A great sadness about the current golfing exploits of Christy O'Connor Jnr, is that no matter how much more success he enjoys in the US, it will never measure up to times past. As far as the player is concerned, the highlight of his career will remain the Kenya Open win of 1990, because his wife and three children were there waiting for him on the 72nd green.
"That will never happen again," he said poignantly last weekend, in a reference to the death in a car accident last September of his 17-year-old son Darren. But life goes on and O'Connor will be joined by his wife Ann for his appearance in the US Senior Open, starting at Des Moines CC, Iowa, on Thursday.
Comparisons are being drawn in the US between the Galwayman and Australia's Stuart Appleby, who is still mourning the death of his young wife Renay in a car crash last summer. He, too, has triumphed over tragedy, from a golfing perspective, insofar as he won the Houston Open in late April.
As it happened, O'Connor dedicated last Sunday's victory in the State Farm Senior Classic in Maryland to Darren's memory. "I won today for my son," he said. "I know he helped me. It's a very sad day and a very happy day."
The significance of his victory is that he became the first Irishman in 77 years to win an important professional tournament in the US. The last occasion was on April 1st, 1922, when Greenore's Pat O'Hare (known in the US as O'Hara), won the only North and South Championship to be shortened to 54 holes at Pinehurst No 2.
So, there is a certain irony in the fact that O'Connor's victory was also over 54 holes, though in his case, it was according to schedule. But he will be competing this week over 72 holes in an elite field in which Hale Irwin is defending the title.
In challenging for one of the Senior Tour's major events, O'Connor will be attempting to follow in the footsteps of such luminaries as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Roberto de Vicenzo, Gary Player and Lee Trevino, all of whom have won it since it was instituted in 1980.
"I no longer have to look for invites," he added. "That's a great thing." In fact, he automatically receives an immediate full exemption on the US Senior Tour for a calendar year and qualifies for the MasterCard Championship at Hualalai, Hawaii, next January.
Top prize of $195,000 last Sunday was the biggest of his career, surpassing the £100,000 he earned for capturing the British Masters at Woburn in 1992. And it has brought his earnings to $367,407 from six tournaments in the US. It also allowed him to join television pundit Gary McCord as the only other player to win this year on a sponsor's invitation.
"I'm happy for him," said Bruce Fleisher, whom O'Connor beat into second place after a titanic struggle on Sunday. "I'd rather have won, but with the circumstances that Christy has gone through, I couldn't be happier for him."
Which was remarkably reminiscent of the scene at Woburn seven years ago when O'Connor beat Tony Johnstone in a play-off for the British Masters title. Johnstone, who had won the Volvo PGA Championship the previous week said: "It obviously meant so much to Christy, that I was almost pleased not to have won."
Meanwhile, in temperatures rising to a stifling 97 degrees, O'Connor found his own way of staying cool. Walking up to one of the coolers on the course, he flipped the lid and stuck his entire head into the icy water inside. Then he filled his cap with water and slapped it on his steaming forehead.
"We would never get weather like this back home," he said with feeling. All of which heightened the challenge of what he described as "the toughest battle I've ever had." But the reward was commensurate with the effort.
The moment of victory as Christy O'Connor Jnr wins the State Farm Senior Classic on Sunday.
