My Five: Best Champions Tour players

Golf Digest Senior Writer Jaime Diaz ranks golf's best Champions Tour players

By Jaime Diaz

To me, some of the most enjoyable golf to watch is played on the Champions Tour. The top players (other than Fred Couples) may no longer possess the power that's so prominent on the PGA Tour, but they display more artistry through the bag. Golfers keep their skills longer than other professional athletes, and it's become clear from the increasing success of 50-and-over players who keep playing events on the PGA Tour that the winning golf played on the Champions Tour achieves a very high level. Here are my five best Champions Tour players ever.

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1. Hale Irwin

The best by a mile. His 45 career victories are 16 more than anyone else. As a senior, he remained the ultra-competitive grinder who won three U.S. Opens, but with the need for length reduced, the completeness of the rest of his game shone. Raymond Floyd said that he never saw a better putter in his life than Irwin after age 50. Irwin won a recording-tying nine times in 1997, and seven times the next year. He also won seven Champions Tour majors, including the 1997 PGA Seniors by 12 strokes. Irwin went 11 straight seasons with multiple victories, five more than anyone else. Although injuries have taken their toll, he's won three tournaments since turning 60.

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