By Lauren Deason
PGATOUR.com Staff

The Champions Tour makes the turn and begins play on the back stretch of the season this week, having finished an entertaining and exciting first half.

The front end of tournaments produced first-time winners like John Harris, who claimed his one and only professional title at the Commerce Bank Championship. The tournamentef="../tournaments/s554.html">Commerce Bank Championship. The tournaments gave us inexplicable shots, like Fuzzy Zoeller's ace that seemingly defied the laws of nature as the ball nestled itself in the rough for nearly 10 seconds before deciding to roll onto the green and into the hole. Perhaps the biggest story of all, though, was the emergence and utter dominance of two players: Loren Roberts and Jay Haas.

Between the two of them, Roberts and Haas have won nearly half of the first 15 events. The beginning of the year belonged to Roberts, as the "Boss of the Moss" used his putting prowess to become the first Champions Tour player to win the opening three events of the season. Roberts sat atop the money list until the Commerce Bank Championship, when Haas took over thanks to his current performance. Like Roberts, Haas won three consecutive tournaments, including the Senior PGA Championship, the first major of 2006.

PLAYER OF THE FIRST HALF

Jay Haas Based on Roberts' and Haas' years so far, the honor of "top player in the first half" is difficult to bestow. Roberts' worst finish of the year was 10th place, meaning he placed in the top 10 in all 10 tournaments he entered and finished in the top 5 in an astounding seven of them. Haas, who divided his time between the Champions Tour and PGA TOUR, has ranked in the top 10 in six tournaments. Because he took the first major of the season and leads the Charles Schwab Cup race, a season-long competition where top-10 finishers earn points and the winner receives a $1 million annuity, the title of top player just barely goes to Haas.

ROOKIE OF THE FIRST HALF

Scott Simpson At the end of last year, Haas was awarded Rookie of the Year honors on the Champions Tour. This year, the top rookie to date is Scott Simpson, who made his debut last year but did not play in enough events to be classified as a rookie in 2005. Simpson finished in second at the Turtle Bay Championship and the Puerto Vallarta Golf Classic, tied for third at The Boeing Championship at Sandestin and tied for seventh at the Commerce Bank Championship. His nine top-20 finishes are enough to make him the rookie of the first half.

FAVORITE MOMENT

Jerry Pate This year has already produced some special moments, from the Zoeller hole-in-one to three first-time winners. However, it's the return of Jerry Pate that was the best moment of the first half. It wasn't necessarily how Pate won his first event in nearly 24 years, though his birdie on the final hole was exciting enough. It was Pate's celebration of his win that garnered favorite moment recognition, as he imitated his jump into a lake after he won the 1982 Tournament Players Championship by jumping into a pond near the 18th hole when he won the 2006 Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am.

BIGGEST SURPRISE
	Brad Bryant Pate's first victory in almost 24 years was unexpected, but the biggest surprise of the year has got to be Brad Bryant. Before the year, he had not won on the Champions Tour but quickly changed that with two wins and eight top-20 finishes. With only one less victory than Roberts and Haas, Bryant is third on both the Charles Schwab Cup points list and the money list for 2006.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
	Hale Irwin By far the most difficult category to award. The words Hale Irwin and disappointment should hardly be mentioned in the same sentence, considering his past record on the Champions Tour. The ageless Irwin has 44 previous victories and has gone a record 11 straight seasons with multiple victories, so his lack of wins this year is surprising and likely disappointing for him.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR IN THE SECOND HALF
1. Four of the five majors on Tour have yet to be played. Players receive twice the points in these toward the Charles Schwab Cup race, so look for some significant changes in rankings before the end of the season.

2. Roberts vs. Haas. The two face off this week at the Greater Kansas City Golf Classic for the first time since late May and will continue to compete head-to-head for the remainder of the season. At this point, Haas has a 252-point lead in Charles Schwab Cup points, but expect to see the two battle for the top position.

3. Perhaps the biggest thing to look for is the emergence of Fred Funk. He turned 50 two weeks ago and will make his debut at the U.S. Senior Open. Funk, who just last year won THE PLAYERS Championship on the PGA TOUR, is excited about joining the Champions Tour but doesn't want expectations to be too high. "Some guys have said they expect me to win every tournament," Funk said. "It's a little overboard on some of those predictions." Still, Funk is expected to play well when he joins the Tour.