Champions Tour
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The Champions Tour, a golf tour run by the PGA Tour, hosts 30 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.
All events in the 2007 schedule are in the United States except for the Senior British Open in the United Kingdom. The guaranteed minimum official prize money is $54.1 million. [1]
Most of the tournaments are played over three rounds (54 holes), which is one round less than regular professional strokeplay 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 organisation 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] 2007 schedule
The following table shows all the official money events for the 2007 season. The five senior majors are shown in bold. The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names are the number of wins they had on the tour up to and including that event.
[edit] Leading money winners by year
| Year | Player | Earnings |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 |  Jay Haas |
$2,420,227 |
| 2005 | Dana Quigley |
$2,170,258 |
| 2004 | Craig Stadler |
$2,306,066 |
| 2003 | Tom Watson |
$1,853,108 |
| 2002 | Hale Irwin |
$3,028,304 |
| 2001 | Allen Doyle |
$2,553,582 |
| 2000 | Larry Nelson |
$2,708,005 |
| 1999 | Bruce Fleisher |
$2,515,705 |
| 1998 | Hale Irwin |
$2,861,945 |
| 1997 | Hale Irwin |
$2,343,364 |
| 1996 | Jim Colbert |
$1,627,890 |
| 1995 | Jim Colbert |
$1,444,386 |
| 1994 | Dave Stockton |
$1,402,519 |
| 1993 | Dave Stockton |
$1,175,944 |
| 1992 | Lee Trevino |
$1,027,002 |
| 1991 | Mike Hill |
$1,065,657 |
| 1990 | Lee Trevino |
$1,190,518 |
| 1989 |  Bob Charles |
$725,887 |
| 1988 | Bob Charles |
$533,929 |
| 1987 |  Chi Chi Rodriguez |
$509,145 |
| 1986 |  Bruce Crampton |
$454,299 |
| 1985 | Peter Thomson |
$386,724 |
| 1984 | Don January |
$328,597 |
| 1983 | Don January |
$237,571 |
| 1982 | Miller Barber |
$106,890 |
| 1981 | Miller Barber |
$83,136 |
| 1980 | Don January |
$44,100 |
[edit] Multiple money list titles
The following players have won more than one money list title through 2006:
[edit] Leading career money winners
The table shows the top ten career money leaders on the Champions Tour at the end of the 2006 season.
| Position | Player | Country | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hale Irwin |  United States |
$23,384,705 |
| 2. | Gil Morgan | United States |
$17,208,472 |
| 3. | Bruce Fleisher | United States |
$13,260,442 |
| 4. | Dana Quigley | United States |
$13,166,725 |
| 5. | Larry Nelson | United States |
$12,893,736 |
| 6. | Allen Doyle | United States |
$12,118,228 |
| 7. | Jim Colbert | United States |
$11,575,162 |
| 8. | Jim Thorpe | United States |
$11,429,823 |
| 9. | Dave Stockton | United States |
$10,840,231 |
| 10. | Tom Jenkins | United States |
$10,624,407 |
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
