Champions Tour Insider: Battle for Player of the Year?

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Will Loren Roberts (left), Fred Funk or Bernhard Langer (right) win Player of the Year honors?

A recurring theme has emerged from the early stages of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. It is a discussion on whether anybody (Steve Stricker?) can deny Tiger Woods in his pursuit of another PGA TOUR Player of the Year crown. It's a reach but it could happen.

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If you're looking for a raging debate on the subject of POY, welcome to the Champions Tour, where there is a genuine tussle for the coveted award.

Bernhard Langer and Loren Roberts are in the catbird seats but the race is far from over with six events left on the 2009 schedule. Next up is the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn in Conover, N.C., Sept. 18-20.

As dominant as Langer was over the first half of the season, he no longer is a gimme to win the Charles Schwab Cup, the money list or Player of the Year honors. That's because Roberts has been equally impressive over the latter stages.

Langer has won four titles, one more than Roberts. But Roberts' victories include a major championship, the Senior Open at Sunningdale in England. Both Roberts and Fred Funk have put together major championship resumes that make compelling cases for POY.

Another who could be a contender with a hot finish is two-time winner Keith Fergus (The Cap Cana Championship, Regions Charity Classic).

Through July, Langer was the runaway favorite to sweep Champions Tour honors. He had won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf with partner Tom Lehman and, back to back, the Triton Financial and 3M Championship. He ended July with a T4 finish at the Senior Open behind Roberts.

Roberts has been excellent throughout the campaign. He won The ACE Group Classic, the third event on the schedule, and has 11 top-10 finishes. Since his victory in England, Roberts hasn't finished lower than fifth in the next four starts and contended for two more major titles at the U.S. Senior Open and JELD-WEN Tradition.

The question in the Langer vs. Roberts debate is this: How much is a major championship worth? Roberts has one, Langer has none. Besides, while Roberts has a win and two other top-five finishes in majors, Langer has only the one top-10 at the Senior Open.

Funk is the first of two wild cards in the chase. He has won only once, the U.S. Senior Open, but has a runner-up at the Senior Open, where he lost a playoff to Roberts, and two T5 finishes at the Senior PGA Championship and the JELD-WEN Tradition.

In the process, Funk supplanted Langer as the leader of the Charles Schwab Cup points list. Langer is now third, giving way to Roberts in the No. 2 spot. Langer remains the money leader with $1,776,385 but what once looked like an insurmountable margin has been narrowed by Roberts ($1,594,886) and Funk ($1,360,861).

Statistical analysis also suggests a close POY race. A case can be made for both Langer and Roberts. Langer leads the All-Around category and has all year. He's also first in scoring average (68.94) and greens in regulation (75.61), fourth in putting average (1.733) and ninth in driving distance (287.5 yards).

Roberts' strength, to no surprise, is in the short game area. He's fourth in All-Around, scoring average (69.71) and scrambling (65.22 percent) and first in putting average (1.717), sand save percentage (70.31 percent) and has the most top finishes (11).

The second wild card in the equation is the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, Oct. 1-4, at Baltimore Country Club in Timonium, Md.

A victory by one of the three contenders would shift the balance of power dramatically. If Langer wins, it gives him the major that's missing and neutralizes Roberts' victory at the Senior Open. If Roberts or Funk win, that gives them two majors and there is precedent for two majors being the decisive factor in any POY race.

And if the race is still afoot, the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship will be a fitting conclusion.

Champions Tour Insider notes:

• At the Walmart First Tee Classic, Roberts was attempting to win consecutive events for the first time since 2006 when he started the year with three straight titles and later added a fourth ... Gary Player, 73, bettered his age for the sixth time with an even-par 72 Saturday at Del Monte. It marked the 28th time in his Champions Tour career that Player has shot his age or better.

• Jeff Sluman's victory at Pebble Beach reversed a recent trend. Second-round leaders/co-leaders had won four of the last five years before Sluman outdueled Roberts and Mark O'Meara, who played in the final group.

• Sluman hit the $1 million mark with his $315,000 first-place prize. He's at $1,037,964, fifth on the money list. Sluman became the first golfer to successfully defend a title since John Cook won back-to-back AT&T Championships in 2007-2008. Sluman teamed with Hank Kuehne to win the Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout in 2003-2004. With 315 Charles Schwab Cup points, Sluman moved up 10 spots to No. 9.

• David Eger and Will Bishop of Lexington, Ky., won the pro-junior competition with a better ball 17-under 199 ... Keith Clearwater, twice a winner on the PGA TOUR, made his Champions Tour debut at the Walmart First Tee Classic and finished T42.