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Fact Sheet
Name
PGA TOUR ’s Champions Tour (first reference)
Headquarters
112 PGA TOUR Boulevard, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 32082, Phone: 904-285-3700
Commissioner
Timothy W. Finchem (since June 1, 1994)
President
Mike Stevens (since June 1, 2008)
Web Site
PGATOUR.COM
Facebook
Facebook.com/Champions Tour
Twitter
@ChampionsTour
About the Champions Tour
Collectively, the Champions Tour has the most recognizable and accomplished players in the game with many
of its 32 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame competing regularly in its events and numerous other major
championship winners among its members. The Champions Tour is a membership organization of professional
golfers age 50 and older. Conceived in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, it started with just four events and purses
totaling $475,000. Points earned in official Charles Schwab Cup events in 2013 determined Kenny Perry as the
Charles Schwab Cup champion, the season-long competition designed to recognize the Champions Tour’s
leading player. The Champions Tour's primary purpose is to provide financial opportunities for its players,
entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back,
protect the integrity of the game and generate significant charitable and economic impact in communities in
which it plays. In 2013, tournaments on all five Tours (PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, Web.com Tour, PGA
TOUR Latinoamerica, PGA TOUR Canada) generated more than $130 million for local charitable organizations.
In 2014, the TOUR’s all-time total of charitable contributions will surpass $2 billion. The Commissioner of the
PGA TOUR is Tim Finchem. Mike Stevens is President of the Champions Tour. The PGA TOUR’s website is
pgatour.com, the No. 1 site in golf, and the organization is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. Follow the
Champions Tour at facebook.com/ChampionsTour and on Twitter @ChampionsTour.
History
1980 – 2013. The Tour enters its 35th season in 2014.
Charity
The Champions Tour and its tournaments generate significant sums of money for charity. In 2013, tournaments
on all five Tours (PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, Web.com Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, PGA TOUR
Canada) generated more than $130 million for local charitable organizations. In 2014, the TOUR’s all-time total
of charitable contributions will surpass $2 billion. The Champions Tour’s charitable mission is an integral
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component of its value proposition and charitable donations have a significant impact in the communities
served by Champions Tour events.
2014 Schedule
The official 2014 season will begin on the Big Island of Hawaii at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at
Hualalai (Jan. 13-19), where the Champions Tour’s version of the Tournament of Champions will feature recent
tournament champions and other notable players. The first full-field event, the Allianz Championship, will be
played in Boca Raton, Fla. the week of Feb. 3-9.
Notable changes for the 2014 schedule include the introduction of the Tour’s first Invitational format. The
Insperity Championship will become the Insperity Invitational (Apr. 28 - May 4) and will have a purse increase
from $1.8 million to $2 million. Also, the Montreal Championship will move further north in Canada, to Quebec
City, and now be known as the Quebec City Championship (Sept. 1-7). The event will be played at La Tempete
Golf Club.
The first major of the 2014 season, the Regions Tradition (May 12-18) held annually at Shoal Creek, returns to
May after being played in June the past two years.
Kenny Perry, the 2013 Champions Tour Player of the Year, will return to Fox Chapel Golf Club to defend his first
major championship title when the club hosts the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship for a third
consecutive year.
Several milestones were achieved during the Champions Tour's 2013 season. A record five tournaments
surpassed $1 million in charitable donations in a season, led by the Shaw Charity Classic with $2.27 million
distributed to youth-related charities throughout Calgary in the event’s inaugural year. The Champions Tour also
crowned its 1,000th winner, Bart Bryant, at the DICK’S Sporting Goods Open and played its 1,000th event at the
Greater Hickory Kia Classic at Rock Barn. Bryant was one of five rookies to win in 2013, matching the all-time
Champions Tour record for the number of rookie winners in a season. Rocco Mediate, who posted two victories,
was voted Champions Tour Rookie of the Year, while Bernhard Langer, the leading money winner, and Fred
Couples, with a 68.64 scoring average, also claimed year-end awards.
The 2014 season will conclude with the Charles Schwab Cup Championship (Oct. 27-2) which returns to the
Cochise Course at Desert Mountain Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. where it was contested in 2012.
The Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament-Final Stage (Nov. 17-23) will be conducted at Orange
County National in Orlando, Fla. at the conclusion of the 2014 season.
Major Championships (5)
The 2014 Champions Tour’s major championships begin with the Regions Tradition at Shoal Creek (May 1218) in Birmingham, Ala. immediately followed by the Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid (May
19-25) at The Golf Club at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich. One month later, the Constellation SENIOR
PLAYERS Championship (June 23-29) returns to Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh, Pa. The U.S. Senior
Open (July 7-13) is set for Oak Tree National in Edmond, Okla. The Senior Open Championship Presented by
Rolex (July 21-27) heads to Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Mid Glamorgan, Wales, for the first time in
Champions Tour history. The 2013 major championship winners are;
Senior PGA Championship, Kohki Idoki
Regions Tradition, David Frost
Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship, Kenny Perry
U.S. Senior Open, Kenny Perry
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Senior Open Championship, Mark Wiebe
Charles Schwab Cup
The Charles Schwab Cup, now in its 14th season, designed to recognize the Champions Tour’s leading player,
rewards both top finishes and week-in/week-out consistency in all official events. Players receive points for top10 finishes and ties based on each week’s money distribution, with $1,000 earned being the equivalent of one
Charles Schwab Cup point. Double points will again be awarded at the five major championships. Double points
will also be awarded to the entire 30-player field at the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The
season-long points competition kicks off in Hawaii at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai (Jan. 1319). The Road to the Charles Schwab Cup culminates at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship (Oct. 27-Nov.
2) in Scottsdale, Ariz. at Desert Mountain Club (Cochise Course), with $2.1 million in payouts awarded to the
season’s top five leading performers. The winner receives $1 million. Kenny Perry won his first Charles Schwab
Cup in 2013.
Size of Field
In 2014, the field size for Champions Tour events will again be 81 players, except at those tournaments that
have specific eligibility criteria.
Membership
Champions Tour members hail from around the globe. In 2014, 22 international players will have fully exempt
status on the Champions Tour. Sixteen countries besides the United States are represented; they include
Argentina, Australia, Canada, England, Fiji, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Scotland, South
Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, Wales and Zimbabwe.
World Golf Hall of Fame Members
Fred Couples and Colin Montgomerie, inducted in 2013, are the most recent Champions Tour members to be
inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, bringing the total number of Champions Tour members in the Hall to
32, some of whom continue to be active on the Champions Tour: Isao Aoki, Seve Ballesteros, Deane Beman,
Tommy Bolt, Julius Boros, Jack Burke, Jr., Billy Casper, Bob Charles, Ben Crenshaw, Roberto De
Vicenzo, Nick Faldo, Raymond Floyd, Doug Ford, Hubert Green, Hale Irwin, Tony Jacklin, Tom Kite,
Bernhard Langer, Gene Littler, Sandy Lyle, Johnny Miller, Larry Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman,
Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Nick Price, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Paul Runyan, Charlie Sifford, Sam Snead,
Curtis Strange, Peter Thomson, Lee Trevino, Lanny Wadkins and Tom Watson.
Fan Features
The Champions Tour’s Fan Features are designed to give the Tour a distinct identity, complementing the high
level of skill displayed by its members. The Champions Tour strives to be the most approachable, accessible
and fan-friendly arena in all of sports. The program has had significant impact as evidenced by the positive
feedback received weekly from tournament organizers, sponsors and fans, with players going out of their way
to support the initiatives. Fan Features include live television interviews during play, gallery in the fairway,
honorary observers walking inside the ropes, caddie for a day, behind-the-scenes tours, junior clinics, a gameimprovement platform, and more.
TV
Each event will be televised nationally in the United States, with most receiving complete coverage on Golf
Channel, the Tour’s exclusive cable-television partner that reaches some 84 million homes in the United States.
Three events will have network coverage on the weekend (NBC: Senior PGA Championship, Senior U.S. Open;
CBS: ESPN: Senior Open Championship).
International TV
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Champions Tour telecasts are distributed internationally in Canada, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia,
Australasia, and Latin America through various distribution partners. The events air live, tape-delayed or in a
highlights-package format in excess of 205 countries and territories, reaching more than 145 million
households.
Awards
The Champions Tour presents the following awards annually:
• Charles Schwab Cup
• Champions Tour Player of the Year/Jack Nicklaus Award
• Champions Tour Rookie of the Year
• Arnold Palmer Award (leading money winner)
• Byron Nelson Award (scoring leader)
• CTTA “Bruno” Award (contributions to the Champions Tour)
• Champions Tour Charity of the Year
• Champions Tour Volunteer of the Year
The Champions Tour also recognizes its Player of the Month (January through November).
“Rookies”
For players to become eligible to compete in Champions Tour events they must attain age 50 on or before the
day of their first tournament ‘obligation’, such as the Wednesday pro-am, the date of pre-qualifying or the date
of event qualifying. If a player plays less than six tournaments in his first season of eligibility he is considered a
rookie the following season.
Newcomers for 2013 with two or more PGA TOUR wins include Vijay Singh ( eligible 2/22/13), Jose Coceres
(08/14/13), Billy Andrade (01/25/14), Woody Austin (01/27/14), Jeff Maggert (02/20/14), Joe Durant
(04/07/14), Davis Love III (04/13/14), Stephen Ames (04/28/14), Paul Goydos (06/20/14), *Kevin Sutherland
(07/14/14), Scott Verplank (07/09/14), and Lee Janzen (08/28/14). *Sutherland has one PGA TOUR win but is
eligible via career money earnings.
Those rookies who successfully advanced through the Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament to gain
membership for 2014 include Wes Short, Jr., who was medalist, Scott Dunlap, who earned the No. 4 card,
Greg Bruckner (No. 6), Doug Garwood (No. 8), and Jeff Coston (No. 11).
Also, Miguel Angel Jimenez (01/05/14) is a prominent professional who is still active on the European Tour.
Additional “rookie” prospects becoming eligible in the near future include:
2015
Skip Kendall (September 9, 2014), Nolan Henke (November 25, 2014), Jesper Parnevik (March 7), Carlos
Franco (May 24), Scott McCarron (July 10), Brandt Jobe (August 1), J.P. Hayes (August 2), Todd Hamilton
(October 18), Mike Springer (November 3), Glen Day (October 16).
2016
Craig Parry (January 12), Bob Estes (February 2), Jose Maria Olazabal (February 5), John Daly (April 28),
Michael Bradley (July 17), Billy Mayfair (August 6).
2017
Jerry Kelly (November 23, 2016), David Toms (January 4), Steve Stricker (February 23) and Steve Flesch
(May 23).
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Champions Tour Communications Contacts
Ty Votaw, Executive Vice President, Communications and International Affairs
904-280-4774
James Cramer, Vice President, Communications
904-273-3293
Mark Williams, Director, Communications
904-280-5058
Dave Senko, Media Official
904-273-3252
Phil Stambaugh, Media Official
904-273-3516
Maureen Radzavicz, Communications Manager
904-273-3301
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