A look at the Champions Tour's Class of 2011
The Champions Tour's new rookie class has major champions, multiple-event winners on the PGA TOUR and a number of colorful personalities sure to spice things up on the 50-and-over Tour. Here's a look at those who will either play full rookie seasons or make their debuts during the year after they turn 50.
PAUL AZINGER
• A 12-time winner on the PGA TOUR, including the 1993 PGA Championship, one of three wins he posted that season.
• Also won three events in 1987 and was the PGA and Golf World Player of the Year that season.
• A five-time Ryder Cup player, he captained the United States team to victory at the 2008 matches at Valhalla ... also a member of the 2000 United States Presidents Cup team.
• Named the PGA TOUR's Comeback Player of the Year in 2000.
IAN BAKER-FINCH
• Won the 1991 British Open at Royal Birkdale and the 1989 Southwestern Bell Colonial.
• Owns 14 other victories around the world, including the 1993 Australian PGA Championship.
• Served as a Captain's Assistant to Gary Player for the International Team in the 2003, 2005 and 2007 Presidents Cup and also served in that capacity to Peter Thomson in 1996.
• Currently a broadcaster with CBS Sports.
MARK BROOKS
• Owns seven PGA TOUR victories, including the 1996 PGA Championship.
• Enjoyed his best year in 1996 when he won three times and finished third on the money list.
• Runner-up to Retief Goosen at the 2001 U.S. Open at Southern Hills.
• College star at the University of Texas where he was a three-time All-American.
TOM BYRUM
• Spent over 20 years on the PGA TOUR and won the 1989 Kemper Open.
• His older brother, Curt, is a member of the Golf Channel's broadcast team.
JIM CARTER
• Made over 400 starts in his PGA TOUR career and his lone victory came at the 2000 Touchstone Energy Tucson Open.
• Also won the Nationwide Tour's 1997 Inland Empire Open.
• College star at Arizona State where he twice won All-American honors.
ROGER CHAPMAN
• Finished sixth at the 2010 Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament.
• Competed for 20-plus years on the European Tour with over 600 starts and two victories.
• Has competed the last two seasons on the European Senior Tour, nearly winning Rookie of the Year honors in 2009.
• Won the 1979 British Amateur.
BRAD FAXON
• An eight-time winner on the PGA TOUR, including a pair of victories in 1992.
• Twice finished in the top 10 on the PGA TOUR money list (1992, 1996).
• Renowned for his putting, he led the PGA TOUR three times in that category.
• College star at Furman and the winner of numerous amateur titles, including a pair of New England Amateur Championships.
JIM GALLAGHER JR.
• He was a five-time winner on the PGA TOUR with two wins each in 1993 and 1995.
• Twice earned over $1 million in a season on the PGA TOUR.
• Member of the 1993 United States Ryder Cup team as well as the 1994 Presidents Cup squad.
• Comes from a golfing family ... sister (Jackie), brother (Jeff) and wife (Cissye) played professionally and his father (Jim) is a PGA professional.
ERNIE GONZALEZ
• Won the 1986 Pensacola Open.
• Is one of only nine left-handers to win on the PGA Tour (as of January, 2011).
• Played the PGA TOUR full-time from 1985-89 and in occasional events from 1990-2010.
JOHN HUSTON
• He won seven times on the PGA TOUR and two of those wins came during the 1998 season.
• When he won the 1998 United Airlines Hawaiian Open, he broke the PGA TOUR scoring record in relation to par with his 72-hole total of 28-under-par 260 and posted a seven-stroke win over Tom Watson.
• Still holds the course record at Muirfield Village GC with a 61 in 1996.
STEVE LOWERY
• Made nearly 600 starts on the PGA TOUR and was a three-time winner.
• Most recent win came in 2008 when he defeated Vijay Singh in a playoff to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
• Also won the 1992 Tulsa Open on the Nationwide Tour.
• College star at the University of Alabama where he was a two-time SEC Player of the Year.
BOB LOHR
• Spent nearly a dozen years on the PGA Tour (1985-96) as a full-time player.
• Won the 1988 Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic when he birdied the fifth extra hole to defeat Chip Beck.
FRANKIE MINOZA
• Finished tied for second at the 2010 Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament.
• He won multiple titles in Asia and owns victories on the Asian Tour as well as the Japan Golf Tour.
• Has won titles in more than a half dozen countries, including Japan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea as well as his native Philippines.
• Was once ranked in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings.
MARK MOULAND
• Finished in a tie for 8th place at the 2010 Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament.
• Long-time competitor on the European Tour with more than 500 career starts on that circuit and two victories.
• Had an impressive amateur career, winning the British Boys Championship in 1976 at age 15 years, four months, making him the youngest winner ever.
STEVE PATE
• Was a six-time winner on the PGA TOUR, including two events in 1998.
• Also won the 2010 Nationwide Tour's Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open.
• Two-time United States Ryder Cup performer (1991, 1999).
• Played collegiately at UCLA where two of his teammates were Corey Pavin and Jay Delsing.
CHRIS PERRY
• The PGA TOUR veteran has been slowed in recent years by various injuries.
• Included in his nearly 500 career starts was a title at the 1998 B.C. Open.
• College star at Ohio State where he won All-America honors three times.
• Father, Jim, was a long-time major league star and the 1970 Cy Young Award winner.
KENNY PERRY
• A long-time standout on the PGA Tour, he has won 14 career titles, including three each in 2003 and 2008.
• Earned over $4 million in both 2008 and 2009 and finished fifth on the money list both years.
• A three-time winner of the Memorial Tournament.
• Played on two United States Ryder Cup teams (2004, 2008) as well as four Presidents Cup teams (1996, 2003, 2005 and 2009).
LEE RINKER
• Finished T2 at the 2010 Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament.
• Played the PGA TOUR in 1984 as well as from 1995-99 and also competed on the Nationwide Tour.
• College teammate of Steve Lowery at Alabama and an All-American there.
• Brother, Larry, played the PGA TOUR and sister, Laurie, played on the LPGA Tour.
GREG TWIGGS
• Played the PGA TOUR full-time from 1985-95 with lone win coming at the 1989 Shearson Lehman Hutton Open.
• Also won the 1996 Cleveland Open on the Nationwide Tour.
WILLIE WOOD
• Made nearly 500 starts in his PGA TOUR.
• Won the 1996 Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic.
• A college star at Oklahoma State, he played in the 1982 Masters as an amateur.
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