Print this page  |  Close Window

By Lauren Deason
PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator

The Champions Tour hit the halfway mark in the season over two weeks ago, but now that the second of five majors has concluded, the year is really starting to take shape.

For those involved with the Champions Tour, from president Rick George to the tournament directors to even the players, 2007 has stood as a landmark year to reach on the Tour timeline. Thanks to Mark O'Meara, Nick Price, Donnie Hammond, Nick Faldo, Jeff Sluman, Fulton Allem, Phil Blackmar, John Cook, Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer all turning 50 in '07, a slew of competitive and personable players have or will soon make their way to the Tour.

John Cook is one of many big names turning 50 in 2007. (WireImage)

"[Blackmar] was part of the broadcast team at Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf and he said this on the air, 'The quality of play on the Champions Tour is so much better than people at home realize and it's only going to get better with the guys who will be turning 50 and coming over to play from the PGA TOUR'," said George.

"I think he's right. The change that we're going to have on this Tour; so many names coming out and so many players coming out. I think you're going to see quite a bit of change in our money list, both on the prior year money and the all-time money. We have great names coming out."

Cook, an 11-time PGA TOUR winner, hardly looks old enough to be joining the 50-and-over Tour but will age his way on in early October. He still competes on the PGA TOUR but said he's excited about coming out with the Champions Tour in the later part of 2007, where getting a second chance at being a rookie means a chance to win again. But he's not expecting it to be easy.

"If you think you can come out and step in there and start dominating, I think you're going to have problems. As a friend of mine said, I get to re-rookie. So I look forward to that, being a re-rookie. I certainly won't be as intimidated by some of these guys as I was when I was 22 and weighed about 145 when I got out there," said Cook, who joined the PGA TOUR in 1979.

"As I get down, I'm under 100 days now, so the official 'how many days' countdown is on. It was months, now it is in days. If I could speed the clock ahead a little bit, I would. I'd be out (on the Champions Tour) tomorrow. So I really look forward to playing and participating and meeting everybody and getting to be a re-rookie."

With the arrival of so many marquee players, tournament attendance was up 35 percent on the year through the Principal Charity Classic, proceeds donated to charity rose by 27 percent and GOLF Channel ratings increased by 20 percent.

"We feel good about where we're at in our 28th season at the midway point of the year. We believe that this Tour has more name recognition than any tour in golf. There are 15 World Golf Hall of Famers that are currently out on this Tour, including Curtis Strange and Hubert Green who will be inducted later this fall," said George.

With all this talk about the future, it's worthwhile to take a look back at the first half of the year and see just how memorable some of the moments and players were in the early part of the 2007 season.

Player of the first half: Jay Haas. Without a doubt. He's won four times in 2007, including two in a row in early June, and the reigning Charles Schwab Cup champion had a commanding lead in this year's race until Brad Bryant's U.S. Senior Open win moved him slightly ahead. Since Haas has 12 top-10s out of 17 tries in 2007, it's no wonder he's near the top and capturing the attention of all of his peers. "On our Tour, Jay Haas is the best player out here this year," Tom Watson said recently. Hale Irwin agreed. "Jay is just comfortable on the golf course. There's no shot he can't play right now...he is just playing on all cylinders." And there doesn't seem to be an end to his winning in sight.

Rookie of the first half: With a bumper crop of rookies making their way onto the Champions Tour in 2007, it's going to be tough to determine the top rookie at year's end. From Mark O'Meara to Nick Price to Scott Hoch, already the rookies have made their presence known on the Tour. Hoch and Denis Watson are the only rookies with a win, earning titles at the FedEx Kinko's Classic and the Senior PGA Championship, respectively. Since Watson ranks No. 4 in Charles Schwab Cup points where Hoch is in 17th place, the rookie honors go to Watson.

Best Moment: Denis Watson will likely take several awards at the end of 2007, including "Rookie of the Year" and "Comeback Player of the Year." But, in our categories, he's by far the year's top moment, winning for the first time in nearly 23 years at the Senior PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. The 51-year-old with eight kids was met by two of his little ones on the 18th green after his come-from-behind win over Eduardo Romero and emotionally accepted the trophy that had been a long time coming.

Biggest Surprise: Fred Funk didn't just win the Turtle Bay Championship. He crushed the field -- and a record in the process. The 50-year-old won by an unheard of 11 shots for his second Champions Tour win in five starts. An even bigger surprise came just weeks later, as Funk -- who like a fine wine seems to get better with age -- won on the PGA TOUR as well. He recaptured some of that early season magic again in June, finishing in fifth place at the Travelers Championship on the PGA TOUR and tied for 20th at the Buick Open.

What to watch for in the second half: Naturally, the rookie class that will continue to advance to the Champions Tour. Langer is the heavy favorite to come out and dominate, since the two-time Masters winner nearly won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial on the PGA TOUR in 2007. The German has had four top-10s in 12 tries on the TOUR in '07 and will likely earn a win on the Champions Tour after he becomes eligible on August 27.

.