Mason masters Adare job

IT'S little wonder golfers can't wait to reach their 50th birthday these days. Carl Mason won just twice on the regular European Tour, but when he turned 50 at the end of June last year he quickly fattened up his pension fund.

Carl Mason won just twice on the regular European Tour between 1974 and 1998 but when he turned 50 at the end of June last year he quickly made good on his promise to fatten up his pension fund. He did so in style, winning four times and finishing second twice before the end of the year to become the most successful rookie in Seniors Tour history.

He started off this year with victory in Tobago and maintained the momentum at Adare Manor yesterday when he fought off a brave challenge from fellow Englishman Nick Job to capture the AIB Seniors Open with a splendid 10 under par aggregate of 206, the lowest in the three years at the Co Limerick venue.

Mason picked up a cheque for €49,500 to bring his season's haul to €104,549 and his total earnings from 15 starts as an over 50 to a very handsome €454,791.

Mason, Australian Noel Ratcliffe, the defending champion, and Job went into yesterday's final round contested before the biggest galleries since the event was inaugurated in 1997 tied for the lead on seven under par. Ratcliffe fell out of the reckoning when taking 41 to the turn and even though he fought back well with an inward 33, had to settle for a share of third with Frenchman Gary Watine.

Mason and Job both took 36 to the turn and they were still level after both birdied the long 12th. However, Mason now had the impetus and punched a nine iron to 18 inches for a birdie at the 13th and rolled in a fifteen footer for his third successive gain at the 14th. He was still two ahead coming to the 17th but Job kept up the pressure when he holed from eight feet for a three at the 17th.

With Adare's spectacular but dreaded 18th still to come, the issue was far from settled. Job played it better from tee to green, a fine third leaving him with a 10-footer for birdie.

Mason, conscious of the danger of going over the green, left his wedge approach some 40 feet short of the hole and putted a yard or so past. Job's effort shaved the hole and Mason waved the broomhandle successfully for the last time to knock in the winning putt and a very solid final round of 69.

"I'm delighted with the way I played today, I really hit the ball properly," he said. "It feels great. It doesn't get any easier, I don't care what anybody says.

"The pressure is always there. It's tough although that's the way it's supposed to be. Europe is the place for me, I'm not going back to America. I love it here. It's where I've been brought up. I feel comfortable here.

"Now I've won this tournament on a great course. So many inviting shots to play. They have all these areas where they can put the pins. They really invite good shots and you've got to play good shots. If you play a bad shot, you're struggling to get down in two and that's how it should be."

Winning the Order of Merit again this year is one of Mason's chief objectives. For one thing, that would clinch his place on the European UBS Cup team that takes on the Americans at the end of each season in Florida.

Although it's held in the States, he joked: "That's different, cash in the pocket before you go. I like that."

The major disappointment for yesterday's decent crowds was the failure of the Irish contingent to make any impression. Arthur Pierse, the Tipperary amateur and former Walker Cup player, led them home on five over par after yesterday's 73. He finished in a share of 31st with Paul Leonard next best on six over.

Christy O'Connor Junior commanded a fair share of yesterday's early crowds and they must have been dismayed to see him run up an eight at the par four 5th and another eight at the last on the way to a 79 and a nine over par aggregate.

Irish scores: 221, Arthur Pierse, amateur. 222, Paul Leonard, 33rd, €2, 128. 223, Joe McDermott, 35th, €1, 716. 224, Liam Higgins and Eddie Polland, 43rd, €1, 386. 225, Christy O'Connor Jnr and David Jones, 49th, €1, 023, also Dermot Morris, amateur. 230, Denis O'Sullivan, 68th, €421. 232, John Curtis, 71st. 371. 241, Arthur Spring, 76th, €320.