Greg Norman believes he and Tom Watson have heralded a new era of golden oldie golfers, one of whom will win The Open.

At the age of 53, Norman was the sensation of last year's Open at Royal Birkdale where he took a two-shot lead into the final round only to card a 77 which left the Australian with a share of third place.

Watson fared even better at Turnberry last weekend, when he finished runner-up to fellow American Stewart Cink at the age of 59. Before partnering Watson in today's first round of the Senior Open at Sunningdale, Norman said: "That was a tremendous performance by Tom. I was gut-wrenched for him when he didn't win.

"Somebody post-50 years is going to win a major championship very shortly. It will happen at a British Open somewhere down the line.

"What I did last year opened a lot of people's eyes. I had a practice round with Tom on Monday and he told me I had stimulated him last year. He said: 'You pushed me. You did it, I wanted to do it'."