U.S. SENIOR OPEN
3 Things to Know: 45th U.S. Senior Open, Rounds 1 and 2
Eighteen-time major champion Jack Nicklaus once called the green complexes on The Broadmoor’s East Course as the “most difficult set of greens I’ve ever played – fair, but difficult.”
The 156 competitors in this week’s 45th U.S. Senior Open will get a taste of that challenge starting with Thursday’s opening round. For the past few days, each has tried to dissect these gems created by the tandem of Donald Ross and Robert Trent Jones Sr. that are set on the base of Cheyenne Mountain.
The golfer who can best navigate the putting surfaces – while managing to keep their ball in play off the tee – likely will be holding the Francis D. Ouimet Memorial Trophy come late Sunday afternoon.
During his Tuesday practice round, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer and two-time PGA Tour Champions winner Brandt Jobe witnessed something that could be a common occurrence.
“My buddy hits it to like 20 feet, and I watched him hit [the putt] two feet … and it goes 20 yards off the green,” said Jobe, who tied for fifth in the 2018 U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor. “The greens were rolling at 15 at times [on Monday]. Today (Tuesday) they were a little slower.”
Added two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els: “You have to be a good driver of the ball. Iron play, you've got to figure out your yardages, which is going to be key. It's going to be very different than we're used to.
“Then when you get yourself on the putting surfaces, you've got to get yourself on the right side of the flag. That will make your job a little bit easier. Then reading your putts. There's huge slope. So, there's a lot of things we have to battle this week. But we're playing in the most beautiful environment. We're very fortunate to be able to be playing The Broadmoor.”
For a record-tying third time, The Broadmoor is hosting the game’s best 50 and over players. Due to a scheduling conflict, defending champion Richard Bland is not in the field. Neither are a handful of other stars – Steve Stricker, Fred Couples, Colin Montgomerie and Davis Love III – for a variety of reasons. But that doesn’t mean the field isn’t stacked with big-name competitors, including the ageless two-time champion Bernhard Langer.
Here are 3 things to know for the opening two rounds:
Anyone with Angel as part of their name is having quite a major season on the senior circuit. That would be Angel Cabrera and Miguel Angel Jimenez. The former claimed major titles in consecutive weeks at the Regions Tradition and Senior PGA Championship, while the latter is coming off a playoff win at the Kraulig Companies Championship at Firestone, in Akron, Ohio.
The trials and tribulations of Cabrera, the 2007 U.S. Open and 2009 Masters champion, have been well documented. “El Pato” (The Duck), as he’s affectionately known by his peers, spent 30 months in prison. Without his clubs for 2½ years, the 55-year-old Argentinian stayed sharp by swinging nothing but a broom during his incarceration. Upon being cleared to the PGA Tour Champions, Cabrera didn’t take long to regain his form, posting three victories in 2025, including the two major titles.
Jimenez, the 61-year-old Spaniard with the unique warm-up routine, registered his first senior major title in seven years last Sunday, defeating Steven Alker in a playoff. His previous two major titles came in the 2018 Regions Tradition and Senior Open Championship. That same year, he was the runner-up by a stroke to David Toms in the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor. Two years earlier, he came up a shot shy of Gene Sauers at Scioto Country Club.
Some might describe The Broadmoor as a taste of heaven. Will that include an Angel with a Trophy on Sunday?
Playing at 6,300 feet above sea level brings a whole set of challenges as the competitors deal with the altitude. Technology helps play a role as some competitors are using Trackmans to get their numbers. Then again, the altitude also can take a physical toll.
“I can tell you we just walked up the steps [to the interview tent] and I was trying to find my breath,” said Els.
Growing up in South Africa, Els often played in altitude, and he captured the 2000 International at nearby Castle Pines, so for him the adjustment isn’t too difficult. Todd White, the 2023 U.S. Senior Amateur champion, said he’s playing for anywhere from 10 to 15 percent extra carry, depending on the time of day.
“I played nine holes very first thing [Tuesday] morning, and the ball doesn't go quite as far as it will in the afternoons,” said Els. It's basically 10 percent when it's warm, and the up and down [elevation changes], you have to calculate it.”
Added former Aspen, Colo., resident Justin Leonard, the 1992 U.S. Amateur and 1997 British Open champion: “We were living at 8,000 feet, so a little bit higher. Here I'm playing around 7 percent. When it's a little cooler, it's maybe not going quite the full 7, and then as it warms up...ball will be going further.
“There's math involved, but there's feel as well, and just having a sense of the temperature and how far the ball is going. You're going to have to make some adjustments on the fly, that's for sure.”
Stewart Cink, the 2009 Open champion who is competing in his first U.S. Senior Open this week, said power could be a key factor.
"Because you can take advantage of the altitude," he said. "That's a key factor around this area. Ball speed and high trajectory just makes the course shorter. Relative to other players who might hit it lower and maybe not as fast, you just gain like an exponential type of distance when you hit it high and far. So that's going to be a lot of fun."
The state of Colorado, known as the Centennial State for the year it officially joined the Union (1876), will be well represented in the field, including Matt Schalk, 54, of Erie, who will have the honor of hitting the opening tee shot of the championship on Thursday at 7 a.m. MDT. The director of golf at Colorado National Golf Club is making his second consecutive U.S. Senior Open start after missing the cut at Newport (R.I.) Country Club. This should be a special week for Schalk, who has his daughter and former University of Colorado golfer Hailey on his bag.
Schalk claimed the 2022 PGA Senior Professional Championship, one of two Coloradoans to achieve the feat (1986 U.S. Mid-Amateur winner Bill Loeffler).
He isn’t the only decorated Coloradoan in the field. Denver Kent High graduate Brandt Jobe is a member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. Jobe owns several Colorado Golf Association titles and claimed the 1992 Colorado Open.
While he’s not a native of the state, Chris DiMarco, a three-time PGA Tour winner and runner-up to Tiger Woods in the 2005 Masters, has lived in Denver for the past eight years.
Shane Bertsch, a native of the state who resides in Parker, will be making his third U.S. Senior Open start.
All will be looking to join U.S. Senior Open Honorary Chair Hale Irwin and Dale Douglass as those with state ties to have their names on the trophy. Irwin, who won the 1967 NCAA Division I title while also starring as a defensive back at the University of Colorado, claimed this championship in 1998 and 2000, while former CU standout Douglass (1986) remains the youngest champion in U.S. Senior Open history at 50 years, 3 months, 24 days.
David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.
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