Owner of two Australian Opens, a hat-trick of Australian PGA Championships, as well as winning the Australian Masters and on the PGA TOUR, when it comes to winning, one of multiple successful “Peters” of his generation has achieved a lot.

However, since continuing his career in the over-50s world, there is one title that has eluded Lonard, with this week’s Nova Employment Australian PGA Seniors Championship a trophy he admits he’d like to have his hands on.

“It’s a little different. In the old days I was playing every week. I was playing 30, 40 weeks a year,” Lonard said at host venue Richmond Golf Club today.

“All the Australian tournaments, I loved playing because normally the courses were firm and hard and bouncy and I just loved playing them.

“Obviously to add this to the PGAs that I won with the ‘flat bellies’, it’d be a nice little cherry on top moment, I suppose.

“It is not the end of the world if I don’t, but of course I’d like to. I think I’ve finished second here a couple of times, but you still feel as competitive as you did when you were a kid, you still get nerves trying to hit certain shots to win and all this sort of stuff.

“So it’s great to be able to still do it at 57 and still have that desire I suppose.”

That desire is evident to all, with Lonard constantly found on the range at The Australian Golf Club working on his game, in between teeing it up on the Legends Tour where he has three wins so far in 2024.

Known throughout his career as one of the best ball strikers in golf, it is a different area of the game that Lonard believes might prove the difference this week at Richmond, where he finished joint runner-up to Jason Norris last year.

“I think I’m playing reasonable. I’m probably not hitting it as good as I was, but my short game’s a lot better so that can hide a lot of mistakes, a lot of problems,” he said.

“I’m close to playing pretty good. Looking forward to the next couple of weeks, or the next four weeks really if counting the (ISPS HANDA Australian) Open and the (BMW Australian) PGA.”

Still dedicated to his craft, one that has led him all over the world after spending time as the head professional at Oatlands Golf Club following a bout with Ross River Fever in the early 1990s, Lonard doesn’t believe he has found a magic short game pill. Or at least not a new one.

“Practising for 15 years and finally something clicked,” he said laughing when asked what the secret to his short game success has been.

“I went back to a lot of old stuff, it’s probably not rocket science. It probably got a bit too complicated with what I was trying to do and it seems to be working okay. Whether it works under pressure, I don’t know, but we’ll see.”

The pressure will come from the usual tournament nerves, that even an experienced major championship campaigner and Presidents Cup representative admits he still feels.

It will also come from the stellar field that again has assembled for the national title for the senior Tour in this country.

Lonard joined by Norris, as well as the likes of Peter Senior, Peter O’Malley, Order of Merit leader Andre Stolz, PGA TOUR Champions player David Bransdon, John Senden, Mat Goggin and frequent winner Adam Henwood.

Many of those beaten out by another of the names familiar to Aussie and global golf fans, David McKenzie, who claimed the NSW Senior Open in front of Goggin, Lonard and Scott Barr last Sunday.

The names as recognisable as the routine of Lonard, who after claiming the pre-tournament pro-am with his team was headed for a familiar route home ahead of tomorrow’s first round when he will tee off at 9am (AEDT) alongside Terry Pilkadaris and Scott Laycock.

“I’ll probably stop at a driving range or something and hit some drivers. Not driving it great, but everything else is pretty good so try and get the driver going straight tomorrow and we’re ready to go.”

Rounds two and three of the Nova Employment Australia PGA Senior Championship will be broadcast LIVE on Fox Sports and Kayo.