Champions Tour remains stable despite some tough times

The economy is in shambles, and the PGA Champions Tour joins the rest of America in feeling the pinch.

Early this season, the 30th for the circuit formally known as the Senior Tour for golfers ages 50 and over, it sued Ginn Development Company, LLC for breaching a multiyear tournament sponsorship contract.

Ginn, which had signed on to be a title sponsor at a Champions Tour event through 2011, cited the failing economy as the reason for backing out.

Despite the messiness, the Champions Tour has forged ahead.

"So far we've weathered the storm quite well," tour president Mike Stevens said. "I think we'll be OK."

Proof is in the numbers. Of the 13 event sponsorships up for renewal this season, 11 re-upped for at least one more year. The 3M Championship, which begins for a 17th time Monday in Blaine with a series of pro-ams, never has been a problem. Fans have flocked to the north metro every summer, including an estimated 120,000 last year.

So why offer fans free tickets for the entire week -- a first for a Champions Tour event -- in these struggling times for consumers and corporations?

3M tournament director Hollis Cavner figured it was time to give back.

"If you can get sponsors to pick up that incremental cost, why not?" he said.

If the attendance numbers are correct, the 3M Championship last year took in $360,000 in admission Friday through Sunday.

To offset those dollars lost this year, a sponsor was picked up for each of the three days of play. In total, about 50 new sponsors signed on for this year's event, which once again is expected to donate $1.3 million to charity, Cavner said.

Cavner and other organizers point to this summer's PGA Championship at Hazeltine National in Chaska as a reason for making the 3M Championship free. Many fans have dished out hundreds of dollars just to stand 10 deep to catch a glimpse the world's top-ranked players.

"They spend a lot of money," Cavner said. "A lot of people can't afford to go to sporting events these days."

Free ticket days have been introduced at other Champions Tour events this season. But Stevens said it is not an indictment on the tour as a whole.

At the Principal Charity Classic near Des Moines last month, tournament director Jamie Alt said figures were up 30 percent across the board. Patrons were charged $20 per day of competition, and they still came out in droves.

Attendance numbers tourwide, even without complimentary coupons, are slightly up from a year ago.

"We'd be happy just holding our own," Stevens said. "It's nice to see we've had a slight uptick. After these free ticket promotions, attendance is going through the roof. We're bringing a new fan base to the Champions Tour."

But will it continue?

For now, the tour is getting by with recognizable faces such as Bernhard Langer, Fred Funk, Mark O'Meara and Nick Price -- all of whom will be at this year's 3M Championship.

It's starting with that next tier where some question marks come into the picture.

Minnesotan Tom Lehman will not be at this year's 3M Championship, but at 50 he has played in some Champions Tour events already and has said he will eventually enter his home-state tournament. Fred Couples, who turns 50 in October, already has committed to one Champions Tour event. From there, however, he has made no promises. Kenny Perry, winner of the Travelers Championship last month, turns 50 next August. He figures to remain on the PGA Tour.

Why? Because he can.

The Travelers victory was Perry's fifth since last June and 14th on tour. He has said he is shooting for 20.

"I just kind of threw that number out there to see everybody roll their eyes in the back of their head," Perry said after collecting his hardware. "But it is a goal of mine."

It doesn't sound as if Perry has much interest in joining his 50-and-over brethren any time soon. But it's a song and dance Cavner -- director of five Champions Tour tournaments -- has seen before.

He has heard all about how aging golfers don't need the money. And he agrees, saying instead they keep coming out for the fun of the game.

"Hale Irwin -- if Obama needs a bailout then you need to call Hale," Cavner said of the three-time major winner who has racked up more than $30 million in career earnings. "But Hale still wants to win every week, and he's done that. He loves it. We heard Tom Kite say, 'Aw, I'll play a couple times on the Champions Tour.' He's playing every week now. It's just in their blood."

The biggest snub to the Champions Tour is Greg Norman. The 54-year-old has won 20 times on the PGA Tour yet has played in only three Champions Tour events.

It's still some time away, but you have to wonder if players such as Vijay Singh, 46; Phil Mickelson, 39; Jim Furyk, 39; or Tiger Woods, 33, will go down that path, hardly stepping foot outside of the PGA Tour.

Those are the names that draw, the names that command the prices, the names that win.

Cavner, for one, said he believes they're all Champions Tour locks.

"You ask Tiger Woods, he'll say, 'I'll never do it,'" Cavner said. "Almost every player we have on tour now said the same thing 15 years ago. But it ain't about the money, it's about the trophy."