2003 Champions Tour

2003 Champions Tour season
DurationJanuary 31, 2003 (2003-01-31) – October 26, 2003 (2003-10-26)
Number of official events31
Most winsUnited States Craig Stadler (3)
Charles Schwab CupUnited States Tom Watson
Money listUnited States Tom Watson
Player of the YearUnited States Tom Watson
Rookie of the YearUnited States Craig Stadler
← 2002
2004 →

The 2003 Champions Tour was the 24th season of the Champions Tour (formerly the Senior PGA Tour), the main professional golf tour in the United States for men aged 50 and over.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2003 season.[1]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(US$) 		Winner[a] Notes
Feb 2 MasterCard Championship Hawaii 1,500,000 United States Dana Quigley (8)
Feb 9 Royal Caribbean Golf Classic Florida 1,450,000 Canada Dave Barr (1)
Feb 16 ACE Group Classic Florida 1,600,000 Argentina Vicente Fernández (4)
Feb 23 Verizon Classic Florida 1,600,000 United States Bruce Fleisher (16)
Mar 9 MasterCard Classic Mexico 2,000,000 United States David Eger (1)
Mar 16 SBC Classic California 1,500,000 United States Tom Purtzer (1)
Mar 23 Toshiba Senior Classic California 1,550,000 Australia Rodger Davis (1)
Apr 20 Emerald Coast Classic Florida 1,450,000 United States Bob Gilder (7)
Apr 27 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf Georgia 3,000,000 United States Bruce Lietzke (6)
May 4 Bruno's Memorial Classic Alabama 1,400,000 United States Tom Jenkins (4)
May 11 Kinko's Classic of Austin Texas 1,600,000 United States Hale Irwin (37) New tournament
May 18 Bayer Advantage Celebrity Pro-Am Missouri 1,600,000 United States Jay Sigel (8) Pro-Am
May 25 Columbus Southern Open Georgia 1,500,000 United States Morris Hatalsky (2) New tournament
Jun 1 Music City Championship Tennessee 1,400,000 United States Jim Ahern (2)
Jun 8 Senior PGA Championship Pennsylvania 2,000,000 United States John Jacobs (5) Senior major championship
Jun 22 Farmers Charity Classic Michigan 1,500,000 United States Doug Tewell (7)
Jun 29 U.S. Senior Open Ohio 2,600,000 United States Bruce Lietzke (7) Senior major championship
Jul 13 Ford Senior Players Championship Michigan 2,500,000 United States Craig Stadler (1) Champions Tour major championship
Jul 27 Senior British Open Scotland 1,600,000 United States Tom Watson (5) Senior major championship
Aug 3 FleetBoston Classic Massachusetts 1,500,000 United States Allen Doyle (8)
Aug 10 3M Championship Minnesota 1,750,000 United States Wayne Levi (1)
Aug 17 Long Island Classic New York 1,500,000 United States Jim Thorpe (6)
Aug 24 Allianz Championship Iowa 1,500,000 United States Don Pooley (2)
Aug 31 JELD-WEN Tradition Oregon 2,200,000 United States Tom Watson (6) Champions Tour major championship
Sep 7 Kroger Classic Ohio 1,500,000 United States Gil Morgan (22)
Sep 14 Constellation Energy Classic Maryland 1,500,000 United States Larry Nelson (17)
Sep 21 SAS Championship North Carolina 1,800,000 United States D. A. Weibring (1)
Sep 28 Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn North Carolina 1,500,000 United States Craig Stadler (2) New tournament
Oct 12 Turtle Bay Championship Hawaii 1,500,000 United States Hale Irwin (38)
Oct 19 SBC Championship Texas 1,500,000 United States Craig Stadler (3)
Oct 26 Charles Schwab Cup Championship California 2,500,000 United States Jim Thorpe (7) Tour Championship

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the Champions Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date Tournament Location Purse
($)		 Winners Notes
Nov 23 UBS Cup Georgia 3,000,000 Tie ( Team USA retain) Team event
Dec 7 Office Depot Father/Son Challenge Florida 1,000,000 United States Hale Irwin and
son Steve Irwin		 Team event

Charles Schwab Cup

The Charles Schwab Cup was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.[2][3]

Position Player Points
1 United States Tom Watson 4,751
2 United States Jim Thorpe 3,381
3 United States Bruce Lietzke 2,867
4 United States Tom Kite 2,809
5 United States Gil Morgan 2,663

Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.[4][5]

Position Player Prize money ($)
1 United States Tom Watson 1,853,108
2 United States Jim Thorpe 1,830,306
3 United States Gil Morgan 1,620,206
4 United States Bruce Lietzke 1,610,826
5 United States Hale Irwin 1,607,391

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Trophy) United States Tom Watson [5]
Rookie of the Year United States Craig Stadler [5]
Scoring leader (Byron Nelson Award) United States Tom Watson [6][5]
Comeback Player of the Year United States Don Pooley [5]

Notes

  1. ^ The number in parentheses after each winner's name is the number of Champions Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Champions Tour members.

References

  1. ^ "2003 Tournament schedule". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on December 4, 2003. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  2. ^ "2003 Charles Schwab Cup". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on January 10, 2004. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  3. ^ "Thorpe holds off Watson for Schwab Cup Championship". The Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. October 27, 2003. p. 7 (A-3 in paper). Retrieved November 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "2003 Money list". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on June 1, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Watson named Champions Tour player of the year". The San Diego Union-Tribune. December 8, 2003. Retrieved November 29, 2023. Watson led the money list with $1.8 million, and his scoringaverage of 68.31 also was tops on the Champions Tour... Craig Stadler, who turned 50 in June, was voted rookie of theyear for his three victories, including a major... Don Pooley was voted comeback player on the Champions Tour.
  6. ^ "2003 Scoring average". PGA Tour. Retrieved November 29, 2023.