15 major champions heading to Gleneagles for ISPS HANDA Senior Open

The upcoming ISPS HANDA Senior Open at Gleneagles is set to boast the strongest-ever field for the over-50s’ major.

The entry list for the event, which is being played on the King’s Course at the Perthshire venue on 23-26 July, has been published and includes a posse of major champions.

They include Open winners Paul Lawrie, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Zach Johnson, Ernie Els, Henrik Stenson, Stewart Cink, David Duval, Justin Leonard and Mark Calcavecchia.

Henrik Stenson, pictured playing in the recent US Senior Open, is among three former Open champions making debuts in the ISPS HANDA Senior Open at Gleneagles | Getty Images

Cink, Johnson and Stenson all won The Open on Scottish soil - at Turnberry, St Andrews and Royal Troon respectively - and the trio are set to make their Senior Open debuts at Gleneagles

Two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen is also teeing up, as are other major winners in Michael Campbell, Y.E. Yang, Rich Beem and Shaun Micheel.

Paul McGinley, meanwhile, will be returning to the venue where he led Europe to victory in the 2014 Ryder Cup.

Stenson played on that team, as did Stephen Gallacher and Jamie Donaldson and they are in the line up as well. So, too, is eight-time European No 1 Colin Montgomerie.

In total, a minimum of eight Scots will be battling it out for the senior Claret Jug, with Gary Orr, David Drysdale, Scott Drummond, Greig Hutcheon and Alastair Forsyth all having secured exemptions.

That number could be bolstered when four 18-hole qualifiers are staged on Monday week.

Former BMW PGA champion Andrew Oldcorn is set to be among the hopefuls at Stirling, where the field also includes Euan McIntosh, as well as Derek Paton, Robert Jenkins and Alan Hogg in an amateur contingent.

Alan McCloskey, the Bothwell Castle-based PGA pro who coaches the likes of DP World Tour player David Law, is in the field at Glenbervie along with South African-based Doug McGuigan and Tartan Tour stalwart Craig Ronald.

In a double-header at Blairgowrie, Kenny Hutton is trying to qualify on the Lansdowne Course while former DP World Tour Rookie of the Year Scott Henderson will be aiming to shine on the Rosemount Course along with former British Boys’ champion Lee Vannet, Andrew Crerar and David Patrick.

With a 25 per cent discount still available on general admission, tickets for the ISPS Handa Senior Open at Gleneagles can be purchased online here