Four Tour legends commit to Senior Players Champ.

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BALTIMORE -- In what was already shaping up to be perhaps the strongest field of the Champions Tour season, the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship gained commitments from four of the over-50 circuit's living legends on Tuesday.

Champions Tour career wins leader Hale Irwin, former U.S. Open champion Tom Kite, 25-time Champions Tour winner Gil Morgan and former Morgan State running back Jim Thorpe will all compete in this year's event, tournament officials announced Tuesday. The 2009 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship returns to Baltimore Country club in just over two weeks, Sept. 28-Oct. 4.

Irwin

The most decorated player in Champions Tour history, Irwin, has amassed 45 wins and over $25 million in official prize money since joining the Tour in 1995. A 20-time winner on the PGA TOUR, including three memorable U.S. Open victories, Irwin has set a standard of excellence on the Champions Tour over the last 15 years, winning seven major championships and claiming the season-long Charles Schwab Cup in 2002 and 2004.

Included among Irwin's seven major championship victories was a seven-shot triumph in the 1999 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship. In two previous starts in the Senior Players since the event moved to Baltimore Country Club, Irwin posted ties for seventh in 2007 and 27th last year.

Kite

A 19-time winner on the PGA TOUR during a career that spanned over 25 years (full time from 1973-1999), including a dramatic victory in the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, Kite hasn't missed a beat since joining the Champions Tour in 2000. Now in his 10th full season, Kite has 10 victories on the Champions Tour, highlighted by a major championship victory at the 2000 JELD-WEN Tradition.

A long-time resident of Austin, Texas, Kite has earned over $1 million in eight of nine seasons on the Champions Tour and has notched six top-10 finishes in 2009. His best finish in the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship was a tie for second in 2003, and he tied for 25th and 21st in 2007 and 2008, respectively, at Baltimore Country Club.

Morgan

Irwin's primary rival through the late 1990s and early years of this decade, Morgan has enjoyed prolonged success on the Champions Tour. Following a PGA TOUR career in which he won seven times from 1977-1990, Morgan joined the Champions Tour in September of 1996 and proceeded to win 13 times before the end of the 1998 season, including six-win campaigns in 1997 and 1998.

With 25 career Champions Tour victories, Morgan ranks third all time behind Irwin's 45 and Lee Trevino's 29, and he has earned nearly $19 million in official earnings. Winner of the 1998 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, Morgan tied for 25th at Baltimore Country Club in 2007 and 13th last year.

Thorpe

A Champions Tour regular since turning 50 in 1999, Thorpe returns to Maryland for the third consecutive year in 2009. Following a PGA TOUR career in which he earned three victories, Thorpe has won 13 times on the Champions Tour, including a major championship title at the 2002 JELD-WEN Tradition.

In 18 events in 2009, Thorpe has two top-10s, with his best finish a tie for fourth at the Regions Charity Classic in May. He produced back-to-back ties for second at the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship in 2002 and 2003.