Another seasoned rookie crop ready to tackle Tour

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Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

Among the 2011 Champions Tour rookies will be Steve Pate, a six-time PGA TOUR winner and winner on the 2010 Nationwide Tour.

With the likes of major champions Fred Couples, Corey Pavin, Paul Azinger and Mark Calcavecchia making their debuts on the Champions Tour in 2010 -- sprinkled in with other multiple PGA TOUR winners like Tommy Armour III, Ted Schulz, David Peoples, Jodie Mudd, Bill Glasson and J.L Lewis also making their first appearances -- there was a great deal of anticipation, discussion and speculation from fellow players, fans and the media as to who was going to come out on top at the end of the year.

We all know now that Fred Couples was the runaway star from the 2010 rookie class. His season included four wins, more than $2 million in earnings for the first time in his 30-year career and an all-time Champions Tour scoring average of 67.96, earning him the Rookie of the Year title. But who is going to be the standout rookie of the 2011 season?

Kenny Perry is perhaps the most credentialed of the group, with 14 PGA TOUR victories and more than $30 million in career earnings. Perry dipped his toes in the Champions Tour late in 2010, testing the waters to prepare for a thorough campaign in 2011. The Kentucky native played the final two full-field events of the season, both in Texas, finishing tied for 35th at the Administaff Small Business Classic and 54th at the AT&T Championship. He also represented the Champions Tour at the Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge toward the end of the year, along with Nick Price and Bernhard Langer.

Perry struggled in the opening rounds of both Champions events, shooting 78 the first week and 74 the second.

"It's kind of like a track meet out here," he said. "I've got to get my mind set more on making birdies quicker. On the PGA TOUR I can plod along and get into position in the first two rounds, and have two more rounds. Out here, I know it's a lot more fast-paced, and I have to really pay attention. I can't afford to make these doubles I've been making. You have to make birdies to cash in."

Even though Perry thinks the scoring may be less "fast-paced" on the PGA TOUR, he is definitely looking forward to a different environment on the Champions Tour.

"Tournament-wise, it's similar because I still have the pressure and the feelings inside me to do well, but definitely the atmosphere out here is much more relaxed," he said. "The people are all friendly, and smiling, and happy. It's pretty easygoing, and I'm excited and happy to be out here."

For players to become eligible to compete in Champions Tour events they must attain age 50 on or before the day of their first tournament 'obligation,' such as the Wednesday pro-am, the date of pre-qualifying or the date of event qualifying. If a player plays less than six tournaments in his first season of eligibility he is considered a rookie the following season. Perry (two events in 2010), Steve Lowery (two), Jay Delsing (one), Tom Byrum (two), Willie Wood (one), Mark Carnevale (four) and Jodie Mudd (four) are all examples of this heading into 2011.

Along with the players already mentioned, a couple of "real" newcomers for 2011 include major champions Mark Brooks and Ian Baker-Finch, who has said he will play sparingly, perhaps five or six events, mixed in with his duties as a CBS golf commentator.

"It's crazy to think I could play as well as the guys who still play golf full time," said the 1991 British Open winner. "I will continue being a commentator for 25 weeks of the year and work on my golf course design, but I'll try to play half a dozen Champions Tour events as well for the next few years."

Baker-Finch has already tested the waters after turning 50, playing in the Handa Australian Senior Open Championship at Royal Perth in his native Australia, finishing tied for 15th after rounds of 75-71-70. Brooks, who played a combined 22 events on both the PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour in 2010, does not turn 50 until March 25 next year.

Other players expected to compete regularly include Brad Faxon (eight TOUR wins), John Huston (seven wins), Steve Pate (six wins) and Jim Gallagher Jr. (five wins), who turns 50 the day before Brooks. Huston (50 on June 1) and Faxon (Aug. 1) will have to wait until later in the year to get started.

Pate, a former Ryder Cup player who celebrates his 50th birthday on May 26, comes to the Champions Tour after toiling for several years on the Nationwide Tour. He became that Tour's oldest winner in March of 2010 with victory at the Bogota Open in Colombia, his first win anywhere since 1998.

"I'm ready to play with guys my own age," said Pate. "Three days of competition instead of four ... nobody outdriving me by 50 yards ... cart optional ... what's the downside?"

Those who successfully progressed through the Champions Tour National Qualifying School to gain membership for 2011 include Frankie Minoza and Lee Rinker, both finishing tied for second behind winner Keith Clearwater. Roger Chapman and Mark Mouland, both former winners on the European Tour, earned conditional status by finishing sixth and eighth respectively at the q-School.

Minoza, from The Philippines, may be the sleeper in this group. The longtime player in Asia has won seven titles on the Japan Golf Tour. He has also won titles in Indonesia, Taiwan, Singapore, Pakistan, Korea, The Philippines and Malaysia. At one time in his career he was ranked in the top-50 in the world.

Rinker, who tied for second with Minoza at the Q-School, competed on the PGA TOUR in the late 1990s, earning a pair of runner-up finishes in 1997 at the GTE Byron Nelson Classic and the B.C. Open. Rinker also recently served as the head golf professional at Trump International GC in West Palm Beach, Fla. Rinker's name may be familiar to golf fans -- his brother (Larry) and sister (Laurie) also played successfully as professionals.

Minoza and Rinker would surely like to follow in the footsteps of Peter Senior and Chien Soon Lu. Senior traveled from his native Australia to win the Qualifying School late in 2009 and went on to finish 20th on the money list with $821,666, capturing 18 top-25 finishes in 25 starts in his rookie season. Lu claimed the 12th, and final, conditionally-exempt spot after an eight-hole playoff at the same q-School. The amiable man from Taiwan surprised everyone when he seemingly contended every week on Tour. Eight top-10s in 19 starts earned him not just the respect of his peers, but also $929,764 and 16th position on the final money list.

Greg Twiggs, Bob Lohr, Ernie Gonzalez Jr., Jim Carter and Chris Perry, who all have a single PGA TOUR victory to their names, also become eligible for the 2011 rookie class of the Champions Tour but will have limited status.