After a long absence from tournament golf, England’s Van Phillips is back in the winner’s circle after victory in the WINSTONgolf Senior Open on the Legends Tour last weekend.
And it was only his second tournament using a SkyCaddie.
Remarkably, Van Phillips’ win in Vorbeck, Germany, means that the first eleven eligible events in this seasons Legends Tour schedule have all been won by players who use SkyCaddie GPS to help with their yardages.
“I have only begun to use the SkyCaddie recently” said Londoner Phillips, aged 52, who uses SkyCaddie’s range-topping PRO 5X GPS Tour Book. “In the WINSTON I used it at some critical moments including crucial layups on par fives, including on the 17th in the final round which helped him to make a vital birdie.
“The SkyCaddie is very useful to get a quick layup yardage, and it also gives you a runout distance to bunkers or water hazards ahead.”
Nine of the top ten and ties at the WINSTONgolf Senior Open were SkyCaddie GPS users – as are the entire current Top Ten on this year’s 2024 MCB Road To Mauritius Order of Merit on the Legends Tour.
Phillips continued: “This win felt really good, it means that I have now won at every level on the European Tour. I’ve always been pretty solid when I’m in contention – I don’t tend to back off.”
After returning to competitive golf, Phillips had built momentum over the previous four weeks on the Legends Tour, playing into form with three top 20 finishes including a top 10 in Zambia.
But as he only got into the WINSTONgolf event as a reserve, Phillips arrived at the venue to find that there were no longer any local caddies available – so he played with an electric trolley.
Phillips closed out his maiden win on the Legends Tour with a birdie on the fourth extra playoff hole, after Order of Merit leader Adilson Da Silva from Brazil had closed with a blistering final round 64 to join Phillips and fellow Englishman Philip Archer in a three-way playoff.
“We couldn’t be separated on the first three playoff holes, so we switched to a short par four where I hit a perfect drive to 74 yards, which is a great yardage for me, just a three-quarter swing. I stiffed it to 18 inches, and the tap in to win felt amazing – it validated all the hard work.”
Crucially, the victory in Germany gives Van Phillips full exemption on the Legends Tour for 12 months.
“Getting a guaranteed entry to a whole year’s worth of events enables me to plan my schedule around an attack on the top 10 of next year’s OOM” said Phillips.
SkyCaddie’s James Holmes said: “After playing and winning on the European Tour in the late Nineties, Van Phillips has been better known recently as an inspiring golf coach. But his win in Germany last weekend has reminded people that he is a hugely experienced tournament professional, and a proven winner at the highest level!
“Although Van has only played a few rounds so far with the SkyCaddie PRO 5X, for the majority of his fellow competitors on the Legends Tour the SkyCaddie has become a vital part of their pre-shot routine. We are excited to see how SkyCaddie can help Van Phillips succeed in future tournaments.”
SkyCaddie is the Official Distance Measurement Device on the Legends Tour. Formerly known as the European Senior Tour, the Legends Tour is the most prestigious professional Tour in the world which allows the use of DMDs during tournament play.
Tour officials use SkyCaddie’s ground-mapped GPS yardages to create pin sheets when setting each day’s pins. Legends Tour competitors can download the day’s accurate hole positions onto their SkyCaddies, and can also get a printed pin sheet for the day.
Follow the 2024 Legends Tour presented by Staysure at www.legendstour.com. Next, the Tour heads to Italy for the Sergio Melpignano Senior Italian Open at San Domenico GC on Italy’s Adriatic Coast, on October 24th-26th.
For all SkyCaddie information see https://uk.SkyGolf.com