Oct 9, 2008 - 6:04 AM
TIMONIUM, Maryland (Ticker) - The final major of the season on the Champions Tour, the Senior Players Championship, starts Thursday on Baltimore Country Club's Five Farms East Course.
Last year, Loren Roberts won the title by six strokes and the victory propelled him to the Schwab Cup title. This season, Roberts enters the season's fifth major in seventh place on the Schwab Cup list, 995 points behind leader Jay Haas, and fifth on the money list.
The $2.6 million event is Roberts' last chance at capturing a major championship for the fourth straight season. He has eight career titles on the senior circuit, including one this season at the Commerce Bank Championship in June.
Haas enters this event on top of the Schwab Cup standings, a spot he has held for 10 of the last 12 weeks. Haas has two wins this season, the Senior PGA Championship and the Principal Charity Classic, which he won back-to-back a little over four months ago.
R.W. Eaks, Eduardo Romero, Fred Funk, John Cook and Mark O'Meara are among the likely candidates to challenge Robert and Haas for the title this week.
The Five Farms East course will play at 7,037 yards and a par-70.
First prize is $390,000.