Champions Tour 2008 Guide - PGA TOUR Media

Historical Highlights of the Champions Tour (cont.)September 13 — The Vantage Championship is canceled due to the tragediesof September 11. It marks the first time since the 1989 Home Depot Invitationalthat an entire Champions Tour event is canceled.2002At age 57, Hale Irwin re-establishes himself as the Champions Tour’s top player,winning four times and finishing among the top three 14 times in 27 officialstarts. Irwin becomes the oldest leading money-winner in Champions Tourhistory and is the first player to top the $3 million mark in single-seasonearnings. Bob Gilder also wins four times, all within a span of seven eventsduring the summer. March 10 — Hale Irwin claims his second Toshiba SeniorClassic and takes over the lead in the 2002 Charles Schwab Cup race, which hemaintains for the remaining 28 events of the season. May 3 — At the Bruno’sMemorial Classic, Dana Quigley plays in his 178th straight event for which he’sbeen eligible, breaking Mike McCullough’s record of 177 eligible events in a row.Quigley ends the year with his streak intact (201 events), winning the second-tolastevent, the SBC Championship, which is his 200th in the streak. June 9 —Japan’s Seiji Ebihara ties the all-time nine-hole record by making seven straightbirdies en route to an 8-under 27 on the front nine at Firestone in the final roundof the Senior PGA Championship. June 23 — J.C. Snead becomes the thirdoldest winner in Champions Tour history when he claims the Greater BaltimoreClassic at 61 years, 8 months and 9 days. Snead’s victory in Maryland is his firstsince 1995 and establishes a Champions Tour record for longest time betweenwins (6 years, 11 months, 7 days). June 30 — Don Pooley defeats Tom Watsonin a thrilling playoff at Caves Valley and becomes the first qualifier ever to winthe U.S. Senior Open and the ninth in Champions Tour history. July 6 — 61-yearoldWalter Morgan becomes the youngest player ever to better his age byshooting 11-under 60 in the second round of the AT&T Canada Senior Open atEssex Golf & Country Club in Windsor, Ontario. Morgan follows up his 60 with a65 and makes 21 birdies over his last 36 holes in Canada. September 15 —Bruce Fleisher breaks Bob Charles’ (1989) and Charles Coody’s (1991) ChampionsTour all-time scoring record of 193 by shooting 19-under 191 to win the RJRChampionship. One day earlier, Fleisher eclipsed the all-time 36-hole record of14-under 126 (Jim Colbert/1994 GTE West Classic, Hale Irwin/1997 VantageChampionship) with a two-day total of 16-under 124 at Tanglewood. Fleisheropened the tournament with an 11-under 60 and tied the all-time 18-hole scoringrecord. October 6 — Hale Irwin clinches the Charles Schwab Cup and themoney title by virtue of his playoff victory over Gary McCord at the Turtle BayChampionship. The win was Irwin’s fourth of the year and his fourth in Hawaiiduring the fall season. Irwin becomes the first player since Jack Nicklaus (1990,1991, 1995, 1996 Tradition) to win the same event four times. He finishes theyear 799 points ahead of runner-up Bob Gilder in the Charles Schwab Cup.October 27 — Hale Irwin’s solo fourth-place finish at the SENIOR TOURChampionship at Gaillardia earns him a check for $176,000 and moves him overthe $3 million level in single-season earnings, a first in Champions Tour history.October 30 — Commissioner Tim Finchem announces a rebranding of the PGATOUR; “Three Distinct Tours, One Brand Family”, with the Senior Tour becomingthe Champions Tour and Buy.com Tour becoming the Nationwide Tour.2003February 1 — Bruce Lietzke becomes just the fourth player in history, and thefirst since Rocky Thompson in 1992 (Kaanapali Classic), to have three eagles inone round when he does so in the second round of the MasterCardChampionship. May 4 — When Tom Jenkins claims the Bruno’s MemorialClassic, it sets a new Champions Tour record. Jenkins’ victory gives theChampions Tour a different winner in each of the first 10 events, breaking theold record of starting a season with nine different winners (1995). May 11 —Hale Irwin defeats Tom Watson in a two-hole playoff to win the inauguralKinko’s Classic of Austin. Irwin becomes just the second player (Miller Barber isthe other) to win at least one event for nine consecutive years. July 13 — CraigStadler triumphs at the Ford Senior Players Championship in just his fourth starton the Champions Tour. He becomes the 14th player in history to make his firstwin a major championship. At 50 years, 1 month, 11 days, he also becomes theyoungest player to win a major title on the circuit. July 20 — One week afterwinning near Detroit, Stadler becomes the first player from the Champions Tourto win a PGA TOUR event when he is victorious at the B.C. Open in Endicott, NY.The victory makes him just the second player in history to post wins on theChampions Tour and the PGA TOUR in the same season. Raymond Floyd was thefirst to do so in 1993. July 27 — Tom Watson wins a playoff with Carl Masonat the Senior British Open at Turnberry in Scotland, the first time the event isrecognized as an official tournament on the Champions Tour. Watson, a BritishOpen winner at Turnberry in 1977, becomes the 11th player to win a PGA TOURand a Champions Tour event at the same venue. August 16 — Jim Thorpe tiesa Champions Tour mark when he shoots a 10-under-par 60 in the second roundof the Long Island Classic. One day later, he defeats Bob Gilder by one stroke forthe title. August 31 — Tom Watson earns his second major title of the year bydefeating Gil Morgan, Tom Kite and Jim Ahern by one stroke at the JELD-WENTradition near Portland, OR. Watson becomes the first player to win consecutivemajor titles since Gil Morgan in 1998. September 21 — D.A. Weibring’s onestrokewin over Tom Kite and Bobby Wadkins makes him the 25th differentwinner on the Champions Tour, tying the all-time mark set in 1995. October 11— Bob Murphy’s hole-in-one at the Turtle Bay Championship is the 19th of theseason, breaking the Champions Tour record of 18 set in 1992. The total numberof aces eventually reaches 23 at the close of the year. October 26 — TomWatson’s second-place finish to Jim Thorpe at the Charles Schwab CupChampionship clinches the Arnold Palmer Award as the leading money-winner.Watson also wins the season-long Charles Schwab Cup and donates the $1million annuity to ALS research.2004February 22 — Mark McNulty becomes the 11th player to win his ChampionsTour debut when he is victorious at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am. March 14— Gil Morgan becomes the 12th player in Champions Tour history to win thesame event three times when he wins the SBC Classic. March 19 — TomPurtzer ties the Champions Tour all-time scoring record by shooting an openinground60. April 25 — When he won the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, HaleIrwin wins at least one event for the 10th straight year, breaking his tie withMiller Barber for most consecutive years with at least one victory. July 11 —Mark James becomes the first European-born player to win a Champions Tourmajor championship after his victory at the Ford Senior Players Championship.June 27 — Craig Stadler claims the Bank of America Championship and a shorttime later, his son Kevin wins the Lake Erie Charity Classic. They become thesecond father-son duo to win PGA TOUR events the same day. Bob Duval andDavid Duval were the first in 1999. July 24 — Graham Marsh becomes the firstChampions Tour player to make two holes-in-one on the same hole in the sametournament when he aces No. 11 in the third round at the Royal Portrush GolfClub in the Senior British Open. Marsh also does so in the opening round. July25 — Pete Oakley becomes the first open qualifier since Don Pooley at the 2001U.S. Senior Open to win a Champions Tour event and the 10th overall openqualifier to win in the history of the circuit when he wins Senior British Open.July 29 — Three players—John Aubrey, Mike McCullough and Pat Tallent—allmake a hole-in-one in the same round, the most in one round on the ChampionsTour. September 27 — The Champions Tour commemorates its 25th seasonwith a one-day pro-am at the site of its inaugural event at the Atlantic CityCountry Club. October 24 — Hale Irwin wins his second Charles Schwab Cupand the $1-million annuity in the closest race in the four-year history of thecompetition. Irwin defeats Craig Stadler by 39 points.2005January 30 — Hale Irwin becomes the first player in professional golf to winthe same event five straight years and the same tournament six times overallwhen he cruises to a five-stroke victory over Dana Quigley at the Turtle BayChampionship in Hawaii. February 28 — Hale Irwin wins the rain-shortenedOutback Steakhouse Pro-Am near Tampa and extends to 11, his record streak ofyears with multiple victories. The event is pushed into a Monday finish by heavyrain on the weekend and Irwin overtakes Morris Hatalsky and defendingchampion Mark McNulty to become the oldest winner of multiple events in thesame season. May 14 — Craig Stadler ties the Champions Tour all-time scoringrecord by shooting a 10-under 60 at The Moors during the second round of theBlue Angels Classic. May 15 — Champions Tour players set an all-time recordfor lowest scoring average at an event, 68.175, on the par-70 Moors layout atthe Blue Angels Classic. May 20 — Dana Quigley’s makes eight birdies in a rowen route to an opening-round 65 at the Bruno’s Memorial Classic. He equals theall-time best birdie streak in Champions Tour history and becomes the firstplayer since Jim Colbert (2000 TD Waterhouse Championship) to record eightstraight birdies in a round. May 29 — Mike Reid posts four consecutive roundsSECTION1 INTRODUCTIONPGATOUR.COMChampions Tour 2008 Guide1-19