Sharpshooters Funk, Peete to play together for first time

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Fred Funk and Calvin Peete both live in the Jacksonville, Fla., area. They're both former champions of THE PLAYERS Championship. And they're both among the most accurate golfers to have ever played on the PGA TOUR.

For many years, Calvin Peete ranked among the most accurate players in golf. (Badz/PGA TOUR)

And yet they've never played a single round of golf together ... until Friday, when the tee it up at The Plantation at Ponte Vedra course.

The 65-year-old Peete and the 53-year-old Funk will be in a foursome with Peete's agent, Mike Lattuca, along with the club champion, 15-year-old Evan Berlin, son of PGA TOUR Senior Vice President of Player Affairs Ross Berlin. Tee time is 10 a.m. with no admission charge.

"This has been two years in the making where their schedules could collide," said Lattuca, who organized the pairing. "It's exciting to have two of the most statistically accurate golfers in the game finally playing together."

Although Funk had played a few tournaments on the PGA TOUR, he didn't start playing a full schedule until 1989. At that time, Peete was still playing on TOUR, but he was beginning to cut down on his schedule, and he eventually joined the Champions Tour in 1993.

Peete's last full year on the Champions Tour was 2000, well before Funk joined the Champions Tour in 2006.

"They were just in different generations and just really missed each other in terms of playing together," Lattuca said.

On Friday, that will no longer be the issue. And in addition to their first round together, Peete will also get a chance to measure his game against one of the Champions Tour's current top players.

That's important since Peete has decided to try to resume his Champions Tour career next year. He got the urge this spring after playing at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in Savannah, Ga., where he was encouraged by his performance.

But how will he fare against Funk, who has won two events this year and is third in Charles Schwab Cup points?

"No disrespect to Cal, but Fred is a big competitor, and he's been playing so much that he certainly has the edge," Lattuca said. "But you can't count Cal out."