Alex Cejka turned 50 in December and is still pretty new to the PGA Tour Champions circuit, but he’s having a blast. Starting the year with limited status, he tied for second in his second start (Chubb Classic) and then broke through to beat Steve Stricker in a playoff in his first senior major start, winning the Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Ala.
“I’m still feeling it,” Cejka said Tuesday. “I think it's going to sink in, who knows, maybe in a couple weeks, a couple months … it's a great feeling though. You know, I was in a good situation where I had a little bit of status when I turned 50 to play on this tour, but I didn't know how many tournaments I was going to get in and everything. Then I had to Monday qualify a couple times and did it. and played pretty good. And then obviously that win, it was a great week, I played great, I beat an incredible player who was hot not only on this tour, but even on the PGA Tour. It's a great feeling.”
Cejka has never played Southern Hills before, but he comes into the week with more momentum than most. He said he’s been trying to play aggressively, and so far, it has paid off for him.
“It’s going to be challenging,” he said. “It's a really tough track, you got to really shape your ball well. It's a good ballstriking golf course and around the greens it's tricky, too. They're undulated, they're all a little bit raised up, the bunkers have deep lips, so you really don't want to short-side yourself. It's a really good test, and I have two more days to figure out my strategy.”
Cejka has won once (2015 Puerto Rico Open) in 414 starts on the PGA Tour.
