Select Player Biographicals

Paul Azinger
Turned professional: 1981
Joined PGA Tour: 1984
Joined Champions Tour: 2010

Paul Azinger won 12 times on the PGA Tour and is entering his rookie season on the Champions Tour, since turning age 50 in January. Azinger played full-time on the regular PGA Tour from 1982 through 2006 and his career was highlighted with a dramatic victory at the 1993 PGA Championship. He won his last title in 2000 at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Azinger enjoyed his finest years in 1987 and 1993. He won three times and finished second on the money list in each of those years. At the PGA Championship at Inverness, he beat Greg Norman in a playoff. Earlier that year he won at the Memorial by holing out from a greenside bunker on the final hole.

Azinger was treated for lymphoma cancer in 1994, but has made a full recovery. His book, Zinger, is the story of his fight to beat cancer. He started playing golf at age five but couldn’t break 40 for nine holes until he was a high school senior. He was a member of five Ryder Cup teams, and captained the U.S. team in 2008.

John Cook
Turned professional: 1979
Joined PGA Tour: 1979
Joined Champions Tour: 2007

John Cook has won 11 times on the PGA Tour and four more times on the Champions Tour since turning 50 just three years ago. In more than 25 years on Tour, Cook has won more than $16 million. Last year was his best on the Champions Tour, where he was one of only five multiple winners. Cook won three times and took home more than $1.7 million. He also finished second in the season-long race for the Charles Schwab Cup.

In 1992, Cook cracked the $1 million for season earnings on Tour for the first time and came close to capturing a major title at the British Open and the PGA Championship, finishing as runner-up in both. He won the Canadian Open in 1983, a win he calls his best.

Cook was born in Ohio, but grew up in Southern California. Nonetheless, he was persuaded to attend Ohio State by famous alumni Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf. He was a three-time All-American in college and won the 1978 U.S. Amateur, beating Scott Hoch in the final match.

Fred Couples
Turned professional: 1980
Joined PGA Tour: 1981
Joined Champions Tour: 2010

Fred Couples has won 15 times on the PGA Tour and has 31 additional victories counting international and non-official events. This his Couples’ rookie season on the Champions Tour and he is expected to be a dominant force if he dedicates his schedule to playing full time as a senior.

His wins on Tour came in 12 different seasons, and he won the Players Championship twice (1984 and 1996). He has been hampered by back problems his entire career, yet has played in more than 580 events and has earned more than $21 million. He was the leading money-winner on Tour in 1992 when he won three times and claimed his biggest title, a win at the Masters.

That Masters win completed a remarkable stretch for Couples in which he took three firsts and two seconds in six starts. He has twice earned Player of the Year honors (1991 and 1992). Couples roommate in college was CBA sports anchor Jim Nantz.

Ben Crenshaw
Member of the World Golf Hall of Fame (2002)
Turned professional: 1973
Joined PGA Tour: 1973
Joined Champions Tour: 2002

Ben Crenshaw won 19 times on the PGA Tour with his wins spanning 22 years. He joined the Champions Tour in 2002 and his best finish so far has been as runner-up at the 2007 U.S. Senior Open. He earned him induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002, and his two Masters wins and his role as captain of the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1999 stand out in a brilliant career.

Crenshaw won his first Masters title in 1984 when he came from two strokes back to defeat Tom Watson. He won his second Masters in 1995 in dramatic fashion, closing to edge Davis Love by a stroke. His Ryder Cup team staged the greatest comeback in the event’s long history, coming from four points back on the final day for the win.

Crenshaw has won more than $9 million in his professional golf career and he has been recognized with countless awards for his service to the game he holds dear. He has received the Bob Jones Award from the USGA and the Old Tom Morris Award from the R&A. In 1989, he received the Richardson Award from the Golf Writers of America.

Fred Funk
Turned professional: 1981
Joined PGA Tour: 1989
Joined Champions Tour: 2006

Fred Funk has won eight times on the PGA Tour and has collected five victories on the Champions Tour since 2006. He won the U.S. Senior Open and finished in the top 10 in more than half of his 21 starts in 2009.

Noted for his driving accuracy, Funk was the PGA Tour leader in that category seven times in his 19-year career. His biggest regular Tour victory came at the 2005 Players Championship, where at age 48 he become that event’s oldest champion.

Funk graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Law Enforcement and later was that school’s golf coach from 1982-1988. He also worked as a newspaper circulation supervisor as well before joining the PGA Tour.

Jay Haas
Turned professional: 1976
Joined PGA Tour: 1976
Joined Champions Tour: 2004

Jay Haas has won nine times on the PGA Tour and another 14 times on the Champions Tour. The likeable Haas played 29 full seasons on the regular Tour, with all of his wins coming between 1978 and 1993. He joined the Champions Tour in 2004 and has claimed three senior major titles – the Senior PGA Championship in 2006 and 2008, and the Constellation Energy Senior Players event in 2009.

Haas was introduced to golf by his uncle, Bob Goalby, the 1968 Masters champion. Jay’s son, Bill, recently won his first PGA Tour event. His brother, Jerry, is the golf coach at Wake Forest, and his brother-in-law, Dillard Pruitt, a former Tour player, is now a PGA Tour official.

Haas was selected to play in three Ryder Cup matches (1983, 1995 and 2004) and he was a captain’s pick for the 1994 President’s Cup. He won the NCAA title in 1975 while playing at Wake Forest, and he received the Fred Haskins Award that year as the top collegiate player. He was awarded the Bob Jones Award from the USGA in 2005.

Hale Irwin
Member of the World Golf Hall of Fame (1992)
Turned professional: 1968
Joined PGA Tour: 1968
Joined Champions Tour: 1995

Hale Irwin has enjoyed an illustrious career that has included 20 PGA Tour victories and 45 more wins on the Champions Tour. A three-time U.S. Open winner, Irwin has amassed more than $31 million in career earnings. He also has won seven major titles on the Champions Tour.

He is widely regarded as the most successful player in Champions Tour history, with 43 seconds and 22 thirds to go along with his 45 wins. Of his PGA Tour wins, his 1990 Open victory stands out because with that playoff win at age 45, he became the oldest to win the National title.

Irwin has played on five Ryder Cup teams, and from 1975 through 1978 he played in 86 tournaments without missing a cut. He was a two-sport star at Colorado, where he won the NCAA golf title in 1968 and was a two-time All Big Eight defensive back in football. He delivered the commencement speech at his alma mater in 2007.

Tom Kite
Member of the World Golf Hall of Fame (2004)
Turned professional: 1972
Joined PGA Tour: 1972
Joined Champions Tour: 2000

Tom Kite won 19 times on the PGA Tour and has added another 10 victories as a member of the Champions Tour. The 2009 season was Kite’s 10th consecutive season where he has finished in the top 30 money-leaders. Kite needed surgery to repair a torn bicep tendon in the off season.

Kite’s brilliant PGA Tour career was highlighted with his win at the 1992 U.S. Open where his even par final round of 72 in difficult conditions at Pebble Beach earned him a victory over Jeff Sluman. He was the first player in Tour history to reach $9 million in career earnings, and he was the Tour’s leading money-winner in 1981 and 1989.

Kite has played on seven Ryder Cup teams and was the captain of the U.S. team in 1997. As a collegiate player he shared the NCAA title with teammate Ben Crenshaw. After wearing glasses since age 12, Kite had LASIK surgery to correct acute nearsightedness in 1998.

Bernhard Langer
Member of the World Golf Hall of Fame (2002)
Turned professional: 1972
Joined PGA Tour: 1985, 2001
Joined Champions Tour: 2007

Bernhard Langer has won three times on the PGA Tour and eight more times as a member of the Champions Tour since 2007. He also has 58 other professional victories that came to him as a member of the European PGA Tour. Two of his three regular Tour victories here in the U.S. came at the Masters – in 1985 and 1993.

Langer capped 2009 with his second consecutive Player of the Year Award on the Champions Tour. He again was the leading money-winner and again had the lowest scoring average on the circuit, a noteworthy mark of 68.9 per round.

Langer’s turned professional at age 15 but his progress was slowed by a stint in the service where he suffered two stress fractures and bulging discs in his back. He has overcome putting woes in his career by turning to a long putter, which he has used since 1996.

Nick Price
Member of the World Golf Hall of Fame (2003)
Turned professional: 1977
Joined PGA Tour: 1982
Joined Champions Tour: 2007

Nick Price won 18 times on the PGA Tour and has added another victory in 2009 as a member of the Champions Tour. Price was the top player on the regular Tour for a stretch in the early 1990s when he won 14 times (from 1991-1994), won two Player of the Year Awards and his first major title at the 1992 PGA Championship.

He won his second and third majors in 1994 – at the British Open and the PGA Championship. During his distinguished career he has also claimed 28 other wins around the world, pushing him above $20 million in career earnings.

Prince has played on five Presidents Cup teams as a member of the international side. One of the most likeable players on Tour, Price was the recipient of the USGA Bob Jones Award in 2005. He is currently designing golf courses in South Africa, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.

Loren Roberts
Turned professional: 1975
Joined PGA Tour: 1981
Joined Champions Tour: 2005

Loren Roberts won eight times on the PGA Tour and already has 11 victories in four seasons as a member of the Champions Tour. He has won in each season as a senior and has twice won the Charles Schwab Cup, given for most “points” earned in a year. He won three times in 2009, including the Senior British Open.

Roberts lived up to his nickname as the “Boss of the Moss” in winning the 2009 Boeing Classic. He one-putted 13 of his last 14 holes on Saturday and used just nine putts over the last nine holes Sunday to edge Mark O’Meara.

Roberts was a bit of a late-bloomer on the regular Tour. He joined the circuit in 1981 but didn’t get his first win until 1994, when he won the Nestle Invitational at Bay Hill. Before earning a spot on the Tour, he was an assistant pro at San Luis Obispo CC and Morro Bay Municipal in California.

Lee Trevino
Member of the World Golf Hall of Fame (1981)
Turned professional: 1960
Joined PGA Tour: 1967
Joined Champions Tour: 1989

Lee Trevino won 29 times on the PGA Tour and has won another 29 times as a member of the Champions Tour. He also has 13 international victories to his credit. He is a true legend of the game; his duels with Jack Nicklaus in the 1970s are memorable. His 29 wins on the regular Tour rank him 19th on the all-time victory list.

Entirely self-taught, Trevino earned his way to the Tour and was Rookie of the Year in 1967. He won the U.S. Open at Baltusrol in 1968, becoming the first player to shoot all four rounds of an Open in the 60s. He was the leading money-winner in 1970 and was Player of the Year in 1971.

He was at his best in the majors. He won the Open again in 1971, and won back-to-back British Open titles in 1971 and 1972. He took the PGA Championship in 1974 and then closed his regular Tour career with another PGA Championship win in 1984.

Trevino has fought through back problems in his career and was even struck by lightning at the 1975 Western Open. He served in the Marine Corps for four years from age 17 to 21. His first golf job was as an assistant pro in El Paso, Texas.