Notes: Gilder to extend consecutive-majors mark

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Bob Gilder will make his 53rd consecutive major start at the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship.

The Champions Tour heads to Westchester CC in Harrison, N.Y., for the fifth and final major championship of the season, the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, Aug. 15-21. The purse is $2.7 million and the winner will receive $405,000 and 810 Charles Schwab Cup points. Last year, Mark O'Meara defeated Michael Allen on the first extra playoff hole at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm to claim his first individual Champions Tour title.

LAST WEEK

• Three Champions Tour professionals teed it up at last week's PGA Championship. Mark Brooks (73-76), the 1996 PGA champion, missed the cut along with two-time PGA champion Larry Nelson (78-75), who won the 1981 PGA at Atlanta Athletic Club and Jerry Pate (77-79), who won the 1976 U.S. Open at the same venue.

• The Champions Tour's Pick 'Em Challenge returns for its second year after being launched originally in August 2010. The Pick 'Em Challenge will take place over the course of six Champions Tour tournaments, beginning at this week's Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship (Aug. 18-21) and concluding with the AT&T Championship (Oct. 14-16). Fans can visit http://www.championstourchallenge.com/ to enter the contest.

• Tom Watson has played a huge role in the Clubs for Kids and The First Tee programs in his hometown of Kansas City, Mo. Last week, Watson helped support the Boys and Girls Club of Benton Harbor and The First Tee of Benton Harbor by conducting a clinic as part of a golf event at The Golf Club of Harbor Shores. All proceeds from the event will benefit the two programs. Watson, who won this year's Senior PGA Championship, will be defending that title next year when The Golf Club of Harbor Shores hosts the event.

• The Orion Challenge at Westward Ho CC in South Dakota last week raised an estimated $300,000 for the Children's Home Society. The event, hosted by brothers Tom and Curt Byrum, also featured fellow Champions Tour professionals Graham Marsh, Bruce Fleisher, David Peoples, Morris Hatalsky, Peter Senior and Russ Cochran.

CHARLES SCHWAB CUP

• The Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, with double Charles Schwab Cup points available, figures to have a significant impact on the current Charles Schwab Cup race. The winner will receive 810 points. At the start of July, Tom Lehman enjoyed a 480-point lead over Nick Price. Now, Lehman has four players within 500 points of his 1,661 total.

• The top-30 players on the 2011 Champions Tour money list at the conclusion of the AT&T Championship (Oct. 16) will advance to the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, where the Charles Schwab Cup has been decided all but once (2002) in its 10-year history. Lehman currently leads the money list with $1,474,609 and Tom Pernice, Jr. is No. 30 with $417,575. Last year's Charles Schwab Cup winner, Bernhard Langer, is 29th with $417,761.

COMING UP

• The Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship is the fourth-oldest event on the Champions Tour, being contested for the 29th consecutive season this year. Only the Senior PGA Championship (72 years), Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (34 years) and the U.S. Senior Open (32 years) are older.

• Bob Gilder will make his 53rd consecutive start in a senior major at this week's Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, extending his all-time record for consecutive starts in majors on the Champions Tour. Gilder has never missed playing in a major championship as a member of the Champions Tour.

• Westchester Country Club, site of the 2011 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, hosted the PGA TOUR for 41 years from 1967 until 2007.

• With 10 top-10 finishes in 15 appearances, including a win in 1999, Hale Irwin has earned more money at the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship than any other player in tournament history -- $1,544,435. Irwin won the 1990 Buick Classic at Westchester and finished among the top 10 five times in 17 appearances at Westchester.

• Mark O'Meara will attempt to become the second player in event history to repeat as Constellation Energy Senior Players champion. Arnold Palmer was the first player with consecutive Senior Players in 1984-85.

• No player has ever won the Senior British Open and Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship in the same season. Russ Cochran is the 2011 Senior British Open champion.

• Golf Channel's "Champions Tour Mid-Season Special" will air from 5-6 p.m. ET on Tuesday (Aug. 16) and offer highlights from the first 17 events, a preview of the final major of the season and the road to the 2011 Charles Schwab Cup.

NUMBERS

900 -- The total number of times that players scheduled to compete in the 2011 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship played in PGA TOUR events at Westchester CC (41 years from 1967-2007).

6 -- The number of players scheduled to compete in the 2011 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship who have never competed in a PGA TOUR event at Westchester CC. This list includes David Eger, Mike Goodes, Chien Soon Lu, James Mason, Jim Rutledge and Rod Spittle.

11 -- The number of players scheduled to compete in the 2011 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship who have competed more than 20 times in PGA TOUR events hosted at Westchester CC. This list includes Jay Haas (competed at Westchester 27 times), Bob Tway (23), Tom Kite (23), Bob Gilder (22), Ben Crenshaw (22), Joey Sindelar (22), Brad Faxon (22), Loren Roberts (21), Fred Couples (20), Don Pooley (20) and Craig Stadler (20).

6 -- The number of current Champions Tour players who are former champions of PGA TOUR events staged at Westchester Country Club. This list includes Curtis Strange (1980), Bob Gilder(1982), Scott Simpson (1984), Bob Tway (1986), Hale Irwin (1990) and David Frost (1992.) All but Strange are scheduled to compete in the 2011 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Bob Gilder is remembered for one of the most famous shots in golf, a double-eagle two on the 509-yard 18th hole in the third round of the 1982 Westchester Classic. The 18th hole will play at 532 yards in the 2011 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship.

ON THIS DATE

8/16/03 -- Jim Thorpe ties a Champions Tour record when he shoots a 10-under-par 60 in the second round of the Long Island Classic. (Thorpe remains one of seven players to have shot 60 in Champions Tour history, most recently Nick Priceat this year's Toshiba Classic).

8/19/84 -- Lee Trevino wins the PGA Championship at Shoal Creek CC in Birmingham. (It would be the last of 29 career TOUR titles for Trevino, who would go on to win 29 Champions Tour titles).

QUOTES TO NOTE

"He's still very capable. He's still a threat to win golf tournaments." -- Jay Haas comments on 66-year-old Hale Irwin who has shot his age twice in his last two starts.

"Stevie Williams thought it was the greatest golfing accomplishment of the year. That's pretty good coming from him. But caddying is my job, playing is a thing I do on the side." -- Zach Johnson's caddie and part-time Champions Tour new-comer Damon Green shares the reaction he got from Williams, his fellow TOUR caddie, after finishing T13 at the recent U.S. Senior Open.

"The young guys coming out have been really good for the game. Tiger certainly does not make or break it." -- Larry Nelson shares his opinion on the state of the PGA TOUR.

"Steve Stricker shot my age." -- 63-year-old Larry Nelson comments on the Atlanta Athletic Club after the opening round at last week's PGA Championship compared to 30 years ago when he won the same championship at the same venue.

"I haven't felt like this in 10 years, health-wise." -- Fred Couples explains how he feels after a recent trip to Germany for treatment on his ailing back.