Champions Tour: Newby’s Excel on Champions Tour

You recognize some of the names: Bernard Langer, Fred Couples, Steve Stricker. They are great at golf now, and they have been great at golf for a long time. But, while these Hall of Famers excel on the Champions Tour, the tour is also a place where club pros and newly turned seniors can be great.

Steven Alker was one of those guys who was competitive in golf, but not great. As a journeyman pro, the New Zealand native traveled the world playing and making a living. Then he turned 50 and his life changed forever.

Alker has won 6 times on the Champions Tour including the 2022 Charles Schwab Cup. He is considered one of the top players on tour and is consistently threatening to win tournaments. "I am living my best dream," said Alker. "I feel like I can win at any time."

Doug Barron has won over $3,000,000, been suspended for performance enhancing drugs, then made one of the greatest career comebacks of all-time when he birdied the last three holes to win the Shaw Charity Classic by two-shots.

Barron, who played his college golf at Mississippi State, has spent his life struggling to make it at the highest level of the game. That has recently changed.

When he won the Shaw, Barron said "We play against great players every week. When I was done I was like "What did I just do."

Jerry Kelly isn't exactly a journeyman, but it's safe to say not too many people heard of him until he started playing the Champions Tour. While Kelly made a living on the PGA Tour after several years of grinding, it's the Champions Tour that has defined his career. 11 wins, including two Champions Tour Majors, has made him a fan favorite.

"The Champions Tour changed my life," said Kelly.

Legends of the game have played the Champions Tour and done well. Bernard Langer is arguably the best; Ernie Els has excelled later in life; fan-favorite Fred Couples has always been great. But, it's the guys we never heard of, who kept their game in shape and, when it mattered most in the twilight of their careers, stepped up and made it on the Champions Tour. It's those guys who have us excited about what the Champions Tour has to offer.