The Champions Tour gets back to action after a week off at the Encompass Championship in Chicago.
The North Shore Country Club can trace its history back to 1900 and will host the senior set. The Course is a Colt, MacKenzie and Alison design from 1924.
It hosted the 1928 Western Open, 1933 U.S. Open, 1939 and 1983 U.S. Amateurs and the 2011 Western Amateur. The Encompass Championship has been held here since 2013.
Craig Stadler won this event last year at the age of 60 and will defend his title this week. It was Stadler’s ninth Champions Tour win, but his first since 2004.
Eighty-one players will be on hand to vie for a piece of the $1.8 million purse and the $270,000 first-place check.
Bernhard Langer leads the Charles Schwab Cup race and the Champions Tour money list.
Jay Haas is not too far behind Langer in the second spot in Charles Schwab Cup points. He has one runner-up, five third-place finishes and 10 top-10 finishes in 11 starts this season.
Colin Montgomerie is making his first appearance on tour since winning the Senior PGA Championship at Benton Harbor. He has climbed to No. 3 in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.
2013 Charles Schwab Cup winner, Kenny Perry is No. 4 in the ranking and just made the cut at the U.S. Open. He won the Regions Tradition in May and appears ready to contend for his second Charles Schwab Cup.
Freddie Couples is No. 5 in the Charles Schwab Cup race, but is still nursing a sore back and not in the field this week.
The Champions Tour players will use this week to prepare for three consecutive senior major championships.
The Senior Players Championship will be held June 26-29 at Fox Chapel outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
After a week break the U.S. Senior Open will be held at Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Oklahoma, July 10-13.
The old guys then move across the Atlantic for the Senior Open Championship to be held July 24-27 at Royal Porthcawl in Bridgend, Wales.