Peter Senior

Peter Albert Charles Senior OAM (born 31 July 1959) is an Australian professional golfer who has won more than twenty tournaments around the world.

Peter Senior OAM
Personal information
Full name	Peter Albert Charles Senior
Born	(1959-07-31) 31 July 1959 (age 65) Singapore
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Sporting nationality	Australia
Residence	Hope Island, Australia
Career
Turned professional	1978
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour European Tour Japan Golf Tour PGA Tour of Australasia Champions Tour European Senior Tour
Professional wins	35
Highest ranking	23 (28 November 1993)[1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour	4
Japan Golf Tour	3
PGA Tour of Australasia	21
European Senior Tour	1
Other	6
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	T42: 1990
PGA Championship	T44: 1995
U.S. Open	CUT: 1990
The Open Championship	T4: 1993
Achievements and awards
PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner 1987, 1989, 1993, 2012 PGA Tour of Australasia Player of the Year 1993

Senior has competed mainly on the PGA Tour of Australasia, where he has had the most success and won the Order of Merit on four occasions, and the European Tour. He has also played occasionally on the Japan Golf Tour and the United States–based PGA Tour.

Senior has represented Australia in international competitions several times, and was a member of the International Team at the first two stagings of the Presidents Cup. He has also represented Australia twice at the World Cup.

Early life

In 1959, Senior was born in Singapore.

Professional career

In 1978, Senior turned professional. He joined the PGA Tour of Australasia shortly thereafter. During his career, he has won 21 tournaments on the tour, including the Australian PGA Championship in 1989, 2003 and 2010, the Australian Open in 1989 and 2012, and the Australian Masters in 1991, 1995, and 2015. Senior has won professional events on the main men's tour in five separate decades, a feat achieved by very few players previously anywhere in the world. He also has the distinction of winning the Australian PGA, Open and Masters tournaments after he turned 50. He also topped the tour's Order of Merit in 1987, 1989 and 1993. Even after reaching the age of fifty, he remained competitive on the tour, through until his retirement from golf in 2016.^[2][3]

Between 1984 and 1992, Senior competed on the European Tour full-time, winning four tournaments and finishing a career best of 7th on the Order of Merit in 1987. He also played regularly on the Japanese Tour, winning three tournaments before rejoining the European Tour in 1998.^[4] Through the 2007 season he continued to play in a small number of tournaments on the tour.

In 1985, Senior finished 5th at the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament to earn his card for the following season. He did not have much success, making just two cuts in the first half of the season, before he elected to return to Europe. He did play in several PGA Tour events in other seasons, notably finishing tied for second in The International in 1990, but never tried to qualify for the tour again.

Senior made his debut on the over-50 circuit the Champions Tour in February 2010 at The ACE Group Classic. Senior has yet to win on the Champions Tour, but has finished as a runner up on six occasions, with three playoff defeats. One of these came in February 2012 at the Allianz Championship, when Senior birdied the final hole of regulation to make the playoff before losing to Corey Pavin with a birdie on the first playoff hole.

Senior announced his retirement during the second round of the 2016 Australian Open held at The Royal Sydney Golf Club. Senior suffered a hip injury on the sixth hole and announced his retirement from professional golf shortly after.

Personal life

He lives in Hope Island, Queensland, with his wife June, whom he married in 1984. They have three children: Krystlle, Jasmine and Mitchell.

Awards and honors

• Senior won the PGA Tour of Australasia's Order of Merit four times: in 1987, 1989, 1993, and 2012
• In 1993, Senior was the PGA Tour of Australasia's Player of the Year
• In 2024, Senior was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2024 King's Birthday Honours for his service to golf^[5]

Professional wins (35)

European Tour wins (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	10 Aug 1986	PLM Open	−11 (69-72-64-68=273)	2 strokes	Mats Lanner
2	27 Jun 1987	Johnnie Walker Monte Carlo Open	−16 (66-63-65-66=260)	1 stroke	Rodger Davis
3	9 Sep 1990	Panasonic European Open	−13 (67-68-66-66=267)	1 stroke	Ian Woosnam
4	10 May 1992	Benson & Hedges International Open	−1 (74-73-70-70=287)	Playoff	Tony Johnstone

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1992	Benson & Hedges International Open	Tony Johnstone	Won with par on first extra hole

PGA of Japan Tour wins (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	19 Apr 1992	Bridgestone Aso Open	−7 (70-70-70-71=281)	1 stroke	Rick Gibson
2	2 May 1993	The Crowns	−10 (68-67-69-66=270)	1 stroke	Gary Hallberg, Masashi Ozaki
3	23 Apr 1995	Dunlop Open1	−9 (69-70-67-73=279)	5 strokes	Brian Watts

¹Co-sanctioned by the Asia Golf Circuit

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (21)

Legend
Flagship events (1)
Other PGA Tour of Australasia (20)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	25 Feb 1979	Dunhill South Australian Open	−6 (70-72-70-70=282)	Playoff	Graham Stevens (a)
2	14 Oct 1984	Stefan Queensland Open	−6 (68-71-70-73=282)	7 strokes	Wayne Grady
3	25 Nov 1984	Honeywell Classic[a]	−18 (71-70-67-66=274)	2 strokes	Ossie Moore
4	25 Jan 1987	U-Bix Classic[a] (2)	−19 (67-65-72-69=273)	1 stroke	Gerry Taylor
5	1 Mar 1987	Rich River Classic	−15 (62-68-71-72=273)	2 strokes	Mike Ferguson
6	18 Oct 1987	Queensland PGA Championship	−10 (67-72-71-68=278)	Playoff	Jeff Woodland
7	12 Nov 1989	Australian PGA Championship[a]	−14 (67-68-68-71=274)	1 stroke	Jim Benepe
8	3 Dec 1989	Australian Open	−17 (66-66-69-70=271)	7 strokes	Peter Fowler
9	10 Dec 1989	Johnnie Walker Australian Classic	−12 (65-72-70-69=276)	5 strokes	Greg Norman
10	17 Feb 1991	Pyramid Australian Masters	−14 (68-71-69-70=278)	1 stroke	Greg Norman
11	8 Dec 1991	Johnnie Walker Australian Classic (2)	−10 (66-71-72-73=282)	1 stroke	Rodger Davis, Frank Nobilo
12	31 Jan 1993	Heineken Classic	−13 (65-71-67-72=275)	3 strokes	Michael Campbell
13	27 Feb 1994	Canon Challenge	−12 (68-67-72-69=276)	Playoff	Chris Gray
14	19 Feb 1995	Australian Masters (2)	−12 (69-70-72-69=280)	1 stroke	Wayne Grady, Lucas Parsons, Tom Watson
15	25 Feb 1996	Canon Challenge (2)	−10 (70-72-67-69=278)	2 strokes	Robert Allenby, Brad King, Robert Willis
16	1 Dec 1996	Greg Norman's Holden Classic	−7 (69-73-69-70=281)	1 stroke	Greg Norman
17	23 Feb 1997	Canon Challenge (3)	−14 (68-70-66-70=274)	Playoff	Steven Alker
18	14 Dec 2003	Australian PGA Championship (2)	−17 (64-65-69-73=271)	1 stroke	Rod Pampling
19	13 Dec 2010	Australian PGA Championship1[b] (3)	−12 (70-67-68-71=276)	Playoff	Geoff Ogilvy
20	9 Dec 2012	Emirates Australian Open1 (2)	−4 (75-68-69-72=284)	1 stroke	Brendan Jones
21	22 Nov 2015	Uniqlo Masters (3)	−8 (70-70-68-68=276)	2 strokes	Bryson DeChambeau (a), Andrew Evans, John Senden

¹Co-sanctioned by the OneAsia Tour

PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (5–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1979	Dunhill South Australian Open	Graham Stevens (a)	Won with birdie on first extra hole
2	1987	Queensland PGA Championship	Jeff Woodland	Won with bogey on first extra hole
3	1993	Microsoft Australian Masters	Bradley Hughes	Lost to par on first extra hole
4	1994	Canon Challenge	Chris Gray	Won with birdie on first extra hole
5	1997	Canon Challenge	Steven Alker	Won with birdie on fourth extra hole
6	2010	Australian PGA Championship	Geoff Ogilvy	Won with par on second extra hole

Von Nida Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	20 Jul 2003	Queensland Masters	−17 (67-67-70-67=271)	Playoff	Paul Marantz

Other wins (3)

• 1985 Western Australia PGA Championship
• 1987 Victorian PGA Championship (Non-tour event)
• 1995 Australian Skins Game

European Senior Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	21 Nov 2010 (2011 season)	Handa Australian Senior Open	−9 (65-70-72=207)	3 strokes	Sandy Lyle

PGA of Australia Legends Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runners-up
1	20 Dec 2009	Australian PGA Seniors Championship	−9 (72-63-72=207)	9 strokes	Larry Canning, Mike Harwood
2	2 Nov 2019	Australian PGA Seniors Championship (2)	−9 (69-67-65=201)	1 stroke	Peter Fowler, Peter O'Malley

Playoff record

Champions Tour playoff record (0–3)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2011	Songdo IBD Championship	Jay Don Blake, John Cook, Mark O'Meara	Blake won with birdie on fifth extra hole O'Meara and Senior eliminated by par on third hole
2	2011	Regions Tradition	Tom Lehman	Lost to par on second extra hole
3	2012	Allianz Championship	Corey Pavin	Lost to par on first extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship	CUT					T14	T44	CUT	CUT	6	CUT
PGA Championship										T58

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Masters Tournament	T42
U.S. Open	CUT
The Open Championship	CUT	T17	T25	T4	T20	T58	CUT	T51	CUT
PGA Championship	62	CUT	T48	T51	T71	T44	CUT

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship	T72
PGA Championship

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship	T60			T79
PGA Championship

  Top 10

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1979 Open Championship)
"T" = tied

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
U.S. Open	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
The Open Championship	0	0	0	1	2	6	19	12
PGA Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	6
Totals	0	0	0	1	2	6	29	19

• Most consecutive cuts made – 8 (1992 Open Championship – 1995 PGA)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament	1991	1992	1993	1994
The Players Championship	CUT			CUT

  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Match Play
Championship	T42	NT1			T43							T64
Invitational					T72
Champions

¹Cancelled due to 9/11

  Did not play

"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Amateur

• Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches (representing Queensland): 1976, 1977, 1978

Professional

• Dunhill Cup (representing Australia): 1987, 1993
• Four Tours World Championship (representing Australasia): 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 (winners)
• World Cup (representing Australia): 1988, 1990
• Presidents Cup (International Team): 1994, 1996
• UBS Cup (representing the Rest of the World): 2004

See also

• 1985 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates

Notes

1. incorporating the New South Wales PGA Championship
2. incorporating the Queensland PGA Championship