Champions Tour
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Champions Tour, a golf tour run by the PGA Tour, hosts a series of events annually in the United States and the United Kingdom for golfers 50 years of age and older. Many of the PGA Tour's most successful golfers have gone on to play on the Champions Tour.
The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many years the only high-profile tournament for golfers over 50. The idea for a senior tour grew out of a highly successful event in 1978, the Legends of Golf, which featured competition between two-member teams of some of the greatest older golfers of that day. The tour was formally established in 1980 and was known as the Senior PGA TOUR until October 2002. The original logo was based on the PGA Tour logo, with the golfer's profile modified to depict the wearing of a flat cap and plus fours.
In 2008 all the tournaments are in the United States except for the Senior British Open and a new tournament in the Dominican Republic. The guaranteed minimum official prize money is $55.2 million over 29 tournaments.[1]
Most of the tournaments are played over three rounds (54 holes), which is one round less than regular professional stroke play tournaments on the PGA Tour. Because of this and having smaller fields, there are generally no "cuts" between any of the rounds. However, the five senior majors have a full 72 holes (four rounds). A golfer's performances can be quite variable from one round to the next, and playing an extra round increases the likelihood that the senior majors will be won by leading players.
In 2006, the Champions Tour Division Board of the PGA Tour organization voted to allow players the option to use golf carts during most events on the tour. The five major championships and certain other events, including pro-ams, are excluded.
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[edit] 2009 schedule
The following table shows all the official money events for the 2009 season. "Date" is the ending date of the tournament. The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names are the number of wins they had on the tour up to and including that event. Senior majors are shown in bold.
[edit] 2009 money leaders
This lists the money leaders for the 2009 Champions Tour season as of June 28, 2009.
| Rank | Player | Country | Events | Prize money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernhard Langer |  Germany |
11 | 1,232,886 |
| 2 | Loren Roberts |  United States |
12 | 703,445 |
| 3 | Keith Fergus | United States |
13 | 686,377 |
| 4 | Joey Sindelar | United States |
12 | 683,999 |
| 5 | Jay Haas | United States |
12 | 622,266 |
| 6 | Mark McNulty |  Zimbabwe Ireland |
12 | 620,999 |
| 7 | Nick Price | Zimbabwe |
11 | 611,807 |
| 8 | Dan Forsman | United States |
12 | 610,496 |
| 9 | Mark O'Meara | United States |
9 | 599,342 |
| 10 | Gene Jones | United States |
11 | 598,168 |
There is a full list on the PGA Tour's website here.
[edit] Money winners and most wins leaders
Players who lead the money list on the Champions Tour win the Arnold Palmer Award.
[edit] Multiple money list titles
The following players have won more than one money list title through 2008:
- 3: Hale Irwin, Don January
- 2: Miller Barber, Bob Charles, Jim Colbert, Jay Haas, Dave Stockton, Lee Trevino
[edit] Leading career money winners
The table shows the top ten career money leaders on the Champions Tour through the 2008 season.
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hale Irwin | United States |
24,920,665 |
| 2 | Gil Morgan | United States |
18,964,040 |
| 3 | Dana Quigley | United States |
14,406,269 |
| 4 | Bruce Fleisher | United States |
13,990,356 |
| 5 | Larry Nelson | United States |
13,262,808 |
| 6 | Allen Doyle | United States |
13,031,711 |
| 7 | Jim Thorpe | United States |
12,985,193 |
| 8 | Tom Kite | United States |
12,878,502 |
| 9 | Tom Jenkins | United States |
12,126,298 |
| 10 | Jim Colbert | United States |
11,684,239 |
There is a full list on the PGA Tour's website here. The PGA Tour also publishes a list of Champions Tour players' total career earnings on its three tours here.
[edit] See also
- Champions Tour awards
- Champions Tour records
- Golfers with most Champions Tour major championship wins
- Golfers with most Champions Tour wins
- Professional golf tours
[edit] External links
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