The Senior PGA Tour today announced its 2001 schedule, which includes a three-event California swing in March, a new match play championship and the debut of the Tour on CNBC television.
The lineup features 38 official events and seven unofficial events in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Last week, the Tour announced a multidimensional national marketing program that will ally the circuit with Charles Schwab & Co. financial service providers and CNBC television.
Key components of the four-year deal include the establishment of the Schwab Cup -- a season-long, points-based bonus program for players -- and 33 tournaments telecast by the Tour's new broadcast partner.
New events and new courses for the 2001 Seniors. Allsport.
The Senior Tour, a 21-year-old venue for players over 50, has had events televised on ESPN, but next year will turn primarily to CNBC, a financial news network that attracts older viewers.
The SBC Senior Classic moves from October to the spring and will follow the Toshiba Senior Classic. The California swing concludes with the new Siebel Classic in Silicon Valley March 16-18 at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Coyote Creek Golf Club in San Jose.
The Enterprise Rent-A-Car Match Play Championship, formerly the Boone Valley Classic, also debuts in 2001. The $2 million event features a 78-player field vying over the first two days in stroke play to advance to a 16-player, single-elimination match play format.
The Schwab Cup begins with the season-opening MasterCard Championship in Hawaii and concludes in late October with the Senior Tour Championship.
Charles Schwab & Co. is one of the nation's leading financial service providers, serving 7.3 million active accounts with $937 billion in client assets. It will act as the official investment firm of the PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour.
