Darcy looks to master the Seniors Tour

EAMONN DARCY will make his debut on the European Seniors Tour at this month's British Senior Masters, just nine days after his 50th birthday.

The 49-year-old, who announced his retirement from the European Tour at last month’s European Open in Ireland, turns 50 on August 7.

He will then start the Senior Masters as one of the tournament favourites when the event gets underway at Wentworth’s Edinburgh course on August 16.

A strong field will also include two former British Open champions in England’s Tony Jacklin and New Zealander Bob Charles, Jacklin the 1970 winner at Royal Lytham and Charles the 1963 winner at the same venue.

Other top players in the Wentworth draw include former European Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher, Ireland’s Christy O’Connor junior, American David Oakley, Australia’s Ian Stanley and Japan’s Seiji Ebihara, who leads the European Seniors order of merit.

Darcy joins the Seniors Tour after winning almost £2m in a playing career of 31 years on the European Tour. He competed in more than 700 events since joining the tour in 1971, winning four titles - the 1977 Greater Manchester Open, the 1983 Spanish Open, the 1987 Belgian Open and the 1990 Dubai Desert Classic.

“There have been a lot of highlights in my career,” said the Coy Wicklow-born Darcy.

“The Ryder Cup (he is credited as holing the crucial putt that helped Europe win the 1987 encounter at Muirfield Village) is one of the biggest.”

The Irishman sank a difficult downhill putt from four feet to clinch his Ryder Cup singles match against Ben Crenshaw at Muirfield Village in Columbus, Ohio in 1987.

The putt earned Darcy a one-hole win and also enabled Seve Ballesteros to clinch Europe’s first success on American soil moments later.

Darcy has said he will only return to the European Tour to play in events like the Irish Open if he is playing well enough.