Champions Tour 2008 Guide - PGA TOUR Media

Historical Highlights of the Champions Tour1980January 16 — A landmark meeting laid the formal groundwork for theChampions Tour, which was known as the Senior PGA Tour from 1980 throughthe 2002 season. Attending that meeting were Sam Snead, Bob Goalby, DonJanuary and the late Julius Boros, Gardner Dickinson and Dan Sikes. Sikes isnamed chairman of what became known as the Senior Advisory Council, andSnead was named honorary chairman. January 22 — The new Senior Tour isformally approved by the Tournament Policy Board of the PGA TOUR. Theschedule calls for two sanctioned events for a total of $250,000 in prize money.June 22 — Don January wins the first official Champions Tour event, theAtlantic City International in Atlantic City, NJ, defeating Mike Souchak by twostrokes. December 7 — Arnold Palmer becomes the first of only 10 playersto win in his first Champions Tour start, defeating Paul Harney in a playoff forthe PGA Seniors’ Championship.1981June 7 — Don January becomes the first player to win back-to-back ChampionsTour events when he triumphs at the Michelob-Egypt Temple Senior Classic inTampa and then the Eureka Federal Savings Classic at Harding Park GC in SanFrancisco. July 12 — Arnold Palmer wins an 18-hole playoff over Billy Casperand Bob Stone at Oakland Hills CC for the U.S. Senior Open title. Palmerbecomes the first player to win both a U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open crown inhis career. October 17 — Art Wall makes the first hole-in-one on theChampions Tour during the second round of the Suntree Seniors Classic inMelbourne, FL.1982The Champions Tour doubles in size from five to 11 tournaments, and prizemoney increases from $750,000 to $1.3 million. June 25 — Al Balding recordsthe first double-eagle in Champions Tour history in the second round of the PeterJackson Champions in Winnipeg, Manitoba.1983Prize money offered for players on the 50-and-over circuit exceeds $3 millionwith 18 tournaments on the schedule. Don January wins six tournaments andsupplants fellow Texan Miller Barber as the leading money-winner with$237,571. October 15 — Gene Littler birdies his first seven holes and goes outin eight-under 28 in the third round of the Suntree Classic in Melbourne, FL.Littler’s nine-hole score stands as an all-time Champions Tour record for 15years, until it is broken by Jay Sigel’s 27 during the 1998 Bell Atlantic Classic,and Seiji Ebihara’s at the 2002 Senior PGA Championship.1984Growth continues at a rapid rate when a slate of 24 events and total prize moneywell over $5 million is announced. Don January becomes the first player to goover $300,000 in single-season earnings ($328,597) en route to his secondconsecutive money title.1985With 27 events worth more than $6 million in total purses, the Champions Touris large enough to merit its establishment as a division of the PGA TOUR and itsown logo. The Champions Tour also becomes a distinct and separate operatingand financial entity, with net revenue going to fund a newly created SeniorPlayer Retirement Plan. A cable television package with ESPN allows sevenevents to enjoy national cable exposure, with the production costs partiallyfunded by Mazda Motors of America. March 17 — Australian Peter Thomson,a five-time British Open winner, wins the first of a record nine tournaments atThe Vintage Invitational. October 13 — On his 63rd birthday, Mike Fetchickwins the Hilton Head Seniors International. Fetchick establishes the mark as theoldest Champions Tour winner and is victorious for the first time in over 28 years(1956 Mayfair Inn Open), the longest time between a PGA TOUR and ChampionsTour title. November 23 — South African Gary Player triumphs in hisChampions Tour debut at the Quadel Seniors Classic in Boca Raton, FL. Hebecomes the second player to claim the first tournament he enters.1986Bruce Crampton, Bob Charles, Dale Douglass and Chi Chi Rodriguez are among thenew faces on the Champions Tour and signify a changing of the guard on thecircuit. One new tournament is added to the schedule and prize money increasesto $6.3 million. June 22 — Chi Chi Rodriguez triumphs at the Senior TournamentPlayers Championship in Cleveland, the first of his 22 Champions Tour career titles.1987The Vantage brand of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company introduces its VantageCup program to the 35-event Champions Tour. Vantage involvement includes a $1million, season-long team points competition; sponsorship of the first $1 milliontournament on the Champions Tour, the Vantage Championship; sponsorship ofa “Super Seniors” competition for players 60 and older; and an advancedelectronic scoreboard system. The size of Champions Tour tournament fieldsexpands to 72 players and, for the first time, the pro-am portion and tournamentportion of events are separated.1988The Champions Tour grows to 37 events and purses eclipse the $10 million mark.Vantage sponsors the Champions Tour’s first-ever statistical program. March 6— Orville Moody closes with a 63, setting a 72-hole Champions Tour scoringrecord of 25-under 263 and tying Arnold Palmer’s record for largest victorymargin with his 11-stroke win at the Vintage Chrysler Invitational in IndianWells, CA. September 18 — Arnold Palmer wins the last of his 10 ChampionsTour career titles at the Crestar Classic near Richmond, VA, defeating Lee Elder,Larry Mowry and Jim Ferree by four strokes.1989Champions Tour tournament fields increase to 78 players and 21 tournaments airon national television. March 5 — Miller Barber wins the last of his 24 officialChampions Tour career titles at The Vintage Chrysler Invitational in Palm Desert,CA. September 22 — Hurricane Hugo wipes out the PaineWebber Invitationalin Charlotte. December 7 — Lee Trevino debuts on the Champions Tour at theGTE Kaanapali Classic and ties for seventh in the rain-shortened event.1990Cadillac Motor Car Division comes aboard as the umbrella sponsor forChampions Tour cable telecasts. Lee Trevino is the dominant performer. The“Merry Mex” easily snares both Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year honorsafter seven wins and official earnings of $1,190,518. He also earns his firstByron Nelson Trophy with a scoring average of 68.89, a record that will stand foreight years on the Champions Tour. February 4 — Lee Trevino makes up sevenshots in the final nine holes to overtake Jim Dent for the Royal Caribbean Classictitle on Key Biscayne, FL, his first victory on the Champions Tour. April 1 — JackNicklaus captures The Tradition crown in Scottsdale and becomes the fourthplayer to win in his Champions Tour debut. June 10 — Jack Nicklaus ripsDearborn (MI) CC apart to win the Mazda Senior TPC by six strokes over LeeTrevino. Nicklaus’ 27-under 261 total sets a new standard for scoring in a 72-hole event on the Champions Tour. July 1 — Lee Trevino nips Jack Nicklaus atRidgewood CC in New Jersey for the U.S. Senior Open title. Trevino’s win makeshim the fifth player to claim a U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open crown.December 16 — Lee Trevino’s runner-up performance at the season-endingNew York Life Champions in Puerto Rico puts him over the seven-figure mark andmakes him the first single-season millionaire in Champions Tour history.1991The list of Champions Tour millionaires grows when Mike Hill becomes thesecond senior to top $1 million in 1991. Hill wins five times and shares Player ofthe Year honors with George Archer. June 9 — Jim Albus shocks the golf worldby becoming the first former club professional to win a senior major. Albus holdsoff three players at the TPC Michigan to win the Mazda Senior PlayersChampionship by three strokes. July 28 — Jack Nicklaus becomes the first tocomplete the Senior Slam when he defeats Chi Chi Rodriguez in an 18-holeplayoff for the U.S. Senior Open title at Oakland Hills CC. The victory is Nicklaus’third senior major of the season. Earlier in the campaign, the Golden Bearsuccessfully defended his Tradition title and waltzed to an easy triumph at thePGA Seniors’ Championship.SECTION1 INTRODUCTIONPGATOUR.COMChampions Tour 2008 Guide1-17