WEST HAWAII TODAY / JANUARY 2002
Tom Kite, MasterCard defending champion.
Even though Ernie Els captured the imagination of golf fans throughout the island chain the past few weeks, he would be hard-pressed to match what the old guys have conjured up through the years. Kite is flying high
Tom Kite will have to beat some legends
The ones to watch
to successfully defend his MasterCard
Championship starting Friday
Champions Tour information
Trevino bags Skins Game title
By Paul Arnett
parnett@starbulletin.comThe senior circuit tees off Friday at the $1.5 million MasterCard Championship on the Big Island with the likes of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and Hale Irwin among the 38 golfers in the elite field.
All four took part in the ConAgra Foods Champions Skins Game yesterday on Maui and are ready to begin the Champions Tour campaign in style. Of that famous foursome, Irwin probably has the best chance to knock off defending champion Tom Kite at the Nicklaus-designed Hualalai Golf Club course.
Last year, the University of Texas graduate birdied seven of the final 14 holes to hold off John Jacobs by six shots to win the event that has been held in Hawaii since 1997. MasterCard International announced a week ago that it would remain the title sponsor through 2008.
"MasterCard has been a very strong partner of both the Senior PGA Tour
and the PGA Tour for a number of years, now," said PGA commissioner Tim Finchem. "We appreciate its continued support of the MasterCard Championship, which players thoroughly enjoy playing in each year. It's a wonderful tournament to launch our season."
The MasterCard Championship features winners from last year's senior tournaments. A sponsor exemption category was added in 2002 for members who have a minimum of 40 combined career wins on both tours, clearing the way for the likes of Palmer, Nicklaus and Trevino, who is making a record 11th MasterCard appearance, to play this weekend, even though none had a title last year.
That's not the case for Irwin, who will be making a record eighth straight appearance in the Champions Tour's event. His success in Hawaii over the years is well documented. He would like nothing better than to get off to a fast start this coming weekend.
"The MasterCard is a good indicator that you had a successful season," said Irwin, who won at Turtle Bay last fall. Irwin finished first in this 54-hole event in 1997. "If the winds come up, it's a very difficult course. I'm excited about the coming season."
Last year, Irwin became the first senior to win more than $3 million in a single season. He captured four tournaments in 2002 and gives no indication of slowing down at age 58. Nicklaus said earlier this week that Irwin is one of the best to ever play the 50-and-older tour. Palmer backed that theory.
"Well, Hale's ability speaks for itself," Palmer said. "Certainly, Hale has been the dominant player on the Champions Tour for a number of years and I don't see that changing this year."
Kite hasn't been too shabby himself since joining the senior circuit in 2000. He won three times and $1.6 million last year, equaling what he managed his first two tours of senior duty. Kite became the third wire-to-wire MasterCard winner in 2002, due in part to a course-record 63 he fashioned the first day. Kite also became only the fourth player to win the opening event on the Champions and PGA tours. The other three are Nicklaus, Don January and Al Geiberger.
Some 40 players were eligible to compete in the tournament that begins Friday and can be seen locally on the Golf Channel (3 to 5:30 p.m. each day). Two players, Don Pooley (left shoulder injury) and Raymond Floyd (family commitment) are the only two to sit this one out. Last year there were 33 golfers in the field.
There will be several new players eligible to compete on the Champions Tour this season. The first full-field event is the Royal Caribbean Classic in Florida with Jacobs as the defending champion. The new kids on the block for the coming season are Andy Bean, Mark Lye, Ed Fiori, Gary Koch, Craig Stadler, D.A. Weibring and Jerry Pate.
Koch and Lye are eligible at the start of the year while the others become eligible during the campaign Bean (March), Fiori (April), Weibring (May), Stadler (June), and Pate (September).
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The Ones to Watch
ASSOCIATED PRESS / JANUARY 2002 Exempt status: Top 31 on 2002 Champions Tour Money List Hale Irwin
Turned professional: 1968
Joined tour: 1995
Senior Tour victories: 36
2002:Tournaments entered -- 27; in money -- 27; top 10 finishes -- 22
Short putts:Unusual two-sport participant at the University of Colorado: 1967 NCAA Champion in golf and two-time All-Big Eight selection as a football defensive back. ... Member of Colorado's "All-Century Football Team" and inducted into the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.
STAR-BULLETIN / OCTOBER 2001 Exempt status: Top 31 on 2002 Champions Tour Money List John Jacobs
Turned professional: 1967
Joined tour: 1995
Senior Tour victories: 4
2002: Tournaments entered -- 32; in money -- 31; top 10 finishes -- 10
Short putts: Selects Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt as the two people he would meet if he could meet anyone in history because their decisions changed our world. ... Biggest thrill in golf was making the Champions Tour.
ASSOCIATED PRESS / MAY 2001 Exempt status: Top 31 on 2002 Champions Tour Money List Tom Watson
Turned professional: 1971
Joined tour: 1999
Senior Tour victories: 4
2002: Tournaments entered -- 14; in money -- 14; top 10 finishes -- 10
Short putts: Big fan of hometown Kansas City Royals. ... In 1999, was made an honorary member of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, joining fellow Americans Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Pres. George H. Bush and the late Gene Sarazen.
ASSOCIATED PRESS / JULY 2002 Exempt status: Top 31 on 2002 Champions Tour Money List Hubert Green
Turned professional: 1969
Joined tour: 1996
Senior Tour victories: 4
2002: Tournaments entered -- 31; in money -- 31; top 10 finishes -- 7
Short putts: Started to play golf at age 5, but participated in all sports as a teenager. ... Active in golf course design. ... Worked with Fuzzy Zoeller on the TPC at Southwind, venue for the PGA TOUR's FedEx St. Jude Classic.
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The 2003 MasterCard Championship is a Champions Tour tournament competition among all official money-event champions of the 2001 and 2002 seasons, winners of the majors since 1998 and four professionals by invitation with 30 or more career victories. When: Jan. 31-Feb. 2
Where: Hualalai Golf Club, Ka'upulehu, Hawaii
Purse: $1.5 million; winner's share: $258,000
Defending champion: Tom KiteField: 38 players
Format: 54-hole stroke play, no cut
Tickets: $10 (any day), $25 (good through Sunday). Call 1-800-417-2770. Tickets will also be available at the gate.
Television: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Golf Channel, 3-5:30 p.m.
Charities: The Brantley Center, A Dream Come True, the Rotary Club of Kona Scholarship Fund, Kealakehe High School, Onizuka Space Center, Hulihee MuseumMasterCard Champions Tour
