Roger Chapman will defend his MCB Tour Championship – Seychelles title when he returns to Constance Lemuria for the second leg of the Indian Ocean Swing on the Staysure Tour. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

ROGER Chapman returns to the MCB Tour Championship – Seychelles 12 months after winning the inaugural title at Constance Lemuria.

And the former Kent amateur is relishing the opportunity to reacquaint himself with the stunning Indian Ocean layout.

The two-time Senior Major Champion came from seven shots behind at the start of the final round to lift the trophy in 2018, beating Phillip Price on the first play-off hole after sinking a 30-foot eagle putt.

Chapman, who has four top 10s to his name in 2019, including a share of 10th place at The Senior Open, at St Andrews, is excited to be back on the Indian Ocean island.

“It’s always great to be a defending champion,” said Chapman. “It’s great being in Seychelles and I’m looking forward to defending my title.

“The win meant a lot last year. I was injured at the beginning of the season and had a shoulder operation in the middle of May and did nothing until The Senior Open at St Andrews.”

The Berkshire-based golfer, who was born in Kenya where he lived until he was five, will tee it up in the second staging of the event.

The Seychelles tournament is the second of the three event final series MCB Tour Championship, where the top-performing player will be crowned King of the Swing after the Indian Ocean events.

Chapman, who has five victories worldwide to his name – including the 2012 US Senior Open and US Senior PGA – was crowned both the inaugural King of the Swing and the MCB Tour Championship – Seychelles winner.

The 60-year-old who lives in Ascot. will face a tough test, not just from the players battling for the title, but from the picturesque course which hosted the first European Tour-sanctioned event in Seychelles 12 months ago.

“The course is like an examination,” said the three-time Staysure Tour winner, who believes the Constance Lemuria course, which has serious elevation changes, offers one of the most spectacular views in the world of golf according to the defending champion.

“The paper is there in front of you and you’ve got to do your best,” added Chapman.

“You have to plot your way around this course, like a game of chess, and make sure you hit the fairways.

“The first 12 holes are really, really good and then you get to the 13th tee and you go up, and then you get to the 14th tee and you go up again.

“You think you have to come down sooner or later and then you hit 15, which is probably one of the most beautiful holes in the world.

“The hang time on the shot into the green is close to 10 seconds, which is incredible. Then the par five 16th goes back up the hill before you get to 17 which is a little par three.

“You then arrive at the 18th tee and see the fantastic view but the tee shot puts the fear of God into you.

“It’s not an easy tee shot, especially with the wind. Some guys hit driver, but a lot of guys will take an iron off the tee to make sure they hit the fairway – it’s fraught with danger.”

Chapman will tee off at 11.45am local time alongside the MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar winner Barry Lane.

Also in the field is Europe’s victorious 2014 Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley.

The first round at the MCB Tour Championship – Seychelles gets under way at 9am local time which is four hours ahead of GMT.

•For live scoring at the MCB Tour Championship – Seychelles click here.

Chapman was part of Kent’s golden era

ROGER Chapman was a member of the last Kent team to win the English County Championship in 1978 before their triumph at Huddersfield in September.

Kent took the title by beating Northumberland 5&4 in the final at Frilford Heath.

Chapman’s team-mates included Walker Cup ace Peter Hedges, Paul Hoad, who went on to play on the European Tour and has taught on the circuit, Toby Shannon, who beat Sandy Lyle 10&8 in The Boys Amateur Championship, in 1974.

Chapman, whose only win in 20 years on the European Tour came in Rio de Janeiro, in 2000, was the first Kent player to win the English Amateur Championship in 1979, at Royal St George’s.

He also claimed the Lytham Trophy in 1981, the year he made his Walker Cup debut, where he beat Hal Sutton, twice on the final day, at Cypress Point, in California.

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Wales’ Phillip Price is looking for a strong start to the MCB Tour Championship series in Madagascar to cement his place in the battle to win the John Jacobs Trophy on the Staysure Tour’s Order of Merit. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

MADAGASCAR will host its first European Tour-sanctioned tournament when the MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar takes place from November 29-December 1.

It will be the first Staysure Tour event to take place on the world’s fourth largest island, and the 46th country the over-50s tour will have visited since its inception in 1992.

Phillip Price, who currently leads the Order of Merit, is hoping to claim his first John Jacobs Trophy at the conclusion of the year.

The MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar marks the first event of the MCB Tour Championship final series, which will see the Staysure Tour return to Seychelles for a second successive season from December 5-7, before the regular season-finale takes place in Mauritius, from December 13-15.

The Welshman, who won the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship at Kent’s London Club, in August, will make his Madagascan debut at International Golf Club Du Rova, hoping to continue his good form which sees him top the Staysure Order of Merit.

With 10 top 10s to his name and a 366-point lead over Lancashire’s David Shacklady, who is Price’s closet Order of Merit challenger in the field this week, the 2002 Ryder Cup hero knows he needs to play well in the lucrative final three events of the Staysure Tour campaign.

“Everybody wants to finish first and I’ve played pretty well all season,” Price said.

“There are a lot of challengers close behind me and there are a lot of points to play for over the next three weeks.

“If one of the top six win a couple of events, then I’m going to have to deliver something very good.

“I have a good feeling from last year’s MCB Tour Championship, where I had a second and fourth place finish.

“Madagascar is a new location for me, but I like this part of the world. I’m very familiar with Seychelles and Mauritius and hopefully this week is going to be equally as good for me.”

There is only one man knows who knows the layout at International Golf Club Du Rova, local professional Jean Baptiste Ramarozatovo, who will be making his debut on the over-50s circuit.

Meanwhile the remaining 47 players in the field will hope their pre-tournament practice pays off when the action starts.

Price added: “Marc Farry and his organisation have done a great job to get us here, making everything work properly from the hotel to transportation and we’re lucky to be having a tournament here.

“The course is in good condition, but it is very challenging off the tee, especially around the greens. There are many banks off the greens and a lot of them lead to deep bunkers.”

The first round of the MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar will begin at 8am local time, with Price teeing off at 9:17am. Madagascar is three hours ahead of GMT.

•For live scoring in the MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar click here.

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Ormskirk’s David Shacklady winner of the Sinclair Invitational, at Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel and Country Club. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

DAVID Shacklady won his second Staysure Tour title as a six-under par final round 66 sealed the outcome of The Sinclair Invitational, at Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel and Country Club.

The Lancastrian carded a bogey-free final round to reach 11-under and win on home soil by one shot ahead of Austria’s Markus Brier and two shots ahead of close friend Paul Streeter, who finished third on nine-under.

It could have been very different for Shacklady as he saw a short birdie putt slide by on the 72nd hole to miss out on taking what would have been – at the time – the outright lead.

But a triple bogey eight on the penultimate hole for co-leader Phillip Price meant the Welshman dropped back into the pack and victory was confirmed for the 2018 VTB Russian Open Golf Championship (Senior) winner.

“I can’t tell you what it means,” 52-year-old Shacklady said. “To win one title was amazing and I know it’s a cliché, but people say you validate it by winning another – and this season has gradually improved for me.

“I felt exactly the same as I did the first time. I felt as calm as I did in Russia and I genuinely became focused on just trying to win and post the lowest number. It’s nice to be able to repeat it.

“I played very well. I have been playing well prior to getting here this week, but you never know if you’re going to continue it.

“I knew I had a good chance on the back nine but then to be honest, the little one at the last for birdie, I thought that was going to mean I was in a play-off or maybe lose by one.

“I knew I was hitting it well and I knew I was going to give myself chances but I got on a nice run, in a nice frame of mind and I kept doing what my coach has been telling me and it worked out beautifully.”

The 52-year-old was joined at Ware’s Hanbury Manor, in Hertfordshire, by his wife and three children.

Shacklady was overjoyed to provide them with the perfect conclusion to the week, having been disappointed to bogey the final hole to miss the cut by a single shot the last time his family attended a tournament at The Senior Open, at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

“My family were there at Lytham when I bogeyed the last to miss the cut and they were all devasted I wasn’t there at the weekend, as I was,” the Ormskirk-based pro said.

“You just have to pick yourself up and go again. There are far more lows in golf than highs – there always have been and there always will be.

“I’m back out again next year and that’s all I want. I want to play, and play, and play and I wouldn’t trade this – being out here on this Tour – for anything in the world. It’s incredible.”

The 2018 Qualifying School graduate was typically humble in victory and offered some kind words to Price, whose triple bogey on the 71st hole was only the second time he dropped shots all week.

“We were stood at the last when Phil was coming in and he was signing autographs as he was coming off,” he said. “That says everything you need to know about Phil Price.

“He’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet and a class act with it. It is horrible that it’s gone that way but he will be the first one to come and shake my hand and say ‘well done’.

“He’s a gentleman and a good friend as well,” added Shacklady who qualified to play in the 2007 Open at Carnoustie and played seven times on the European Tour between 1999 and 2008.

Despite that triple bogey costing him a shot at victory, Price finished in fourth place on eight-under, which means he leapfrogs Paul Broadhurst and Bernhard Langer to take top spot on the Order of Merit

Shacklady’s victory sees him climb seven places into fifth position.

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DAVID McKenzie leads at the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship after an emotional day at London Golf Club, following the passing of Ryder Cup winner Gordon Brand Jnr.

The Australian recorded a bogey-free round of 65, to lead on seven-under by a stroke from Chris Williams – however, thoughts during the day were with the family of Brand Jnr after his sudden death on the eve of the tournament.

The Ryder Cup winner, who also won twice on the Staysure Tour, passed away during the night, and an emotional minute’s silence was held in his honour on the 10th tee at 12:35pm, when he would have teed off at London Golf Club for the opening round of the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship.

McKenzie, who finished tied fifth at last week’s weather-affected Senior Open, qualified for the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship via Monday’s aualifying event.

And while Steve Smith was resucing the Aussies’ first innings at Edgbaston in the first Ashes test, McKenzie carried his form into the opening round, where he made seven birdies without dropping a shot on the International Course.

“I drove down Sunday night and got in at two o’clock Monday morning and then came through Monday qualifying, which was really windy,” said McKenzie.

“So, the fact there was no wind today made the course a lot easier.

“I haven’t been at the top of a leaderboard for a while now. I’ve been playing okay at the last couple of tournaments on the Champions Tour in America and I had a nice week last week, so I’ve brought that form along with me.

“I would say my shot of the day which I’m most pleased about was my tee shot on the eighth – my 17th – across the water and I hit a six-iron into four feet. I played well. I kept it in play and didn’t get in any trouble.”

South African Williams has two runner-up finished already this season but is in prime position to strike, having signed for an opening round of 66, to sit a shot behind McKenzie.

Welsh pair Stephen Dodd and Phillip Price shot five-under par rounds of 67 to occupy third place alongside Sweden’s Magnus P Atlevi and another Australian Peter Fowler.

The second round begins at 7.45am, with McKenzie aiming to continue his assault on the course at 8.55am.

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Texan Clark Dennis shot to the top of the leaderboard in the Swiss Seniors Open at Bad Ragaz. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

CLARK Dennis carded three birdies in his final four holes to post a six-under par 64 and race to the top of the Swiss Seniors Open leaderboard at Golf Club Bad Ragaz.

The 2017 John Jacobs Trophy winner started and finished strongly in the Swiss mountains to take a one-stroke lead into the weekend ahead of Mark Mouland and José Coceres after Friday’s first round.

Dennis, a four-time Staysure Tour winner, teed it up in Switzerland with his son Philip on the bag, as he was for his most recent victory on the over-50s circuit, the MCB Tour Championship – Mauritius in 2018.

“He’s a tour-winning caddy from Mauritius! He’s my good luck charm,” Dennis said. “Having him and my wife here is great and my other son is coming to Spain next week.

“It’s great to have them here during the summer in Europe. They get to see some great stuff and experience great places. The Staysure Tour has been a blessing for my family.

“I really enjoy playing on this tour, everything is run so well. We play really nice courses like this and it’s pretty relaxed. There are a lot of good guys out here.”

The Texan carded six birdies and a hole-out eagle during his opening round but his leaderboard-topping 64 was tinged with a hint of frustration after missing short putts which would’ve extended his advantage further.

“I missed a couple of short putts but other than that, it was a flawless round,” Dennis said. “I hit it really well and only missed one green.

“If you’re driving the fairway here, you’re going to get a lot of birdie opportunities and fortunately I was able to convert eight times – well, six times, I holed out from the fairway on eight!

“It was nice not to need the putter. I’ve been struggling a little bit with my putter so it was nice to see a few go in today.

“You always think you could have been better, and I do think today could have been better, but I was pleased with how I played,” Dennis added.

Welshman Mouland and Argentina’s Coceres both carded bogey-free, five under par rounds of 65 at Golf Club Bad Ragaz to sit in tied second, while Peter Baker, Peter O’Malley, Phillip Price and Ian Woosnam are a shot further back on four-under.

A group of six players, including Berkshire’s Senior Italian Open winner Barry Lane, share eighth place on three-under with 36 holes left to play in Switzerland.

The second round will begin at 8am local time on Saturday with Dennis teeing off at 11.40am.

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