
Steve Pate was counting down the days before he finally joined the Champions Tour at the Senior PGA Championship in Louisville last month. He had been playing mostly on the Nationwide Tour for the last five years and was certainly more than ready to finally play again with fellow professionals who were his own age. Pate had some success on the Nationwide Tour, becoming the oldest winner in the history of the circuit when he captured the Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open in Colombia at 48 years, 9 months, 11 days. Pate also had a nice career on the PGA TOUR, winning six times with his last title coming at the 1998 CVS Charity Classic. Pate was a member of both the 1991 and 1999 United States Ryder Cup teams and also finished among the top 10 in all four major championships.