Alex Cheika overcame adverse weather conditions to win the Senior Open presented by Rolex last year and this year he is ready to defend his title against another tough test at Carnoustie.
The German won his third senior major at Royal Porthcawl in a playoff against Padraig Harrington in blustery conditions in Wales after both players finished five over par – the highest score ever to win Europe's only senior major.
No player has won the Senior Open, a tournament for players aged 50 and over, in consecutive years since Ireland's Christy O'Connor Jnr won it in 1999 and 2000.
A four-time DP World Tour champion, Cheka has experience playing the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at Carnoustie, but knows he will have to play his best on a course he calls “the beast.”
“I played here a long time ago, I would say 10 years ago, I remember we used this course during the Dunhill Links period,” he said after a practice round at Angus Links on Tuesday.
“But we had such terrible weather, playing in this weather doesn't even compare, right, no wind, nothing. But even in good conditions it's a beast. It's a great test of golf. There are a lot of good players here. It's nice to be the defending champion, but it's a new tournament.
“Every week is different. You can play well one week and get washed out the next. We've all seen it. But you know, I'm going to do my best to play well.”
The win 12 months ago saw Čejka tie the record of four-time champion Bernhard Langer as the second German to win the Senior Open, and he followed that up with wins at the Regional Heritage and KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in 2021, where he also took home the trophy.
“I was very happy,” he recalled. “It's fantastic to win a tournament like this. It's always been a dream of mine and, yes, it's been a really great week.
“The two major titles I won before were both incredible. I can't say one is better than the other, or the third is better than the first. Each one is unique.”
Alex Čejka is ready to defend his title at Carnoustie 👀#SeniorOpen | @Rolex pic.twitter.com/bBcfMWPUPy
— Legends Tour (@euLegendsTour) July 23, 2024
Cheika is preparing to play his fourth tournament in the last five weeks after missing time with injury earlier in the season, his confidence bolstered after making the cut in last week’s Troon Open.
“A year later, on a different track, hopefully in better conditions and against pretty much the same players. A lot of people are in great form,” he added.
“I was struggling a little bit because I was out for two months with a back injury. So I was slowly getting back. So that took a little bit out of my game, being out for two months.
“Last week was a really big thing. I didn't even give myself a chance to qualify. I basically started [returned to action] About three weeks ago, I was playing at the BMW International Open on the DP World Tour, and it was awful to watch me play. My golf was terrible, right? I only played two rounds. I didn't even make the cut. [But] My game improved a little bit last week.”
