It\u2019s little wonder Steve Allan is feeling right at home.<\/p>\n
The foundation of Allan\u2019s professional career was built in London when he joined the European Tour in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n
He shared a house with fellow Victorian Geoff Ogilvy and Kiwi Michael Long lived just around the corner.<\/p>\n
Such is the reminiscing that has taken place this week, Long and Allan dragged Liam around on a tour of the old neighbourhood, the eldest of the three Allan boys feigning interest just long enough to convince the old man that it was genuine.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was at least pretending to be interested,\u201d Allan conceded.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore we went to the supermarket yesterday, we did take a little drive around and yeah, it was cool.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s funny how some of the things come back to you, the names of places\u2026 it\u2019s been a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
A step back in time is a far cry from the future the 2002 Australian Open champion is building for he and his family on the PGA TOUR Champions.<\/p>\n
And it is very much a family affair.<\/p>\n
Liam was on the bag when dad had his breakthrough win at the Galleri Classic in March before younger brother Joey subbed in for Allan\u2019s four-stroke win at the DICK\u2019s Open two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
Wife Bridget and youngest son Zac were also on site for both wins, making them treasured memories for the entire family.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe support I got from my wife, Bridget, through those tough times when we didn\u2019t really have much money and were just ticking along was amazing,\u201d said Allan.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe always believed in me and thought that I could do it and then to have the kids grow up and be around when I\u2019m competing, it\u2019s been great.\u201d<\/p>\n
That two of the kids have shared the stage and rubbed shoulders with some of golf\u2019s greatest names for Dad\u2019s two wins is no coincidence, according to Allan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like I do anything different when they\u2019re on the bag, but clearly it helps,\u201d said the 51-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess the only thing you would do different is you probably keep yourself a bit more composed, especially with them being golfers. You\u2019re not going to lose your temper as quickly. That\u2019d be the only thing. It just gives you a comfort level when you\u2019re out there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that the whole family was at both wins was amazing. It was very cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
School commitments back in Scottsdale mean it\u2019s just Steve and Liam in London this week, the surroundings familiar if not the golf course.<\/p>\n
Despite his proximity to a layout regarded as the first truly great golf course to be built on the magical Surrey\/Berkshire sand-belt during his days on the European Tour, Allan only played Sunningdale for the first time this week.<\/p>\n
First impressions have been positive as he seeks to transfer his form in the US into the final senior men\u2019s major championship of 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy four years in Europe, we always based ourselves in this area, really close to Sunningdale and never went out for a hit there, which is kind of crazy,\u201d Allan admitted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve heard nothing but good things about it before I got here and it\u2019s lived up to it. It\u2019s a brilliant course. It\u2019s spectacular as well as being a good test.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re ranking it in the courses that we have in Australia, it would be right up there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a few open holes towards the clubhouse, but a lot of tall trees, a lot of land movement, really good bunkering. You couldn\u2019t ask for a much better course, really.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a long way from an expert on British courses but if you take the links courses out, it\u2019s the best course I\u2019ve played here, without playing the seaside courses.\u201d<\/p>\n
And when he and Liam step onto the first tee at 6:57pm AEST Thursday, the friendly face of Greg Chalmers will be there to greet them.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of my best friends on the tour. He is a great guy,\u201d added Allan, who teamed up with Chalmers at the two-man American Family Insurance Championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s pretty serious when he plays though, so we\u2019re out here to do a job and try to play our best.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving the Aussies on the tour has been fantastic. Most weeks there\u2019s 10 or more guys you\u2019ve known for a long time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes it a lot more welcoming and easy to just be on the tour, so it\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n
All four rounds of the ISPS HANDA Senior Open will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo from 10:30pm-4am starting Thursday.<\/p>\n
ISPS HANDA Senior Open
Sunningdale GC, Sunningdale, Berkshire, United Kingdom
4:46pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Bransdon
4:57pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark Hensby
5:13pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Long (NZ)
5:24pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rod Pampling
5:46pm \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Scott Hend
6:19pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Steven Alker (NZ)
6:46pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Campbell (NZ)
6:57pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Steve Allan, Greg Chalmers
7:52pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Wright
9:14pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cameron Percy
9:52pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark Brown (NZ)
11:09pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stuart Appleby
11:25pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Green<\/p>\n
Recent champion: KJ Choi
Past Aussie winners: Ian Stanley (2001)
Prize money: $US2.85m
TV times: Live 10:30pm-4am Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s little wonder Steve Allan is feeling right at home. The foundation of Allan\u2019s professional career was built…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27917,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-27916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}