Senior British Open Defending Champion Mark Wiebe Fails to Make Cut

The Denver resident shot 11-over-par, missing the weekend cut by 4 strokes

Chris Duthie

To every golfer, except perhaps 64-year-old Tom Watson and 56-year-old Bernhard Langer, becoming fragile with age is part of and parcel to the game.

Watson is still astonishingly competitive, playing better golf than many touring pros half his age. Langer showed off his ageless prowess this weekend by blitzing the field at the Senior British Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales, winning the prestigious event for a second time—by a record-breaking 13 shots.

One guy who hasn’t avoided age-associated injuries is 56-year-old Mark Wiebe. 

Last year, the Denver resident and 1989 Colorado Open champion thrilled America when he won the Senior British Open in dramatic fashion, besting Langer on the fifth hole of sudden death at Royal Birkdale, which he then followed with a Champions Tour playoff victory in Hawaii.

This year, the defending champion’s luck has gone the opposite direction—most recently his wind-battered, 11-over-par (76-77) performance at the Senior British Open that missed the weekend cut by four strokes. Wiebe, in typical no-excuses fashion, attributed his on-course struggle to a misbehaving flatstick:

No good in Sr Open. Bad stretch of putting for me. Can't compete if you putt like a 20 hcp. Too bad, actually hit it like a professional

— Mark Wiebe (@markwiebe33) July 26, 2014

However, many fail to realize Wiebe is hurting physically. For years the two-time PGA Tour winner has suffered from lower back and leg pain associated with a herniated disc. He underwent back surgery in 2011, but more injuries have followed.

Another injury? Whoever has the voodoo doll of me and keeps sticking pins in it, please stop! #enoughalready

— Mark Wiebe (@markwiebe33) April 24, 2014

Joining Wiebe on the Open’s missed-cut bench were a host of greats, including Corey Pavin, Ian Woosnam, Peter Senior, Mark McNulty and fellow Coloradan Craig Stadler.

Here’s hoping better times are ahead for Wiebe, who selflessly conducts an annual charity golf tournament for the benefit of Adam’s Camp, a Colorado-based non-profit organization created to provide a variety of intensive, personalized and integrated therapeutic programs for special-needs children and their families.

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Chris Duthie is a contributor to Colorado AvidGolfer, the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it. It publishes eight issues annually and proudly delivers daily content via www.coloradoavidgolfer.com.