Notes: A hockey bet for two events, and a Fuzzy Indy car

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Jun. 1, 2011
By Champions Tour staff

The Champions Tour heads to Des Moines, Iowa, for the Principal Charity Classic at Glen Oaks CC, May 30-June 5. The purse is $1.725 million and the winner will receive $258,750 and 259 Charles Schwab Cup points. Last year, Nick Price captured his second win of the season with a four-stroke victory over Tommy Armour III.

LAST WEEK

• Ten years and two days after winning his first Senior PGA Championship, Tom Watson added a second Senior PGA Championship to his resume when he made a three-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to defeat David Eger and claim the 2011 title.

• Watson became the third-oldest winner in Champions Tour history at 61 years, eight months, 25 days. He is also the oldest winner of a major championship on the Champions Tour since the Tour began in 1980. Hale Irwin previously held that distinction when he won the 2004 Senior PGA Championship, also at Valhalla GC, at age 59 years, 11 months, 28 days.

• Watson earned $360,000 with the Senior PGA victory as well as 720 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race. With double points being awarded, Watson moves into second place in the race with 850 points. Tom Lehman leads with 1,432 points. Nick Price is third with 822 points.

• Irwin's fourth-place finish at the Senior PGA was the 202nd top-10 finish of his Champions Tour career, one fewer than the all-time leader Bob Charles.

• Sunday's playoff at the Senior PGA Championship at Valhalla GC was the fourth consecutive one on the Champions Tour this year. The last time there were four straight playoffs was in 2005, the first of those was at the Senior PGA Championship at Laurel Valley GC when Mike Reid defeated Dana Quigley and Jerry Pate.

Steve Pate finished T8 in his Champions Tour debut.

Mark Mouland, who made 557 European Tour starts in a career spanning more than 20 years, made his Champions Tour debut at the Senior PGA Championship after turning 50 last month and finished tied for 22nd. Mouland was T8 at the 2010 Champions Tour Qualifying Tournament to earn conditional status.

• The Administaff Small Business Classic has been renamed the Insperity Championship, tournament officials announced last week. This change reflects the title sponsor's new corporate identity, which became effective on March 3, 2011. The Insperity Championship presented by UnitedHealthcare will be held at The Woodlands Country Club Tournament Course on October 3-9 this year.

• A friendly bet was made between two Champions Tour events last week. If the Binghamton Senators win the Calder Cup, awarded annually to the playoff champion of the American Hockey League, the Insperity Championship will donate $2,500 to the Binghamton Senators' charity of choice. If the Houston Aeros win, the Dick's Sporting Goods Open will donate $2,500 to the Houston Aeros' charity of choice. Additionally, if the Binghamton Senators win, the Insperity Championship will send 25 lbs. of Rudy's Barbeque Brisket for the Dick's Sporting Goods Open staff to enjoy. If Houston wins, the Dick's Sporting Goods Open will send 25 lbs. of Lupo's Spiedies to the Texas staff. Also, if the Binghamton Senators clinch the Calder Cup at home, the ticket stub from that game will be good for admission to the final round of the Dick's Sporting Goods Open on June 26.

• The NASCAR Hall of Fame, which opened in Charlotte, N.C., last year, inducted five new members last week, doubling the total number of inductees. One of the five enshrined last week included Ned Jarrett, who also happens to be the Honorary Chairman of the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn.

• Tom Pernice Jr. was the only Champions Tour professional to attempt International Final Qualifying for the British Open at Gleneagles CC in Plano, Texas, last week. Pernice shot even-par 70 (the 36-hole event was reduced to 18 holes due to inclement weather) and failed to advance.

• Former PGA TOUR Commissioner Deane Beman was awarded the Byron Nelson prize, established in 2007 to annually honor someone in golf who exemplifies Nelson's ideals of giving back to the community. Beman, who became PGA Tour commissioner in 1974 and later played 69 events on the Champions Tour, received a $100,000 charitable donation from the Salesmanship Club last week and said it would go to the Duval Home for individuals with developmental disabilities in Deland, Fla.

• The winner of the first leg of the Majors Challenge from the Regions Tradition was Michael Collier, 54, from Stillwater, Okla., with a winning score of 2400. He receives a prize package of Nike golf equipment. The Majors Challenge, part of the Tour's 2011 "Come to Play" social media initiative, allows fans to compete for prizes by answering a series of situational questions that will occur during this year's Champions Tour major championships. Besides the Regions Tradition and the Senior PGA Championship, the remaining legs of the Majors Challenge will be the Senior Open Championship (Walton Heath Golf Club; London), U.S. Senior Open Championship (Inverness Club) and the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship (Westchester Country Club). For more info or to sign up and play, visit www.facebook.com/championstour or www.championstourchallenge.com.

COMING UP

• The Principal Charity Classic will see two new-comers to the Champions Tour this week. John Huston turns 50 on June 1 and will make his debut at Glen Oaks CC. Huston won seven times on the PGA TOUR after joining the PGA TOUR in 1988. Damon Green, who caddies for Zach Johnson on the PGA TOUR, will make his first start on the Champions Tour after having finished T17 at last fall's National Qualifying Tournament. Green has also caddied for Scott Hoch who will make his first appearance in the Principal Charity Classic since 2008.

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• World Golf Hall of Fame member and 2010 Principal Charity Classic winner Nick Price is seeking to join Jay Haas (2007, 2008) as the second player in tournament history to successfully defend at the Principal Charity Classic.

• This year's Principal Charity Classic field will have four professionals who also won the Memorial at Muirfield Village near Columbus, Ohio, this week's PGA TOUR stop. Among the former Memorial champions teeing it up this year at The Principal Charity Classic are: Keith Fergus (1981), Hal Sutton (1986), Don Pooley (1987) and Bob Tway (1989).

• Fans who wear their team colors on Thursday during this week's Principal Charity Classic will receive free admission to the tournament that day.

• Thanks to a new partnership with MidAmerican Energy Company and Waste Management, The Principal Charity Classic will be a carbon neutral event. The partnership's 'Shoot for Zero' initiative employs several tactics, including electric golf carts and solar-powered skybox televisions to reduce the tournament's environmental impact.

• Last year, The Principal Charity Classic received the "Players Award", with the players themselves ranking it as the No. 1 stop for Champions Tour professionals.

• Michael J. Fox and Steven Weber will play in the Principal Charity Classic pro-am on Wednesday. Both actors will make of their second appearance at The Principal Charity Classic. Fox, whose primary focus is The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, played in the 2009 pro-am, while Weber, who starred in the television comedy "Wings", played last year. Weber's voice has also featured in Principal's television commercials for the last six years.

NUMBERS

24,000,000 -- The number of dollars Tom Watson eclipsed in all time earnings with his Senior PGA win ($24,008,243).

DID YOU KNOW?

Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka, established by Champions Tour professional Fuzzy Zoeller, was the primary sponsor of Buddy Rice's No. 44 entry in the 100th Anniversary of the Indianapolis 500. Rice finished 18th in last Sunday's race.

ON THIS DATE

6/2/00 -- Dave Eichelberger makes his 1,000th combined start (PGA TOUR/Champions Tour) when he competes at the BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland.

6/5/83 -- Fred Couples wins the Kemper Open in a playoff for the first of his 15 PGA TOUR titles. Despite carding a final-round 77 at Congressional CC, Couples manages to find himself in a playoff with Gil Morgan, Barry Jaeckel, Tze-Chung Chen and third-round co-leader Scott Simpson. He wins with a birdie on the second extra hole.

QUOTES TO NOTE

"I'm thinking to myself I'm saying, 'how do I do this?'" -- Tom Watson comments on being able to win into his 60s.

"There's not a lot of entourages out here." -- Champions Tour rookie Mark Brooks comments on the biggest difference he sees between the PGA TOUR and the Champions Tour.

"I've probably exceeded a little bit what I thought I was going to do on the Champions Tour." -- Loren Roberts, who won eight times on the PGA TOUR and posted his 12th Champions Tour victory at the 2010 Dick's Sporting Goods Open, sums up his Champions Tour career.

"Down the road it may be more difficult, but hopefully I'll be in a cart by then on the Senior TOUR." -- Tiger Woods addresses the concerns regarding his injured left knee on which he has had four surgeries.

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