BRIAN BARNES retained the British Seniors Open Championship title at Royal Portrush yesterday, but gave his challengers every opportunity of taking away the honours.
In the end, the husky Scot finished on 11-under-par 277 after a round of 74 to pick up the winners cheque of £58,330 from the £350,000 jackpot.
He had three shots to spare in the end over New Zealander Bob Charles and David Oakley from Florida, who proved to be the dark horse of the race.
At one stage, the 13th hole, Oakley had closed the gap on Barnes to just one stroke, but then showed some inexperience on the finishing run as he dropped shots at the 14th and 17th holes.
"I hit some terrible shots out there and I would have liked to have retained the title with a final sub par round," said Barnes
Of the eight Irish players who made the halfway cut, best were Liam Higgins from Waterville and Warrenpoint amateur Kenny Stevenson. They both finished on seven-over-par 295, with Stevenson having a regulation 72 yesterday and Higgins a rather unfortunate 76.
