Smyth tees up senior debut in fine field

IRELAND’S Des Smyth makes his European Seniors Tour debut when he tees up in the £500,000 Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open, at Royal St David’s, Harlech, from Friday.

The former Ryder Cup golfer heads an impressive field, which includes Bob Charles, Eamonn Darcy, 2001 champion Denis Durnian, defending champion Seiji Ebihara, Carl Mason, Manuel Pinero, Christy O’Connor Jnr and 2002 Senior British Open champion, Noboru Sugai.

Smyth turned 50 on February 12 and one week later got his senior career off to a wonderful start, finishing second behind Argentina’s Vicente Fernandez at the Ace Group Classic on the Champions Tour. Since then, he has recorded five top-10 finishes in 11 starts in America.