Here’s a look at a few players to watch this week at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, which will be played on the club’s Black Course.
The field of the PGA Tour Champions’ Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO is filled with World Golf Hall of Famers, major champions, and those who have made their names on the Champions Tour.
Tiburón had 27 holes, then an additional nine were added, with the Black Course opening in 2002, four years after the Gold. The fourth nine joined with the old South Course to become the Black Course. The North and West became the Gold Course.
Brooks Koepka and defending champion Dustin Johnson were among the biggest stars who missed the cut at the 85th Masters.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson were among the biggest stars who missed the cut at the 85th playing of the Masters.
The 36-hole cut – only the top 50 and ties moved on – came at 3 over. That number also sent home Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Cantlay and 31 others from the field of 88.
Among those not heading home is Bryson DeChambeau, who rebounded from a 76 on Thursday to post a 67 on Friday. Also playing the weekend: Phil Mickelson, who made the cut on the number.
But many other big stars weren’t so lucky.
Here’s a closer look at some notables not playing this weekend.
Every Masters champion donates a club to Augusta National. Until recently, the 1992 champion Fred Couples didn’t know that was a thing.
Fred Couples missed the memo or wasn’t asked, he’s not sure which, to donate a club from his Masters Tournament victory to be displayed at Augusta National Golf Club.
Couples, who won the Masters in 1992, found out late last month that he was the only champion, starting with the inaugural tournament in 1934, not to donate a club.
“To be honest with you, just seven or eight days ago, 10 days ago, there was an email out all about Augusta, the great things about it, and one of the things was my name was mentioned as the only guy to not give a club to Augusta National,” Couples said on Wednesday after a nine-hole practice round. “I had no clue. No clue at all.”
He ended up finding the driver – a MacGregor Eye 85 which had a persimmon wood head – that he used that year.
He knows it was the driver because it was in a bin with a gold-plated Ping putter that the company gave to him after he won the 1992 Masters.
“I do know that was my driver because I had it in a very safe place,” Couples said.
He brought the club with him this week and showed it off on the driving range on Wednesday morning before giving it to Augusta National.
“There were a few guys laughing,” Couples said. “I think they were laughing because I think maybe they thought I won in 1970 instead of 1992.”
Couples said he continued to use that driver the rest of that season. He was asked if he – or anyone else – tried to hit the driver on the range.
“No, not me,” he said. “I haven’t hit a wooden driver since, but they all laughed at it. I mean, it’s the size of this microphone. Now my driver is this big and I can barely hit it.”
He said he started hitting a metal-headed driver in 1993.
“I lost a bet to a TaylorMade guy, so I used his driver, and then I continued to use a metal wood from then on,” Couples said.
En route to victory in 1992, Couples’ tee shot on the par-3 12th hole miraculously hung up on the bank instead of rolling back into Rae’s Creek. He chipped, saved par and ended up winning by two shots.
“The wedge that I chipped on 12, I don’t remember what kind that was,” Couples said. “I think it was an old Wilson, and I have that, but I didn’t want to bring that because I wasn’t sure. The driver is the one I used.”
Justin Thomas’ Masters practice round felt a little empty without Fred Couples and Tiger Woods.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Justin Thomas had sort of an empty feeling Tuesday during his practice round ahead of the 85th edition of the Masters.
One of his regular playing partners, 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples, opted to forgo the early tee time due to cold temps. Another of his playing partners, five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods, obviously had to miss the practice round as he continues to recover at his Florida home after suffering multiple, serious injuries to his right leg, ankle and foot in a single-car accident in February.
“I went over and saw (Woods) a couple times last week. We texted Friday morning and he said it’s kind of starting to set in. He’s bummed he’s not here playing practice rounds with us, and we hate it, too,” said Thomas, the reigning Players champion. “I’m very, very lucky that I somehow got thrown into that practice round group with Tiger and Freddie the last four years or whatever it is, especially around this place, I just follow them around like puppy dogs. Wherever they go, that’s where I go after it. If they hit chips from somewhere, I go hit chips from there.
“It’s no coincidence they have been so successful here, but they are also just great guys to be around. Definitely miss that part, but hopefully going to play with Freddie tomorrow. He didn’t feel like getting up in the early cold weather this morning, so I made sure to give him some grief. I don’t know if he would have bailed on me if Tiger was with me, but he did on me.”
Thomas, the 14-time PGA Tour winner and 2017 PGA champion, has frequently texted, phoned and visited Woods since he returned home in March to continue his recovery.
“I would say the thing for him is he’s unfortunately been through rehab processes before,” Thomas said. “I remember when I was out a month and a half for my wrists, I felt so down because I had never been out because of an injury, and I remember the people that reached out to me and checked on me, see how I was doing. I didn’t need a call every single day, but hey, how is it going, want to see how you’re feeling, it meant a lot because it’s easy to get down on yourself when you’re out for a little bit.
“That’s just what I want to do for (Tiger). Like, dude, I’ll do anything you want. If you need me to help out with your kids, I can do that. If you’re craving McDonald’s and you want me to bring it over, dude, I don’t care, I’m here for you and I’ll help out however I can.
“But he’s been good. It’s been good just to go hang out with him. We are fortunate with the basketball to just hang out and watch sports like we would any normal time. Yeah, it’s been good to see him and hang out with him.”
Fred Couples started his week at the Masters with a shout-out to his friend Tiger Woods.
As Fred Couples begins his 36th Masters, the 1992 green jacket winner got a little bit emotional. Couples’ week began with a Twitter tribute to Tiger Woods.
Couples posted a picture of his team on the ground at Augusta National along with this caption: “Thinking of my guy @tigerwoods during this week @themasters. I’ll miss you tonight at dinner. Not the same without you.”
Couples, of course, is referencing the Champions Dinner, one of the notable traditions during Masters week that brings all former champions together for a shared meal of the defending champion’s choosing.
Woods, the 2019 winner, hosted in November 2020. He and Couples won’t get the chance to dine on Dustin Johnson’s delicacies – which notably includes an appetizer of pigs in a blanket – together this year. Woods is not in the field as he continues to recover from injuries sustained in a car accident in February.
Could gaining insight into how to play Augusta National from past champion Fred Couples reap benefits?
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Before Patrick Cantlay won the 2018 Memorial Tournament, he picked the brain of club founder and former champion Jack Nicklaus. Could gaining insight into how to play Augusta National from past champion Fred Couples reap the same benefit?
Only time will tell, but Cantlay, World No. 10, is beginning to feel a level of comfort at Augusta National, where his best result is a ninth-place finish in 2019.
“I think I’ve tried to draw a lot on Fred Couples’ knowledge,” said Cantlay, who teamed with Couples in a practice-round match against Xander Schauffele and Max Homa.
Cantlay got to know Couples quite well in recent years after Couples moved to Newport Beach, California, not far from where Cantlay grew up before moving to Florida.
“We played almost every Sunday when I was home,” said Cantlay, who noted that Couples is “much more cerebral than maybe you would imagine. I mean, people think, oh, he’s a freak, he just hits it close because he can feel it from 175. But it’s not as much that. I think instinctively he picks the right shot a lot, either a draw or a fade, and then he puts the right input into his brain.”
Cantlay competed on the U.S. Presidents Cup team in 2019, where Couples served as a vice captain to Tiger Woods, and remembers thinking that if everyone was picking one person in the team room to have dinner with it would be Couples. “You could feel that,” Cantlay said. “He’s just great.”
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So has Cantlay’s golf been since October when he shot a final-round 65 to win the Zozo Championship. Cantlay trailed Dustin Johnson by one stroke heading into the weekend at the Masters in November and played the first three rounds alongside Johnson. But Cantlay got left in the dust on Saturday as Johnson shot 65 to his 73, and finished tied for 17th.
“I think he birdied maybe four of the first six or four of the first seven or something like that,” Cantlay said. “That was impressive because the course was playing more difficult that day.”
Cantlay has finished in the top-3 twice so far this season, and arrived early to play a couple of practice rounds at Augusta National last week with friends.
“The more I play this place, the more I get comfortable with the shots,” Cantlay said. “I think confidence builds on itself around here. You hit those shots really well a few times in pressure situations, and that builds that picture and reinforces it even better, and you just take that every year going forward.”
Cantlay, 29, sounded like a wily veteran despite having just 14 competitive rounds at Augusta National in four starts as he described the course as “a series of red, yellow and green lights.”
Patrick Cantlay watches his tee shot on the 12th hole during a practice round for the Masters Tournament on Monday, April 5, 2021, in Augusta, Ga. (Photo: Charlie Riedel/Associated Press)
“Not as many yellows as red or greens, but when you do get on a red hole location, which would be like a back left hole location on the sixth hole, guys just aren’t making birdie to the back left hole location on the sixth hole, especially if it’s firm,” he explained.
It took a few playings of the Masters for Cantlay to realize he didn’t need to curve the ball as much as he imagined growing up watching the tournament on TV. When asked to describe a particular hole where he has benefited from course knowledge, he highlighted the way he plays No. 10.
“I used to think I wanted to hit a driver like way down the first time I saw it as an amateur and get a short club in there, but a 3-wood goes almost to the same spot and it’s so much easier to hit in the fairway,” he said. “The tee shot on 7 is kind of tough. The hole looks like a fade to me, but whenever I try and hit the fade, I always pull it in the left trees, so I just try and hit a draw down there, my normal swing.
“I almost imagined being a shot-maker almost too much, and so now just getting comfortable with more my stock shot wherever it fits. And the golf course is so big that there’s a lot of space for your stock shot.”
Count Cantlay among the players who are encouraged that the course is playing fast and firm this year rather than the softer conditions that prevailed in November when Johnson shot a tournament record 20-under 268.
“I expect it to get really firm and fast, and I think that’s when this golf course shines,” said Cantlay, who added that he thrives when a premium is placed on controlling the golf ball and playing smart. “And then I love fast, old-school putting greens. And so this is the, you know, apex of that. It’s the most undulated, in general, fastest greens we play all year. It feels easier for me to make putts when it’s like that, and I look forward to that every time I come here.”
Golfweek’s Best rankings loaded with courses in Cabo San Lucas: Twin Dolphin, Quivera, Rancho San Lucas, Costa Palmas and more
The golf scene at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico is unlike any other in North America. The area is home to 16 courses designed by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, Tom Fazio and Robert Trent Jones Jr. – all built within the last 25 years.
But it’s not all about the golf.
First-time visitors will experience sensory overload from the turquoise water of the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Cortez, the dramatic rock formations along the water’s edge, the white sand beaches and giant dune systems. Just above that coastline is a desert landscape highlighted by arroyos and saguaro cacti, and from there climb mountains that reach as high as 6,500 feet in elevation.
Simply put, there is beauty in every direction. But it’s not all about that beauty, either.
There’s a vibe to Cabo, an invitation to relax, to enjoy oneself, that takes the sum of its parts – golf, coast, mountains, views – to deliver something even greater as a whole.
Quivera in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (Courtesy of Quivera/Brian G. Oar)
Want to party? Check. Want to relax at the beach between rounds? Check. Want to go all-in with a second home at a resort-style community that offers all the trimmings? Check. Cabo offers all that and more.
That vibe starts before visitors leave the airport. After the frenzy of customs, claiming bags and avoiding the dozens of timeshare hawkers, you step outside and are bathed in sunshine and offered a drink. Even before you grab a taxi or climb into a shuttle, there is a curbside bar filled with happy tourists – apparently the fun can’t wait in Cabo.
The drive from the airport to the hotel areas is about 30-45 minutes. Most guests will stay at a large hotel or resort in one of three areas; the Corridor, the Marina District or the Pacific side of the peninsula.
The Corridor is a 15-mile stretch between San Jose Del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas filled with mega-hotels, each with hundreds of rooms, pools, restaurants and activities. Many are set up as all-inclusive, and some guests never venture outside their resort.
The Marina District is where the town of Cabo San Lucas meets the beach. There are shops and restaurants nestled up to fishing boats and yachts at the marina. Tourists can sign up for whale watching, sport fishing, a ride on a glass-bottom boat, a sunset cruise and more at the Marina. A few blocks inland are the nightclubs and bars that give Cabo its reputation as a spring break-bachelor party hot spot. A walk from the Marina up the beach takes you past bars and restaurants in the sand, alongside large condos and hotels, and gives you the best view of Land’s End, the iconic rock formation that dives into the sea at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula.
Rancho San Lucas in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (Courtesy of Rancho San Lucas/Brian G. Oar)
Around Land’s End is the Pacific side, another dramatic meeting of land and sea where numerous hotels, resorts and developments have popped up in the past 20 years. The Pacific side is a little more quiet and offers amazing sunsets, and it is home to some of the newer golf courses in Cabo.
The golf experience in Cabo is resort golf through and through. Arrival at a course usually includes a cocktail, everyone takes carts, there is often music on the range and many courses are arranged as roughly six-hole stretches between comfort stations where golfers indulge on cocktails and local-fare appetizers. Shorts and flip flops might be seen alongside an Airstream kitchen serving tacos and a VW Bus offering margaritas. The vibe is frequently much more beach club with a golf course added on.
Cabo’s roots are a fishing village, but golf crashed the party in the 1980s. The game exploded in the area in the ’90s with the addition of Cabo Del Sol designed by Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf, El Dorado by Nicklaus, Palmilla by Nicklaus, Cabo Real by Jones Jr. and Querencia by Fazio.
In the past decade more courses were built: Diamante Dunes by Davis Love III, El Cardonal at Diamante by Woods, Quivira by Nicklaus, Twin Dolphin by Fred Couples and Todd Eckenrode, and most recently Rancho San Lucas by Norman, which opened in early 2020.
In addition to all these fresh courses near Cabo, Costa Palmas by Jones Jr. opened in 2019 at the East Cape roughly 90 minutes away but equidistant from Los Cabos International Airport.
And finally, Cabo Del Sol has changed its Ocean Course to a private layout now called Cove Club, for which Nicklaus redesigned multiple holes and renovated the greens and bunkers. And in the spirit of nothing standing still for long in Cabo, Weiskopf’s Desert Course at Cabo Del Sol is slated to be redesigned by the team of Dana Fry and Jason Straka.
Costa Palmas in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (Courtesy of Costa Palmas/Evan Schiller)
All told, golf in Cabo is unique. The golf purists and architectural aficionados may see Cabo as a missed opportunity. Great land with sandy soils and a dramatic coastline has been the scene for many of the game’s best modern courses. Mike Keiser – founder of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in western Oregon, as well as several other top golf-focused destinations – has developed a formula of a resort where golf gets the best land and the lodging is set away from the water, and that model has worked extremely well in tougher spots.
But Cabo’s climate is much better than Bandon’s, and it’s easier to get to. Despite proven examples of focusing on golf in other locales, to date every development in Cabo has been real estate or resort first and golf second, with much of the best land distributed accordingly. That also may explain why all the courses in Cabo have been designed by big-name celebrity architects as opposed to the smaller, hands-on shops that produced many of the top layouts of our time.
Will the model change in the future? Only time will tell. For now, Cabo is an ideal spot for a couples getaway or an all-purpose trip with your most fun travel buddies.
This is not Pine Valley or Seminole. This is Cabo. Untuck your shirt, grab a margarita, crank up the tunes, forget about your score and enjoy.
A sample of Cabo’s new courses
New courses and big renovations in the past few years around Cabo have produced what is likely the biggest golf boom outside Vietnam. In October a group of 28 Golfweek’s Best course raters spent a week checking out several layouts and found positive takeaways at each.
Rancho San Lucas in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (Courtesy of Rancho San Lucas/Brian G. Oar)
Rancho San Lucas
Designer: Greg Norman
Opened: 2020
Affiliated with: Rancho San Lucas resort community
2021 Golfweek’s Best ranking: Tied for No. 12 among courses in Mexico, Caribbean, Atlantic and Central America
The details: A very playable layout on what was likely the best site of the four new courses we played. Each nine features a few desert, dune and beachfront holes. The par-3 17th to an island green with a waterfall behind, just a few hundred yards from the Pacific Ocean, was a head-scratcher.
The raters say: “A fun place to just sit and enjoy the views.” – Mark Hildahl, New Hampshire
Twin Dolphin in Cabo San Lucas (Courtesy of Twin Dolphin/Evan Schiller)
Twin Dolphin
Designers: Fred Couples and Todd Eckenrode
Year opened: 2018
Affiliated with: Montage Las Cabos
2021 Golfweek’s Best ranking: No. 15 among courses in Mexico, Caribbean, Atlantic and Central America
The details: A more traditional desert course set a mile or two above the sea. Wide corridors and engaging green complexes make the course one to be enjoyed on a day-to-day basis.
The raters say: “Terrific green complexes that offer all kinds of options.” – Ed Oden, North Carolina
Quivera in Cabo San Lucas (Courtesy of Cabo San Lucas/Brian G. Oar)
Quivira
Designer: Jack Nicklaus
Year opened: 2014
Affiliated with: Pueblo Bonito Resorts
2021 Golfweek’s Best ranking: No. 25 among courses in Mexico, Caribbean, Atlantic and Central America
The details: A wild journey along the Pacific with holes in a few different zones on the property. The 2-mile cart ride from No. 4 to No. 5 was broken up by a comfort station built into a cliff overlooking the ocean.
The raters say: “Several of the most visually spectacular holes in golf.” – Todd Jones, Ohio
Costa Palmas in Cabo San Lucas (Courtesy of Costa Palmas/Evan Schiller)
Costa Palmas
Designer: Robert Trent Jones Jr.
Opened: 2019
Affiliated with: Four Seasons
2021 Golfweek’s Best ranking: Tied for No. 39 among courses in Mexico, Caribbean, Atlantic and Central America
The details: A low-lying layout with three distinct environments; dunes, forest and marina. The course offers wide fairways, dramatic bunkering and rolling green contours throughout. The large driving range can be converted into a six-hole short course for early-morning or late-afternoon fun.
The raters say: “Exceptional variety of strategic shots.” – Kristy Medo, Wisconsin
The view from Cliffhouse at Quivera (Courtesy of Quivera)
Perfect pit stops
Perhaps as memorable as the golf is the comfort station experience in Cabo. Many of the courses offer small snack shacks with a full bar and prepared food, and it seems each property aims to outdo its neighbors. Some of the more memorable comfort stations we experienced were:
Cliffhouse at Quivira: Set before the fifth tee a few hundred feet above the Pacific and built into a cliff, guests are offered a margarita and fish tacos with a million-dollar view.
Red Door 5 at Twin Dolphin: After the fifth hole, golfers can settle into a gracious outdoor room with tables, a firepit and tv, or they can belly up to a bar where the left wall is filled with sweets and the right wall is filled with booze. For early players, breakfast is served: Pastries, fresh fruit, chorizo breakfast taquitos, pancakes, mimosas, Bloody Mary’s and fresh mango yogurt can make you forget about golf.
Lucha Libre at Costa Palmas (Courtesy of Costa Palmas)
Lucha Libre at Costa Palmas: Golfers finishing either No. 7 or 13 can sample a little outdoor bar that feels like a spot you might find along the beach where your choose to hang out. Upon arrival, we were greeted with a mango-scented cold towel and a full Pizza Al Pastor fresh out of the custom brick oven. Margaritas with fresh lime juice and mini popsicles of local flavored ice creams also were on offer.
– This story originally ran in Golfweek’s 2021 Ultimate Guide.
On his “Get a Grip” podcast with Shane Bacon, Max Homa told a funny story about a veteran move he saw Fred Couples make at the Masters.
While fans never heard anyone on the Masters broadcast utter the term “mud ball” last week — they opted instead to say there was turf, earth, or my personal favorite, “organic matter” on the ball — chances are you heard a few players mention them due to the wet conditions, especially on Thursday and Friday.
Mud on a golf ball can significantly impact its flight and distance. That’s pretty easy to understand. The problem is, you never know just how much of an impact there will be.
On his “Get a Grip” podcast alongside Shane Bacon, 2020 Masters rookie Max Homa recapped his first experience at Augusta National and told a fun story about playing with Fred Couples and witnessing one of his savvy, veteran moves firsthand on No. 15.
“Fred was going before me, I wasn’t really watching, but he hit this lay up and it sounded like really bad contact,” said Homa. “I looked over and the ball was not above my head and it was screaming down the fairway. It was so sick, he was getting the mud off the golf ball on the lay up, he was making sure it rolled and didn’t plug.”
The 2020 Masters is set for Nov. 12-15, meaning Tiger Woods has waited 19 months to defend his title.
Tiger Woods was supposed to defend his Masters title in April, but the COVID-19 global pandemic turned life upside down.
The 2020 Masters is now set for Nov. 12-15, meaning Woods has waited 19 months to defend his title.
He has five green jackets and his quest for a record-tying sixth will begin on Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club.
The anticipation is somewhat tempered. Woods’ performances in 2020 leave something to be desired. The two events he’s played on the 2020-21 schedule feature a missed cut at the U.S. Open and a T-72 (out of 77 golfers) at the Zozo Championship.
But this is Tiger and Augusta we’re talking about. No one should ever count out Tiger Woods at Augusta National, according to other former Masters winners.
At the PGA Tour Champions Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club this week, the 81-man field features eight former Masters champs. Several of them made plans to travel down on the same charter Sunday night after the 54-hole event concludes. Others, like Larry Mize, who is traveling with his wife, will find other ways to get to Magnolia Lane.
But they’ll all be there. Here’s what some past Masters champs are saying about Tiger Woods.
Fred Couples , Tiger Woods and Matt Parziale during a practice round for the 2018 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. Photo by Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
Fred Couples
1992 Masters champion
“I talk to him every day. We’re playing Monday. I’ve got to get there and get tested, somehow get my test back fast so I can join he and JT.”
Couples then chuckled when he said: “He’s wound up. He’s sent a couple pictures, he’s a funny guy. I think he’ll be just fine.
“He loves the place. He can play there at any given time, it just depends on really how he feels and I can relate to that, but whereas when I don’t feel well, I can still slap it around, but when you’re the greatest player to ever play, it kind of wears on you a little bit. But he’ll get used to it and if he’s feeling healthy, he’ll be one of the 10 or 15 guys to beat.”
Larry Mize
1987 Masters champion
“Always gotta expect good from Tiger. Whatever’s been going on, he’s a great player. He loves Augusta National, it’s a great course for him, so you gotta expect him to play well.”
Bernhard Langer
1985, 1993 Masters champion
“He can’t be happy with his season, I wouldn’t think, especially after winning Augusta last year. We all thought ‘Well, he’s back,’ roaring again, but it hasn’t quite been that way.
“But I don’t count him out. He loves the golf course, knows it. His short game is always phenomenal. If he’s got his long game together he could still defend his title.”
Tiger Woods and Mark O’Meara during their Tuesday practice round ahead of the 2002 Masters Tournament. (Photo by Tim Dillon/USA TODAY Sports)
Mark O’Meara
1998 Masters Champion
“Never count Tiger Woods out of anything. I know he hasn’t played the way he wants to for the last, maybe month and a half, but he’s Tiger Woods. It’s Augusta National. And he seems to play pretty good around there. He’s got a lot of experience. I wouldn’t count him out.”
Mike Weir
2003 Masters champion
“I think he’ll put up a good defense. A guy like Tiger knows the golf course very well and he always gears up for the big tournaments and seems to – the great ones show up and I suspect he’ll find a way to get in the mix.”
José Maria Olazábal
1994, 1999 Master champion
“He feels really comfortable on that golf course. I have to say he knows the golf course really well. I don’t know really how his game is, but somehow he manages to get the best of it when he plays the Masters.
What is it about Tiger and Augusta? “The knowledge of the course, first of all. You need to have a great touch around the greens, you have to shape the ball either way. And I remember that when I played with him, I think it was 2001, 2002, I think it was on the Saturday, I mean, he proved that he had all the tools to win there. I think he feels comfortable on that golf course.”
Fred Couples of the PGA Tour Champions, “If you’re 50 and you’re considered a very good player, you’d better start winning.”
The PGA Tour Champions has gotten a serious dose of star power in 2020 and to no one’s surprise, the newcomers started winning right away.
Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk, who rank second and third on the PGA Tour’s all-time money list, are both Champions “rookies” this season. So is Ernie Els, who checks in at No. 11 on the all-time money list.
All three brought some extra juice to the senior circuit and each of them have already won twice in 2020, with Mickelson and Furyk both winning the first two Champions events they entered.
Furyk and Els have a shot this week to win for a third time in 2020 in the season finale, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club. Els turned 50 in October of 2019 and made his Champions debut this year. Furyk hit the big 5-Oh on May 12, while Mickelson did so on June 16.
“I gotta be satisfied,” Els said of his Champions tour success so far. “Two wins. I haven’t had a win for quite a while before this year, anywhere in the world, so it was nice to win again. As a rookie to have had the year I had so far, I’m very satisfied.”
Furyk has enjoyed similar success but also knows the tour is bound to get more competitive.
“This tour had a great group of guys already there, but you start adding in the last year Retief, Ernie, Phil, Mike Weir, KJ Choi, Rich Beem. It seems like every month someone else is turning 50,” he said. “I think it’s been a good buzz for our fans, for the media. Seems like the tour’s in a pretty good spot.”
Historically, 50-year-old Champions tour rookies win one of out three events on the circuit, so it’s not surprising that Mickelson, Els and Furyk won so soon. It’s the few years after that where winning becomes a bit more challenging.
“I came out here and I did very well for two or three years,” said Fred Couples, who won four times his Champions rookie season and 11 of his 13 Champions events in his first five years on the tour. “Then 56, 57. … sporadically I won a tournament here and there. So if you’re 50 and you’re considered a very good player, you’d better start winning.”
