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He formed a dynamic foursomes bond withRonan Rafferty in the 1981 Walker Cup matchat Cypress Point and two years later at Hoylakehe scored inspirational wins playing at No. 1 inthe singles against Jay Sigel and Willie Wood.Head to head situations tend to bring out thebest in The Waltz, as he is affectionately known.He scored his maiden tour victory in the FrenchOpen at Chantilly in 1990 by beating BernhardLanger in a play-off and he was a member ofthe Irish team that won the Alfred Dunhill Cupat St. Andrews later that season.He showed his steel again in the 1995English Open at Forest of Arden when heoutgunned Colin Montgomerie over the final 36holes before snatching the title from Europe’sNo. 1 in a dramatic play-off. And, of course, afew months later, he was the hero on one of themost dramatic final days in Ryder Cup history.It was a magical time in Philip’s golfing life.Fast forward to 2012 and Philip’s juices areflowing again as he prepares for life on theSeniors Tour. He retains a great passion for thegame and a strong competitive spirit as heapproaches his 50th birthday on March 28th.As showtime approaches he is raring to goand his participation in the Champions TourQ-School in Texas last October serves as astatement of serious intent.Rounds of 72+76+73+72 at Woodforest GolfClub in Houston left him agonisingly four shotsadrift of a place amongst the top-16 whoprogressed to the final qualifying stage, but theexperience has sharpened his focus.Philip enjoys playing in America and, withover $50m in prizemoney on the ChampionsTour in 2012, he has designs on exploring hisfull potential Stateside in the years ahead.The immediate plan is to take full advantageof his automatic playing rights for 2012 on thehighly competitive European Seniors Tour.Philip looks forward to embracing life as aSenior Tour player. Great opportunities beckonwith his natural talent, vast reserves ofexperience and winning mentality. The key tosuccess, as for all tour players, lies indeveloping fluency on the greens.Above: Philip’s brother Allan was atough competitor on the amateurscene for many years and Allan’stalented son, Brendan, is continuinga proud family tradition.Photo taken by Pat Cashman duringthe 2010 Irish Amateur StrokeplayChampionship at Royal Dublin.Below: Famous Scottish coach BobTorrance keeps a close eye on Philip- one of his star pupils and a risingtalent in European golf at the time -during an exhibition event organisedby the Legends Golf Society at St.Anne’s Golf Club in 1993.BACKSPIN | 9