Seniors skewing younger this year

HUALALAI, Hawaii >> The PGA Tour Champions is undergoing its own youth movement of sorts beginning with this week’s Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.

The season-opening golf tournament for the senior set mirrors the PGA Tour’s winners-only Sentry Tournament of Champions held two weeks ago at the Plantation Course on Maui. But this $1.8 million tournament that tees off today in what could be similar conditions as last year’s wind-blown event at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Hualalai Golf Course located between Kailua-Kona and Waikoloa expands the field of golfers by inviting those who have won the past two years on tour.

In addition, this year’s field of 44 golfers includes winners of the Champions majors dating back to 2013, eight additional invitees based on career PGA Tour wins and major titles, and World Golf Hall of Fame members who played a minimum of eight tour champions events in 2017.

There are nine hall of fame members in the field everyone recognizes in Fred Couples, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Colin Montgomerie, Mark O’Meara, Vijay Singh and Tom Watson. There are also eight past Hualalai champions in the field, including Duffy Waldorf (2016), Miguel Angel Jimenez (2015), Fred Funk (2008) and Loren Roberts (2006). The other four are Langer (2009, 2014, 2017), Irwin (1997, 2007), Watson (2010) and Kite (1992).

Thirteen players in the field have a combined 27 major wins and 300 overall victories on the PGA Tour, and another 227 on the Champions. Granted, there are many grizzled veterans who have knocked a golf ball around for nearly a half-century, but there are some ‘young guns’ out here as well who aren’t nearing social security just yet.

Chief among them is 2017 Charles Schwab Cup champion Kevin Sutherland, who snapped a three-year winning streak by Langer with his first senior victory since joining in 2014. Langer finished second in the year-long standings to Sutherland and was first in money won with $3.7 million. On Tuesday night, Langer was named the Champions player of the year for the fourth consecutive time.

Sutherland is only the third player to win the Schwab Cup Championship and the Schwab Cup tournament in the same season. The other two are Watson (2005) and Tom Lehman (2012). Sutherland is one of four fresh faces in the field this week. Joining him in this youth movement are Jerry Kelly, Brandt Jobe and Stephen Ames. Kelly is coming off a tie for 14th at last week’s Sony Open in Hawaii, where the 2002 Waialae champion had four rounds in the 60s. Kelly said last week that his golf game was sound and that he was looking forward to returning to the Champions this week after a solid 2017 rookie campaign.

“It was a lot of fun playing last year out here and seeing a lot of old, familiar faces in the locker room,” Kelly said. “I grew up admiring so many of the great champions. I’m looking forward to playing Hualalai where the competition will be tough.”

Kelly was the only rookie to win a Champions event last year with two victories and 10 top 10s in 20 events. He was sixth on the money list with $1.4 million and seventh in the Cup chase. He was named the rookie of the year at Tuesday’s award ceremonies. Jobe and Ames also picked up their first Champions wins to qualify here. Other players to watch among the young crowd are Scott McCarron and David Toms.

Toms played at Hualalai for the first time in 2017 and finished tied for fourth. In his rookie season in 2017, the Louisiana State alum produced seven top 10s in 22 starts and earned $925,819. McCarron played in all 26 events last year, winning four times and figures to be a contender after finishing among the top 20 here a year ago.

You always have to watch out for Couples, who is making his ninth consecutive start here with three runner-up finishes. And of course, there’s Langer. The defending champion is hopeful the tournament goes beyond the 36 holes of last year. The final round was canceled because of wind with Langer beating Couples by one shot. He said coming into this week’s tournament that he wants to “earn” it this time around.

“It’s away been special, it’s my favorite spot really out on this tour,” Langer said. “What’s there not to like? A nice course, it’s a beautiful hotel, good food, weather; the whole thing.”