The Champions Tour season begins on Friday, and never before have there been so many players with strong Colorado connections competing on the circuit as there will be in 2015.
Up first on the schedule is the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Kaupulehu-Kona, Hawaii, where the 40-player field will include Centennial State locals Hale Irwin, Craig Stadler, Mark Wiebe and Esteban Toledo.
All told, there’s a good chance that 10 competitors with major ties to Colorado will play at some point during the Champions Tour season, which ends in November. That number has been — or will be — bolstered by Doug Rohrbaugh (pictured above) of Carbondale earning conditional status through Q-school and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe becoming eligible for the tour on Aug. 1 when he turns 50.
The 10 locals account for a remarkable 68 Champions wins — with former University of Colorado athlete Irwin holding the tour’s all-time record with 45 — and 48 victories on the PGA Tour.
Here’s an alphabetical rundown on the “locals” on the Champions Tour.
R.W. Eaks (Colorado Springs native and attended UNC, 4 Champions Tour wins and 3 Web.com victories) — Eaks, now 62, only played in one Champions Tour event in 2014, finishing 64th in the Quebec Championship. But the 2011 HealthOne Colorado Senior Open champion has made a nice living on the Champions circuit, having won nearly $4.7 million.
Gary Hallberg (Castle Rock resident, 1 Champions Tour victory, 3 PGA Tour wins and 1 Web.com victory) — Hallberg hasn’t always been exempt on the Champions Tour — and he won’t be in 2015 either — but he’s managed to play in more than 20 events each of the last four years after winning his one and only Champions tournament in 2010. However, the $262,310 he earned in 2014 was his lowest total since 2009.
Hale Irwin (Grew up in Boulder and CU graduate and Colorado Sports Hall of Famer, 20 PGA Tour wins and record 45 Champions Tour victories) — The World Golf Hall of Famer will turn 70 years old in June, but he continues to have his moments on the Champions Tour. While Irwin hasn’t won since he captured the title in the 2007 MasterCard Championship in Hawaii, he’s recorded 15 top-10s in the last six seasons. The last of those came in August, when placed ninth in 3M Championship for his 210th Champions Tour top-10. He bettered his age in all three rounds at that event, marking the first time that’s happened for a Champions Tour player since 2009. (Irwin is pictured above with granddaughter Tatum.)
Brandt Jobe (Kent Denver High School graduate and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer, 0 PGA Tour wins) — Jobe hasn’t played a PGA Tour event since 2013 — having undergone shoulder surgery in November of that year — but that will probably change soon as he has 10 events remaining on a medical extension. And the four-time PGA Tour runner-up could get a new career start when he turns 50 on Aug. 1 and becomes eligible for the Champions circuit. Jobe did show he still has some talent by finishing second in a Web.com Tour event in August.
Steve Jones (Grew up in Yuma and former CU golfer and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer, 8 PGA Tour wins, 0 Champions Tour victories) — The 56-year-old Jones, who got a late start as a Champions Tour players because of major elbow problems, has yet to score a top-10 on the circuit in 48 starts. Without exempt status, he’s been limited to between 10-15 starts a year as a Champions player. A 40th-place showing was the 1996 U.S. Open champ’s best in 2014.
Mike Reid (former Cherry Creek High School golfer, 2 PGA Tour wins and 2 Champions Tour victories) — The 60-year-old played in 21 events last season, but managed just two top-30 showings in non-team events. Reid hasn’t surpassed $200,000 in season-long earnings since 2010.
Doug Rohrbaugh (Carbondale resident) — Rohrbaugh, the 2013 HealthOne Colorado Senior Open champion, will be a Champions Tour rookie in 2015. He earned the final conditional spot at the Q-school finals, meaning he probably won’t get a lot of starts. But it’s nevertheless a step up into the big time for Rohrbaugh, winner of the 2013 and ’14 Colorado PGA Professional Championships.
Craig Stadler (Evergreen resident, 13 PGA Tour wins and 9 Champions Tour victories) — Stadler had a rough season in 2014 after in 2013 winning on the Champions circuit for the first time in almost nine years — a record gap for the tour. His best showing last year in a non-team event as a 25th-place performance. The $156,137 Stadler won in 2014 was the second-lowest total of his 12-year Champions career.
Esteban Toledo (onetime Castle Rock resident, 2 Champions Tour victories and 1 Nationwide Tour win) — Toledo, who once lived in Castle Pines, had a very good 2014 after a stellar 2013, when he won twice as a Champions Tour rookie. He finished 27th on the season-long money list last year after placing 12th — with $1.27 million — in 2013. Toledo notched two top-four finishes in 2014.
Mark Wiebe (Aurora resident and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer, 2 PGA Tour wins and 5 Champions Tour victories) — Wiebe’s performance level fell off in a major way in 2014 primarily due to injury/ailments. Wiebe won twice in 2013 — including the Senior British Open — compared to nothing better than 40th place in a non-team event in 2014. He went from $803,025 in earnings in 2013 to $62,189 last year. After having finished in the top 30 on the money list for six straight seasons, he dropped to 98th in 2014.
