledges, as he prepares for a tilt at landing the oldest title on the European Senior Tour.

He said: “The standard is very good. There’s a bunch of players in the top 20 that are all as hungry as each other to be up there and that’s the fun of it.

“It’s a different environment winning on the Senior Tour. I won eight times on the European Tour, which is very good, and twice on the Senior and this is my seventh year, so I would say I’ve underperformed, so a win here would be very nice.”

He, like the majority of the field, are facing a new venue in Close House and the challenging topography of the Lee Westwood Colt course.

But Brand brushed aside the ‘hilly’ course and that as professional whatever the terrain, it’s there to be overcome.

“The nature of the course is irrelevant as we play so many different types of golf course,” he said.

“Last week we were in Jersey at La Moye, which was links style.

“But the course here is in great shape and the weather is glorious so I am looking forward to the event.

“It’s irrelevant whether you like it or not as we’re here to perform. There’s never a perfect place as you turn up and play the course put in front of you. I’m looking forward to what’s put in front me.

“The reason we’re here and the reason we play is because it’s all about the challenge of winning. The challenge is to try and be in the mix for Sunday.”