The Champions Tour returns to action this week with their first major tournament of the year. The Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid will be held at historic Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis, Missouri.
Bellerive Country Club hosted the 1965 U.S. Open won by Gary Player and Nick Price won the 1992 PGA Championship held here. The course also hosted the 2004 U.S. Senior Open won by Peter Jacobsen. In addition to the Senior PGA, Bellerive will host the 100th PGA Championship in 2018.
The Senior PGA Championship was first held in 1937 and the first two Senior PGA Championships were played at Augusta National Golf Club.
Sam Snead won six Senior PGA Championships and former winners include, Gene Sarazen, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, and Tom Watson.
Englishman Roger Chapman will defend this week. He won the first of his two senior major championships last year at the Senior PGA held at The Golf Club of Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Chapman also won the 2012 U.S. Senior Open later in the summer.
Bernhard Langer with two wins in 2013 leads the Charles Schwab Cup rankings and has to be the favorite this week.
One of the surprises is the decision of David Frost to play in the Crowne Plaza Invitational on the PGA Tour rather than play at Bellerive. Frost is No. 2 on the Charles Schwab Cup rankings and has played very well on the Champions Tour.
John Cook, Tom Pernice Jr., Rocco Mediate, Fred Couples, Mark O’Meara, Tom Lehman and Tom Watson will be in the field at the Senior PGA.
It can be seen on the Golf Channel Thursday, May 23 and Friday, May 24, 3:00-6:00 PM ET. Golf Channel will continue their early coverage on Saturday, May 25, and Sunday, May 26, 1:00-2:30 PM ET.
NBC, with Johnny Miller, Roger Maltbie and the rest of their broadcasting crew, will air the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday 3:00-6:00 PM ET