News: Champions Tour
December 21 2011
3:24 pm
Champions Tour 2012 schedule released
On the heels of the release of the 2012 PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour schedules, the Champions Tour joined the party Wednesday with its new schedule.
Seven new venues are on the schedule, including four of the five Champions Tour major championships. The Constellation Senior Players is shifting up a few weeks to midsummer and moving to Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh, Pa., a classic Seth Raynor design.
The Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, on the other hand, is moving back in the schedule from June to August to allow En-Joie Golf Course as much time as possible to recover from tropical storm flooding sustained in 2011.
The Charles Schwab Cup Championship is also different from 2012, moving from San Francisco to Scottsdale, Ariz., and the Jack Nicklaus-designed Desert Mountain Cochise Course. The course hosted the Champions Tour from 1989-2001. The CSCC is the last event of the season, and the Schwab Cup will be awarded there on Nov. 4.
Still yet to be determined on the schedule are Asian dates in September.
Read more here.
News: Champions Tour
December 14 2011
5:48 pm
Lehman: ‘Culmination of a journey’
In the closing weeks of the Champions Tour season, Tom Lehman at times downplayed the feat of a Player of the Year trifecta.
Never before had a player won such honors on all three Tours operated by the PGA TOUR. Lehman, who won the award on the then-Hogan Tour (now Nationwide Tour) in 1991 and the PGA TOUR in 1996, knew he was fortunate to be in such a position by age as much as accomplishment. No other former Hogan/Nationwide Tour Player of the Year is toiling regularly on the 50-and-over circuit.
But Wednesday, upon officially being named Champions Tour Player of the Year, thus completing the triple play, Lehman could fully appreciate the accomplishment and come clean a little bit about just how much he wanted it.
“I think it’s every bit as significant simply because it’s a goal that I set,” Lehman said. “I think anytime you set a goal that’s a lofty goal, and this one was lofty because no one had done it before. I was aware of that.
“Because of that reason, it’s significant. It’s the culmination of a journey. It’s a journey that’s been a lot of fun. There’s no guarantees. There were no promises that I could achieve that. It took a lot of good playing and also some good fortune for me to win.”
Lehman was strong all year on the Champions Tour, having won three times including a major title. He took over the Schwab Cup points lead after the season’s second event and never looked back, though the points race did tighten up at the season finale as Mark Calcavecchia bid to win the Charles Schwab Cup Championship and take the $1 million season prize. Calc came up short, and Lehman had the Schwab Cup.
“There’s a lot of things happened this past year that went in my favor. John Cook lost in two playoffs. Calc almost came back and won the Schwab Cup,” Lehman said. “Those guys had great years, played great golf, but things kind of tipped my way.
“When you work so hard and you want it so badly, you chase that dream, then the dream does come true, it’s significant. I was very, very aware over the last couple years I had a chance to do something that no one’s done before, at least to this point.”
MORE: Lehman wins POY, Kenny Perry and Chip Beck also honored | Lehman’s 2011 results
Round 4: Champions Tour
November 6 2011
9:26 pm
Blake bags second win in five starts
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
SAN FRANCISCO – A little more than two months ago, Jay Don Blake was a Champions Tour journeyman.
Now he’s a multiple-event winner.
Blake won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship Sunday, the first to win the Tour’s season finale in his first appearance since Mark McNulty in 2004. He took a two-shot lead into the final round and never relinquished it, winning by two over Michael Allen, Mark Calcavecchia, Jay Haas and Loren Roberts.
Add that to his win five starts ago at the Songdo IBD Championship in Korea, where he won a four-man playoff, and Blake ends 2011 as one of four multiple winners on Tour, joining Schwab Cup winner Tom Lehman, John Cook and Fred Couples.
“How can you pass up having a chance to play on the Champions Tour?” said Blake, who rose to fourth in Schwab Cup points and will take $200,000 from that prize pool in addition to his $440,000 share of the winner’s purse from TPC Harding Park. “I wanted to be healthy and ready if I could play out here and perform like I was able to play.”
Blake, 53, won once on the PGA TOUR, in 1991 at Torrey Pines. He cut his PGA TOUR career short of age 50 due to back pain, and for three years worked on stretching and tweaking enough to give the Champions Tour a shot.
He pieced together schedules with his partial status, qualifying for some events and relying on sponsor’s exemptions at times. What he never lost was his drive and, just as importantly, a silky putting stroke.
“He’s always been a great putter his whole life,” Allen said. “When we played in college, he was a great putter, and that’s been his game.
“You go out to dinner with someone, you want to go out to dinner with a good putter, because they’re always happy.”
Blake isn’t the type for overt displays of emotion, happy or not, but the satisfaction was clear on his face late Sunday afternoon, especially with some 20 family members and friends around to share in his win. The next stop will be the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, a winners-only event.
An event for Jay Don Blake.
“I just kept knocking at the door and I felt like sometime down the road it was going to happen,” he said.
It’s now wide open.
7:56 pm
Calc falls just short in late Schwab run
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
SAN FRANCISCO – Mark Calcavecchia turned the Schwab Cup race into an exciting battle Sunday afternoon, one that required watching several players other than him.
But in the end it was a result he’s all too familiar with – second.
At the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Calcavecchia needed to win or finish no worse than two-way tie for second to steal the Cup from Tom Lehman, the points leader since the second tournament of the season.
He started the final round in a tie for sixth, but on a windy day at TPC Harding Park he made a late run with a 2-under 69.
When Calcavecchia birdied the 15th hole and Jay Haas bogeyed the 13th, there was a three-way tie for second. Minutes later, Loren Roberts made it a four-way tie at 6 under with a birdie at 15. (Jay Don Blake was well in front, so winning the event wasn’t a possibility.)
Haas and Roberts continued to pour in pars, Haas making a solid save off a bad drive at 15, Roberts saving par on the par-3 17th after missing the green.
Calcavecchia’s key moment was on 18, when he hit a great drive and only had 134 yards left to the par-4. He was in between a wedge and 9-iron in switching winds, and his 9-iron ended up pin high but well right of the hole.
“I had the right distance but I never swung at it. Wind just got it,” Calcavecchia said. “If I had to do it again I’d hit a hard wedge and take my chances. I would have hit a better shot, put it that way.”
He two-putted to post 6 under, and Roberts did the same from the next group. Calcavecchia couldn’t afford another finisher at that number, but local favorite Michael Allen hit a chip close at 18 that nearly went in for birdie. In or out, Calcavecchia’s fate was sealed.
He finished second in points, 74 behind Lehman.
“It’s kind of the story of my whole career, I’ve had a lot of seconds in my day and a lot of close calls,” said Calcavecchia, who had 13 wins on the PGA TOUR and 27 seconds. On the Champions Tour, he has one win and four seconds.
“It could have been a lot better but on the other hand I had a great year. Just rattled off more top-10s than anybody.”
True – Calcavecchia had 15 top-10s to Lehman’s 12, in one more tournament. But second place Sunday was just too crowded of a place for his Schwab Cup hopes.
6:45 pm
Lehman wins Cup; Blake wins event
SAN FRANCISCO – Tom Lehman survived a game effort from Mark Calcavecchia to win the Schwab Cup while Jay Don Blake won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship Sunday.
Blake won for the second time in two months on the Champions Tour, shooting a final-round 71 at TPC Harding Park to win by two shots.
In the season-long points race, Lehman finished T18 in the finale to open the door for Calcavecchia. But Calc needed a win or a two-way tie for second, and there turned out to be a four-way tie for second with Calc, Loren Roberts, Michael Allen and Jay Haas.
5:45 pm
Schwab Cup update: Calc still alive
SAN FRANCISCO – Mark Calcavecchia can still win the Schwab Cup.
Points leader Tom Lehman finished tied for 18th, leaving the door open for Calcavecchia, who came to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship second in points. He needs a win or a two-way tie for second, and though a win seems unlikely with Jay Don Blake holding a four-shot lead, second place is up for grabs.
Calcavecchia birdied the 15th to get to 6 under and Jay Haas bogeyed 13 to fall to 6 under. Michael Allen is also there at 6 under. But a three-way tie is no good for Calc.
Stay tuned.
5:11 pm
Cook’s three-peat bid falls short
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
SAN FRANCISCO – John Cook’s bid to become the first three-peat winner of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship was essentially over before it started.
Cook had four bogeys total in his previous two wins, last year at TPC Harding Park and the year prior at Sonoma Golf Club. In Round 1, he had four bogeys in his first six holes.
“Just a tough start, the weather got bad and I didn’t really do much,” Cook said. “Next thing you knew, I was 4 over after six and I hadn’t really done anything wrong. It was just catch-up after that.”
He shot 73 that first day, tied for 17th, and was never a factor from that point. He duplicated the 73 in Round 2, a tough day for scoring, then shot 70-71 over the weekend. He was tied for 20th when he signed his scorecard Sunday.
Cook came to TPC Harding Park as a longshot contender for the Schwab Cup at fourth in points, but needed to win the event and hope Tom Lehman finished T5 or worse. His season had plenty of highs, including wins at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am and the Montreal Championship, but he lost in a playoff in a bid for his first major at the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship.
Cook also had two finishes of 50th or worse later in the season, when Schwab Cup points for top-10s was what he dearly needed.
“I had really, really good weeks, and some weeks that were very mediocre,” Cook said. “(Lehman) had tons of top-10s and wins and winning majors, and that’s what you have to do.”
4:57 pm
Leaderboard update: Blake up by two
SAN FRANCISCO – Jay Don Blake is taking a two-shot lead into the back nine of the Champions Tour finale.
The Utah native shot 1 under on the front at TPC Harding Park to get to 9 under and leads Kenny Perry and David Frost at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Perry is 4 under on the day after three consecutive birdies at Nos. 9-12. That’s the low round on the course along with Fred Couples, 4 under through 14.
In the Schwab Cup race, Mark Calcavecchia needs to get going quickly. He’s 1 under for his round through 11 and 5 under through the tournament, tied for seventh. But he needs to get into the top two to have a chance at the $1 million annuity. Tom Lehman is tied for 18th but safe as long as Calcavecchia doesn’t make a big move.
1:23 pm
Blake, Allen seek validation in finale
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
SAN FRANCISCO – Jay Don Blake and Michael Allen know they belong on the Champions Tour. They each have won before and job security for 2012.
But they know a second title would put them on another level, especially a title as prestigious as the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the elite 30-man season finale.
Blake is at 8 under and leads by two shots going into the final round, teeing off with Jay Haas in the final group at 2:56 p.m. ET. Haas is tied with Allen and David Frost at 6 under.
Blake knows how to close out events, he won a four-man playoff in September at the Songdo IBD Championship in Korea. That confidence, he figures, should carry over to Sunday at TPC Harding Park.
“Yeah, it’s given me quite a bit of confidence,” Blake said. “We just keep plugging along, try to keep getting in contention and having a chance to win.”
Allen’s story is a bit different, he won in his first start on the Champions Tour at the Senior PGA Championship. But that was 2009, and he hasn’t won since. He has come close a few times, most notably last year at TPC Harding Park, where he shot a course-record 61 in the third round only to be passed on Sunday by John Cook.
Playing here – and potentially winning here – would be doubly special for Allen, a native of nearby San Mateo who played the famed muni as a junior.
(Today’s) going to be a fun day no matter what. I’m looking forward to it,” said Allen, who’s in the second-to-last group with Frost. “There’s going to be times out there I’m going to be nervous, a little unsure. There will be times I’ll be calm and confident. It’s fun. The emotions, you watch yourself, that’s what is kind of fun about the day.”
But it’s not just about the guys seeking a second career win (and put Frost in that group too, his one Champions Tour title came in 2010 at the 3M Championship). Former two-time Schwab Cup champions Haas and Loren Roberts are both in the hunt, somewhat unexpectedly.
Haas tweaked his back late in his second round and shot 72 while looking to be in considerable pain, but came back strong on Moving Day with a 67 to get into the final group.
“I didn’t even think about what I was doing, the pressure, anything like that,” Haas said. “I was just trying to put one foot in front of the other and hit another shot.”
Roberts came to San Francisco with no confidence in the wake of a so-so season by his standards, but tips from instructor Jim Suttie and Mark Wiebe turned things around. He shot 65 Saturday, the low round of the week, and starts the final round three shots back.
In the Schwab Cup battle, Mark Calcavecchia is the man to watch. He’s second in points and can steal the Cup with a first-place finish or a runner-up, provided Lehman is 12th or worse. Calcavecchia starts the final round tied for sixth, four shots off the lead. Lehman is tied for 16th.
Round 3: Champions Tour
November 5 2011
9:08 pm
Allen has another shot at hometown win
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
SAN FRANCISCO – Michael Allen has a chance to exorcise a pair of demons Sunday at a course that’s familiar and friendly to him.
Allen, a native of nearby San Mateo whose history at TPC Harding Park dates to his junior golf days, sits two shots back of leader Jay Don Blake at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. He’s 6 under par after a third consecutive 69 and is tied with Jay Haas and David Frost.
A year ago at the Champions Tour season finale he led going into Sunday after a third-round course-record 61, but John Cook shot 67 in the final round to Allen’s 70.
That was Allen’s last runner-up finish on Tour. This year his best effort has been a pair of T3s, extending a winless drought that stretches to 2009.
Allen won his very first Tour start that year, at the Senior PGA Championship, but the second win has proved elusive.
“Getting a win is kind of big in that we all come out here to play to win. In the end, that’s why we’re here,” Allen said. “When you finally win, you kind of remember that you know how to do it.”
Allen never won in 366 PGA TOUR starts, and he’s chasing Blake, who won once in 497 TOUR starts. Blake’s win came in 1991 and he went 20 years before winning again, in September at the Songdo IBD Championship.
“Jay Don, like I have been doing, he’s been a journeyman out here playing for a long time,” Allen said. “To me, when I go out now, I have fun with it. (Sunday’s) going to be a fun day no matter what.”
The fun will be enhanced by a vocal gallery that has followed him all week, family and friends from the area and from Arizona, where he now lives.
“I feel like I’m very comfortable in this area, hopefully that vibe will carry through and I can get some good mojo out there tomorrow,” Allen said.
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