Loren Roberts will dominate the Senior, er ah, Champions Tour in 2006

Opening this week to much less fanfare than the PGA Tour did, is the Champions Tour. I still call it the Seniors Tour because, quite frankly, the players are all seniors but not all of them are champions - at least not at the PGA Tour level. It’s just a marketing ploy to make all the players sound more accomplished than they are. But I digress.

This year there’s going to be a new sheriff in town and his name is Loren Roberts – the Boss of the Moss. He played just 6 senior events last year after turning 50 in June, finished in the top 5 all but once (11th), won a senior major (Tradition) and made nearly $1 million.

Lest you think Roberts is just beating up on his elders, the man can still give the big boys a run for their money. He finished tied for 2nd in the Southern Farm Bureau Classic and tied for 4th in the Bob Hope, along with 4 other top 25s last year and just finished tied for 18th this past week at the Sony in Hawaii. In 2005 he retained his PGA Tour card by finishing 93rd on the money list while playing in just 18 events. Now that he has decided to focus more on the Senior Tour in 2006, look out. I predict 5 wins and about $3 million in earnings. Sure beats the hell out of fighting the flatbellies every week.