Although there are a number of Golf championships which gets played across different parts of Globe, the PGA Tour champions has its own special place amongst all of them. If we talk about the general definition of the famous Golf tour, it’s one of the most prestigious Men’s professional senior golf tour around the world which is managed as a part of the famous PGA Tour.
History and Background
This Coveted Golf championship was earlier being known as the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions tour and got established in the year 1937 with the name Senior PGA championships. For the next many years, it was the only Prestigious Golf tournament for most of the Professional golfers around the world aged more than 50 and took its Official shape by the year 1980 only.
It was during the Golf event in 1978 named The Legends of Golf, that a need for an Annual Golf event for Senior Pros got established. During the same tournament, some of the High profile old Golfing legends came over to participate in the event and amazed everyone with their game. It was finally in 1980 when the Senior PGA tour came into the picture and stayed with that name until October 2002 when it was renamed as the Champions Tour till the 2015 season. It was only after the 2015 season when the tournament got its new name as “PGA Tour Champions”.
Format of the PGA Champions Tour
The Format of this PGA champion’s tour is more or less similar to that of other major Golf events. While Most of the tournaments on this tour gets played in three rounds (54 holes), it was still one round lesser than the regular professional stroke play tournaments on the PGA Tour. Due to this factor along with the smaller fields (81 golfers), there was no possibility left for having any “cuts” between any of the rounds. On the other hand, the five senior major events have a full 72 holes (four rounds) with a 36-hole cut.
Interestingly, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, which used to gets played during the end of the season, until 2015, was being played with a limited field of 36, along with 72 holes with no cut. It was only after 2016, the format got changed to 54 holes with no cut. This eventually left the possibility of non- consistent performance by any participating golfer over different rounds involved and brought the probability of Major players to win the championship eventually.
Quite surprisingly, Charles Schwab went on to become a season-long battle to gain points during the year 2015. Most of the points were being awarded to the player retaining the top 10 spots. The Format worked like giving one point to the player per $1,000 won (i.e. $500,000 = 500 points) with majors counting double.
Interesting Facts about the PGA champions Tour
The Name Game
This was one of the few Golf tournaments which changed its name multiple times over the course of its journey in the past 40 odd years of its establishment. While initially being known as the Senior PGA tour until the year 2002, it then got renamed as the “Champions Tour” till the 2015 season. Interestingly, the name was again changed to “PGA Tour Champions” and currently being known by the same name only.
The Permission related to allowing Golf carts during the PGA Tour champions
While players were not allowed to take Golf carts along during the various events of the tour initially, it was only in the year 2006, when the Champions Tour Division Board of the PGA tour organization allowed players to take the option to use Golf carts during all or most of the Tour events in the course of the championship.
The Complicated system for Field Determination
The process followed by the PGA tour organization to determine the field during most of the events was being quoted as the “ most complicated system known to man” by one of the PGA Tour Champions player and famous TV Golf analyst Bobby Clampett. He further quoted that this system cannot be understood by even a single player playing the game currently.
Most Successful Players in the PGA Champions Tour History (in terms of Money)
Hale Irwin (USA)
Hale Irwin can certainly be quoted as the most successful PGA champions tour player in the history with and earnings of $27,076,479 during his career at the major championship tour event. He has also won the money list title 3 times in his career.
Bernhard Lanegr (Germany)
Bernhard langer is another most popular player and the second most successful player in terms of money earned during his career. He has earned approx $24,599,350 in the PGA tour champions. He is also top on the list of the player with 9 Money list wins in his career.
Upcoming PGA Tour Champion Events
PGA TOUR Champions announced today the 2020 tournament schedule, featuring 27 events and culminating with the fifth annual Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs. The Tour will contest tournaments in four foreign countries and 18 states, with total prize money of nearly $59 million.
| JAN 16 – 18 |
Mitsubishi Championship
Hualalai GC, Ka’upulehu-Kona, HI • Purse: $1,800,000 |
| JAN 30 – FEB 1 |
Morocco Championship
Samanah Golf Club, Marrakech, MAR • Purse: $2,000,000
|
| FEB 14 – 16 |
Chubb Classic
The Classics at Lely Resort, Naples, FL • Purse: $1,600,000 |
| FEB 28 – MAR 1 |
Cologuard Classic
Omni Tucson National, Tucson, AZ • Purse: $1,700,000
|
| MAR 6 – 8 |
Hoag Classic
Newport Beach CC, Newport Beach, CA • Purse: $1,800,000 |
| MAR 27 – 29 [ CANCELED ] |
Rapiscan Classic
Fallen Oak, Biloxi, MS • Purse: $1,600,000
|
| APR 17 – 19 [ CANCELED ] |
Mitsubishi Electric Classic
TPC Sugarloaf, Duluth, GA • Purse: $1,800,000 |
| MAY 1 – 3 [ CANCELED ] |
Insperity Inventional
The Woodlands CC, The Woodlands, TX • Purse: $2,250,000 |
| MAY 21 – 24 [ CANCELED ] |
KitchenAID Senior championship
The GC at Harbor Shores, Benton Harbor, MI • Purse: $3,250,000 |
| JUN 5 – 7 [ CANCELED ] |
American insurance championship
University Ridge GC, Madison, WI • Purse: $2,400,000
|
| JUN 12 – 14 [ CANCELED ] |
Mastercard japan championship
Narita Golf Club-Accordia Golf, Narita-shi, Chiba, JPN • Purse: $2,500,000 |
| JUN 25 – 28 [ CANCELED ] |
U.S Senior open championship
Newport Country Club, Newport, RI • Purse: $4,000,000 |
| JUL 23 – 26 [ POSTPONED ] |
The Senior open championship
Sunningdale GC (Old Course), Berkshire, ENG • Purse: $2,500,000 |
| JUL 31 – AUG 2 |
The Ally Challenge
Warwick Hills G&CC, Grand Blanc, MI • Purse: $2,000,000 |
| AUG 13 – 16 [ORIGINALLY JUL 9-12] |
Bridgestone Championship
Firestone CC, Akron, OH • Purse: $2,800,000
|
| AUG 14 – 16 [ CANCELED ] |
Dicks Sporting Goods open
En-Joie GC, Endicott, NY • Purse: $2,050,000
|
| AUG 21 – 23 |
Boeing Classic
The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge, Snoqualmie, WA • Purse: $2,100,000
|
| AUG 28 – 30 |
Shaw Charity Classic
Canyon Meadows G&CC, Calgary, AB, CAN • Purse: $2,350,000 |
| SEP 4 – 6 [ORIGINALLY MAY 29-31] |
Principal Charity Classic
Wakonda Club, Des Moines, IA • Purse: $1,850,000
|
| SEP 11 – 13 |
Sanford International
Minnehaha Country Club, Sioux Falls, SD • Purse: $1,800,000 |
| SEP 18 – 20 |
Pure Insurance Championship
Pebble Beach Golf Links, Monterey Peninsula, CA • Purse: $2,200,000 |
| SEP 24 – 27 [ORIGINALLY MAY 7-10] |
Region Traditions
Greystone G&CC, Birmingham, AL • Purse: $2,400,000
|
| OCT 2 – 4 |
Ascension Charity Classic
Norwood Hills Country Club, St. Louis, MO • Purse: $2,000,000
|
| OCT 9 – 11 |
SAS Championship
Prestonwood CC, Cary, NC • Purse: $2,100,000 |
| OCT 16 – 18 |
Dominion Energy Charity Club
The Country Club of Virginia, Richmond, VA • Purse: $2,000,000 |
| OCT 30 – NOV 1 |
Boca Raton Championship
The Old Course at Broken Sound, Boca Raton, FL • Purse: $2,000,000 |
| NOV 5 – 8 |
Charles Schwab Cup Championship
Phoenix Country Club, Phoenix, AZ • Purse: $2,500,000 |
| NOV 17 – 20 |
2021 PGA TOUR Champions Qualifying Tournament-Final Stage
TPC Tampa Bay, Lutz, FL • Purse: $200,000 |
| DEC 17 – 20 |
PNC Father-son Championship
Ritz-Carlton GC, Orlando, FL • Purse: $1,085,000 |
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