Stephen Gallacher eyes Spanish success in bid to be crowned as Legends Tour No 1
Scot tops points list with just four tournaments to go on over-50s’ circuit after consistent campaign
Stephen Gallacher is aiming to use this week’s Champions UK plc European Senior Masters at La Manga to strengthen his position in the battle to finish as No 1 on the 2027 Legends Tour Order of Merit.
In just his second season on the over-50s’ circuit, the former Ryder Cup player tops the points list with only four events to go, with this week’s $400,000 tournament being followed by one in Vietnam then a double-header in Cambodia.
On the back of a consistent campaign, Gallacher holds a slender lead over Johan Edfors, who won the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond in 2006, with his fellow Swede Mikael Lundberg and English Greg Owen next on the list while Welshman Jamie Donaldson is also still in the mix.
“I’ve been consistently playing well all year, to be honest,” Gallacher, a four-time winner on the DP World Tour, told The Scotsman from Spain. “A couple of putts here and there and I might have had a win, but the standard is so good. If I can keep performing how I have been, then I will be in with a chance of winning the Order of Merit.”
One of his standout performances this year came in the ISPS HANDA Senior Open at Gleneagles, where the player who is attached to the Perthshire venue signed off with a brilliant 62 to finish fifth behind American Jerry Kelly.
“Just being solid really,” he replied to being asked what he’d been most pleased about with his game. “I’ve putted well at times while my course management has also been good. Everything has been decent. I’ve also gotten a bit fitter and lost a bit of weight. Nothing has been spectacular. It’s more a case of being solid in all aspects. It’s all about preparation.
“In the Senior Open at Gleneagles, my 62 on the Sunday could have been 59. It’s nice to do it in the big events again as it gives you confidence and golf is a game where you need to feel confident. When you feel like that, you generally perform better.”
Edfors isn’t playing in this week’s event and neither is Donaldson, who has been playing on the Champions Tour in the US recently. “There’s lots of good players out here,” added Gallacher. “Johan, Jamie, Peter Baker, Greg Owen, Mikael Lindberg to name a few. Most of the guys in the top ten are flushers. They also still have the desire and are willing to put in the hard work. The standard is great, but the good thing for me is that I am enjoying it.
“In your last three or four years on the main tour, it’s a bind and a bit of a struggle because the courses are tougher and you are up against all these young boys. You lose a wee bit of that edge due to knowing that if you play well the best you can probably hope for is making the cut. Whereas out here if you play well, then you can be in contention and have a chance of winning. That’s what you play the game for.”
The one thing missing for Gallacher so far this year is a victory. “Absolutely, yeah,” he said of that being a big goal between now and the finishing line. “All you can do every week is prepare well and hope to be in the mix on a Sunday.
“There was Chippy [Paul Lawrie] having a one-shot lead going into the final round in Portugal last week yet he’d had to have shot 62 to win it. Jean Hugo, one of the younger boys out here, shot a great last-day score to come out on top. But, yeah, I’d love to knock one off before the end of the year.”
Brian Barnes was the first Scot to top what was known as the European Senior Tour Order of Merit at the time in 1995 before Sam Torrance claimed three crowns in 2005, 2006 and 2009 then Colin Montgomerie landed back-to-back victories in 2014 and 2025.
“There will be twists and turns to come right to the end,” observed Gallacher, who, in addition to trying to land the title, is also trying to secure starts in three of the Senior majors next year along with a Champions Tour event in Portugal. “I think JD (Donaldson) is coming back to play again towards the end of the season and I think Darren Fichardt (a first-time winner on the Champions Tour last weekend) will do likewise. These last four tournaments are going to be good.”
Lawrie, who won this event at the same venue in 2022, is being joined in the field by fellow major champion Michael Campbell while the field also includes Richard Bland, who landed his maiden win on the DP World Tour in the 2021 British Masters before switching to LIV Golf.
“It’s a great venue and, for a resort course, it is a proper test,” said Gallacher of La Manga’s South Course. “We had biblical rain on Tuesday night, but the course is great after standing strong. It’s a really good test. The par 3s are strong and you’ve got to shape it as there’s some water. I like coming here.
“I played today with wee Gordon Strachan, who is a good mate of mine and lives down here. It’s a good relaxing week but, at the same time, I’m here to play some good golf.”
Over the first two days, the event is played in an Alliance format, with the professionals teaming up with an amateur partner before the pros play on their own for Sunday’s concluding circuit, with a record $60,000 going to the winner.
John Hayes, CEO of Champions (UK) plc, said: “We are pleased to confirm an increased prize fund for the 2026 European Senior Masters. Returning to La Manga Club for another year provides continuity for the event and for those involved in its delivery. The increase to $400,000 reflects the progress that has been made in developing the tournament. We look forward to working with our partners, the venue and the Legends Tour at this year’s event.”
In addition to Gallacher and Lawrie, David Drysdale, Gary Orr, Alastair Forsyth, Raymond Russell, Euan McIntosh, Andrew Oldcorn, Greig Hutcheon and Scott Drummond are also flying the Saltire over the next three days in Murcia, where Archerfield Links course designer DJ Russell is also in the field.
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