PRESSBOOK MCB TC 2023

Baker is all smiles at Belle Mare Plage, moments after clinching the 2023 Race to Mauritius.

‘That Ryder Cup team had some big egos, but they made you feel like you belonged’

PETER BAKER

WORDS CHRIS BERTRAM PORTRAIT PHIL INGLIS IMAGES GETTY

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While the Legends Tour could not have scripted it better, Baker was no doubt wishing he had managed to throw Da Silva off the scent over the previous 53 holes. They had played together all week and only rarely been more than a shot apart. Would he play safe and lay up to try to make sure of the par or would he take on the shot and attempt to win the tournament and Order of Merit with one glorious shot? He reached for his 5-wood and struck it to within six feet; the punch in the air was likely a mixture of delight and relief as his ball cleared the water and settled on the green. Two putts sealed victory in the MCB Tour Championship and the MCB Race to Mauritius. It was the climax to an Indian summer for the 56-year-old, who saw off many younger men to dominate the senior circuit this season in what is one of the finest years he has enjoyed in four decades at the top of the sport. This is the story of his journey so far, told in his own words…

here is good reason to believe one of the greatest shots of 2023 was played far away from Augusta National, Royal Liverpool, Marco Simone and Finca Cortesin. On the

Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, with 231 yards left of his season, Peter Baker knew everything he had worked for over the previous year was on the line. The South Staffordshire player and Adilson da Silva stood first and second on the Legends Tour’s Order of Merit and lay eight yards apart on the fairway of Belle Mare Plage’s par-5 18th. Baker was a stroke in front in the tournament so held the advantage because his rival had to win the event and hope the Englishman did not finish second in order to claim the Order of Merit. On the face of it, Baker held all the cards, yet the 1993 Ryder Cup player knew a wayward approach into the water that lines the right, left and back of the green on the Legends course could easily lead to a bogey that would drop him to third and leave the door for the Brazilian if he could find an eagle.

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ISSUE 449 TODAYS-GOLFER.COM

TODAYS-GOLFER.COM ISSUE 449

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