In an event that is certainly unlike any other in golf, and which is always one of the most entertaining points on the schedule, the Champions Tour heads to the heartland this week for the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf.
Team play, differing formats and two championship courses — including the all-new Ozarks National, a Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore design — make this one of the most exciting and unpredictable events of the season.
Last year, Paul Broadhurst and Kirk Triplett teamed up for a final-day 6-under par and then edged Tom Lehman and Bernhard Langer in a playoff to capture the title.
Here’s all the information you need to stay on top of this week’s Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf.
THE SKINNY
Tournament: Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf
Dates:Â April 26-28, 2019
Where: Big Cedar Lodge, Ridgedale, Mo.
Top of the Rock: Par 27, 1,404 yards (Jack Nicklaus)
Ozarks National: Par 71, 7,036 yards (Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw)
Format: 72-holes, multiple formats, no cut
Purse: $1,800,000
Winning Share: $342,000
Defending Champions: Paul Broadhurst/Kirk Triplett
Marquee Teams: Billy Andrade/Joe Durant, Miguel Angel Jimenez/Jose Maria Olazabal, Corey Pavin/Duffy Waldorf, Paul Goydos/Kevin Sutherland, Olin Browne/Steve Pate, John Daly/Michael Allen, Andy North/Tom Watson, Colin Montgomerie/Mark O’Meara, Lee Janzen/Rocco Mediate, Brad Faxon/Jeff Sluman, Fred Funk/Dana Quigley, Peter Jacobsen/Jay Haas, Brandt Jobe/Scott McCarron, Larry Nelson/Billy Mayfair, Jesper Parnevik/Jeff Maggert
TV AND ONLINE
Fri: 12 – 2:00 pm (GOLF)
Sat: 3 – 6:00 pm (GOLF)
Sun: 3 – 6:00 pm (GOLF)
Web | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Wikipedia
HISTORY
This year will be the 42nd edition of the event, originally known as the Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf, and the sixth year contested in the state of Missouri under the Bass Pro Shops banner.
The tournament is also the second oldest on the senior circuit, with only the 78-year-old Senior PGA Championship exceeding it in longevity.
The first Legends of Golf event was contested at Onion Creek Country Club in Austin, TX, in 1978, with Sam Snead and Gardner Dickinson teaming up to finish one-shot clear of Peter Thompson and Kel Nagle in the better-ball format.
This event is credited with helping spawn the Senior PGA Tour, now confusing called the PGA Tour Champions.
Its $400,000 purse in 1978 was the largest in professional golf at the time. In the 1979 Legends event, people started talking when Art Wall and Tommy Bolt made five birdies in a playoff only to be matched by five birdies from the team of Julius Boros and Roberto De Vicenzo. Boros and De Vicenzo finally prevailed that year by making birdie on the sixth extra hole.
Big Cedar Lodge is the sixth home of the tournament. It was played in Austin, Texas, from 1978-94 (Onion Creek Country Club and Barton Creek Country Club) before a three-year run in La Quinta, Calif., from 1995-97.
After a year at the Golf Club of Amelia Island (1998) in Amelia Island, Fla., it moved to St. Augustine, Fla., in 1999 and was played at both courses at the World Golf Village through 2002 before relocating to Savannah in 2003. The Club at Savannah Harbor was the venue from 2003-2013.
HISTORY: TOURNAMENT NAMES
2013-18: Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf
1988-12: Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf
HISTORY: RECENT WINNERS
2018: Paul Broadhurst/Kirk Triplett
2017: Carlos Franco/Vijay Singh
2016: Michael Allen/Woody Austin
2015: Billy Andrade/Joe Durant
2014: Fred Funk/Jeff Sluman
2013: Brad Faxon/Jeff Sluman
2012: Michael Allen/David Frost
2011: Mark McNulty/David Eger
THE GOLF COURSES
1. OZARKS NATIONAL
Designed in 2018 by the award-winning team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, Ozarks National offers incredible vistas and beautiful views of the Ozarks.
The 18-hole layout features challenging carries and a variety of visually appealing approach shots that are highlighted by the native habitat. The course also includes interesting features, such as a 400-foot wooden beam and plank bridge, which connects the tee box and fairway of the 13th hole that stands 60-feet above a flowing creek.
- Ozarks National Course is an 18-Hole, Par 71 public golf course.
- The golf course measures 7,036 yards from the back tees to 5,025 yards from the forward tees.
2. TOP OF THE ROCK
Located high above beautiful Table Rock Lake, the course is one a kind Jack Nicklaus design that blends pro-style tee boxes and signature greens with natural water elements including waterfalls, creeks, and bass-filled ponds.
- Top of the Rock is a 9-Hole, Par 27 public golf course.
- The golf course ranges from 1,420 yards from the back tees to 945 yards from the forward tees.
- Tees and greens are lush Bent grass surrounded by Bluegrass roughs.
- The first-ever Par-3 course to be included in a PGA Tour championship.
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS
Paul Broadhurst and Kirk Triplett teamed up for a final-day 6 under par and then edged Tom Lehman and Bernhard Langer in a playoff to capture the title at the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf.
The unheralded duo battled defending champions Carlos Franco and Vijay Singh down the stretch, with Triplett eventually breaking the deadlock with a birdie on the 15th to finish at 24 under, alongside Lehman and Langer who made birdies on five of their final seven holes to set the clubhouse mark.
On the first playoff hole at Top of the Rock, Triplett won it with a hole-out birdie from the bunker, as Lehman and Langer both missed birdie attempts.
Franco and Singh posted a final-round 4 under to finish T3, alongside Miguel Angel Jiménez and José MarÃa Olazábal, who shot 6 under to reach 23-under par.
Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly shot a final-day 4-under par to finish T5 at 20-under par. John Daly and Michael Allen (49), Mark Calcavecchia and Woody Austin (48), and David Toms and Steve Flesch (52) were the others tied for fifth.
FINAL TOP 5
1 Broadhurst / Triplett -24
2 Lehman / Langer -24
3 Jiménez / Olazábal -23
3 Franco / Singh -23
5 Daly / Allen -20
5 Stricker / Kelly -20
5 Toms / Flesch -20
5 Calcavecchia / Austin -20
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
FRIDAY
- Course: Top of the Rock
- Field: 18 teams (A)
- Start Time: 9:30 am
- Format: 18 holes, Alternate shot (front nine); Best ball (back nine)
- Course: Ozark National
- Field: 18 teams (B)
- Start Time: 9:30 am
- Format: 18 holes, Best ball
SATURDAY
- Course: Top of the Rock
- Field: 18 teams (B)
- Start Time: 9:00 am
- Format: 18 holes, Alternate shot (front nine); Best ball (back nine)
- Course: Ozark National
- Field: 18 teams (A)
- Start Time: 9:00 am
- Format: 18 holes, Best ball
SUNDAY FINALE
- Course: Top of the Rock
- Field: 36 teams (A & B)
- Start Time: 7:00 am
- Format: 18 holes, Alternate shot (front nine); Best ball (back nine)
- Course: Top of the Rock
- Legends/Celebrity Shootout:Â Jack Nicklaus/Justin Timberlake, Gary Player/Paige Spiranac, Lee Trevino/Kid Rock, David Graham/Dude Perfect, Ben Crenshaw/Mark Wahlberg, Jerry Pate/John Morris & Larry the Cable Guy
- Start Time: 9:20 am
THE FIELD
Because of the depth of the field, the somewhat less-formal nature of the competition and the unique setting, this is a great event for fans who want a chance to get close access to some of the greatest living names in golf.
This year’s 36-team field includes 11 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame: Ben Crenshaw, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Colin Montgomerie, Mark O’Meara, Jose Maria Olazabal, Vijay Singh, Tom Watson, and Ian Woosnam.
Additionally, Sunday’s schedule includes a Celebrity Skins Shootout where Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Ben Crenshaw, Jerry Pate and David Graham will join celebrities Mark Wahlberg, Kid Rock, Larry the Cable Guy, and Justin Timberlake, among others.
Predicting which teams will get hot at the right time is always a crapshoot, but among the pairings you would point to as being well-positioned for success are the two most recent winning teams of Paul Broadhurst / Kirk Triplett (2018) and Carlos Franco / Vijay Singh (2017).
Other notable teams to watch include Spaniards Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez (T3 last year); the 2015 winning team of Billy Andrade and Joe Durant; a pair of UCLA Bruins in Brandt Jobe and Scott McCarron, who enters off a win last week at TPC Sugarloaf; and the South African twosome of Retief Goosen and Mark McNulty.
PAIRINGS
- Michael Allen / John Daly
- Billy Andrade / Joe Durant
- Paul Broadhurst / Kirk Triplett
- Mark Brooks / John Huston
- Olin Browne / Steve Pate
- Bart Bryant / Brad Bryant
- Mark Calcavecchia / Woody Austin
- Roger Chapman / David Frost
- Brad Faxon / Jeff Sluman
- Bruce Fleisher / Tom Jenkins
- Fred Funk / Dana Quigley
- Retief Goosen / Mark McNulty
- Paul Goydos / Kevin Sutherland
- Morris Hatalsky / Bob Gilder
- Hale Irwin / Wes Short, Jr.
- Lee Janzen / Rocco Mediate
- Peter Jacobsen / Jay Haas
- Brandt Jobe / Scott McCarron
- Tom Kite / Gil Morgan
- Colin Montgomerie / Mark O’Meara
- Larry Nelson / Billy Mayfair
- JM Olazabal / Miguel Angel Jimenez
- Scott Parel / Larry Mize
- Jesper Parnevik / Jeff Maggert
- Corey Pavin / Duffy Waldorf
- Tom Pernice / Scott Hoch
- Mike Reid / Dan Forsman
- Scott Simpson / Wayne Levi
- Joey Sindelar / John Cook
- Vijay Singh / Carlos Franco
- Hal Sutton / Loren Roberts
- Ken Tanigawa / Gene Sauers
- David Toms / Steve Flesch
- Scott Verplank / Bob Tway
- Sandy Lyle / Ian Woosnam
- Tom Watson / Andy North
Credits: PGA Tour Media, Getty Images
