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Alex Cejka doesnt think about the danger anymore.

He knows the treacherous journey his father led him on as they escaped Communist Czechoslovakia when he was 9 formed him as a person. But Cejka, 51 and in his second season on the PGA Tour Champions, wont say it still drives him.

Everybody has some kind of a story, Cejka said. That formed me in my early years, to appreciate everything you have, for the chances you are given, youve got to work on those chances, nobody gives you anything for free, youve got to earn everything.

Cejka (pronounced CHAY-kuh) and his dad traveled by foot and train, by swimming and biking through Yugoslavia, Italy and Switzerland before settling near Frankfurt, Germany. His father, an engineer with multiple college degrees, was forced to work in a restaurantbusing and cleaning tablesbefore he found a better-paying job.

My dad taught me a great lesson when we came when I was a young kid. We came to a different country, I didnt know how to speak the language, I didnt have any money and my dad didnt have any money, Cejka said Thursday at Firestone Country Club. You learn to fight, the survival is there, and that shows it doesnt matter if you are 15 or 23 or 40, that drive is there.

The whole trip, the whole situation formed me into a person who thrives, doesnt want to give up, if I fail, Ill try again. But I dont want to say its somewhere in the back of my mind. I was just too young to understand what situation my dad was in or how difficult or challenging or what dangers there were, but I think the whole trip formed me. It was tricky.

Inspired by German star Bernhard Langer to abandon ice hockey and soccer for golf, Cejka has called on all those lessons during his professional career.

He turned pro in 1989 and earnedthe first of 11 international victories in the 1990 Czech Open. He joined the PGA Tour in 2003, but in 2013 and '14 was forced to step downto theKorn Ferry Tour, wherehe wononce. Cjekas only victory on the PGA Tour came in the Puerto Rico Open in 2015, when he picked up a $540,000 first-place prize.

His PGA Tour earnings totaled nearly $13 million, but on the Champions Tour he picked up the pace, winning two majors in 2021.

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Coming into this weeks Bridgestone Senior Players Championship, Cejka had earned over $2.3 million in two seasons and stood 14th on the 2022 Schwab Cup list with two top 10s and seven top 25s in 13 events.

In his return to Akron for the fourth of five senior majors, Cejka fired a 6-under 64 on the famed South Course Thursday to claim the first-round lead.

Cejka knows whats working for him on the Champions Tour.

It's a big difference if you play on this tour or if you play on the PGA Tour against 23-year-old kids who hit it 50 yards past you, make every putt, make every chip, he said. The last couple years on the PGA Tour I played good, but the courses were just too long. You know, too much pressure. You're trying to make the cut and you're annoyed even if you make it but you finish 50th because physically, you just can't beat those guys on a weekly basis.

I can have a good week and I can finish up there, but that's not what we play for playing 30 tournaments and finish once up there. Those guys are just super good. The game has changed in the last couple years, everybody hits it so far now. So it's really pleasant to play like guys my distance with no cut. It's a totally different mindset than teeing it up on the PGA Tour on Thursday and you know you have to shoot 6 under to make the cut. That's the only difference.

Cejka has also found the lifestyle suits him. He and his wife travel by RV, which is parked across the street from the Firestone clubhouse. They bring their smallest dog on the road as well.

Its a great spot, I love it here, he said.

Cejka qualified for the World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational at Firestone in 2003 and 2004, but was not in the field for the 2021 Bridgestone Senior Players. He loves the test of the difficult old course.

It's a great course. I played here a long, long time ago … I want to say 20 years ago maybe, and it was back then already really, really tough, really narrow, Cejka said. I just told myself I've got to miss it in good spots and I did. My thinking was great, my execution was great today.

Cejka is pushing for his third senior major with the same drive he learned when he was 9.

It made me what I am now, still humble, still appreciate every chance, he said. Im on it now. After playing so many years on the PGA Tour, you are 50 and you can still have a second chance. And Im playing here with guys Ive known for 20, 30 years who are major champions, my heroes when I was young, they are Hall of Famers.

You know what an honor it is for me to play with guys like this? It doesnt matter if its Fred Couples or Bernhard Langer or Vijay [Singh], you name them all.

"Weall want to beat each other. We are great friends. But when we step up there, everybody has an ego. Most of us dont do it maybe for the big money anymore, but its our drive, its our ego and you want to play good. That'swhat were here for.

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com.Follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.

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At age 9, golfer Alex Cejka and his father escaped Communism - Akron Beacon Journal