Bruce Fleisher, the first Senior PGA Tour player to win his first two tournaments and the first rookie to lead the money list, swept the top two awards today.
Fleisher won the Jack Nicklaus Award for being voted player of the year and rookie of the year award as well, becoming the first to win both awards since Lee Trevino in 1990.
Tom Jenkins was voted comeback player of the year.
Fleisher took the 50-and-over circuit by storm. He won seven times and was runner-up another seven times, and set a record with 56 rounds in the 60s. He also won the Byron Nelson Award with a 69.19 scoring average. He also set a rookie record by winning $2.5 million.
Jenkins was voted comeback player of the year for improving from a lackluster 1998 season, in which he was 36th on the money list. While he won only once on the Senior Tour this year, he finished seventh on the money list with more than $1.1 million.
PAYNE TOURNAMENT: The First Academy in Orlando, Fla., the school where Payne Stewart's two children attend, got plenty of support for the Payne Stewart Memorial Celebrity Golf Tournament at Isleworth Country Club on Monday.
Tiger Woods, John Cook, Lee Janzen, and John Daly were among those who played with three amateurs to raise money to build an athletic complex at the First Academy. The 32 groups amateurs paid anywhere from $6,000 to $25,000 to play 18 holes with celebrities.
While Wayne Gretzky was unable to attend because of a sore neck, Scott Hoch managed to find a last-minute replacement in Woods.
"It was great that Tiger did it," said Hoch. "He helped a lot."
Stewart donated $500,000 to the First Academy two weeks before he was killed in a plane crash. He also was behind a celebrity tournament last year for the school, which raised $80,000. Officials were hopeful of raising $300,000 from this year's event.
TOGETHER AGAIN:Although they played in only two Ryder Cups together, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson were one of the most formidable teams ever. They won all four of their team matches, none lasting longer than 16 holes.
Nicklaus and Watson will team up again this weekend at Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Beach, Calif., for the Diners Club Matches, which features four teams from the PGA Tour, Senior Tour and LPGA Tour.
"I remember Ryder Cup matches we use to play, you said one time when we were paired together, 'We have a 2-up advantage before we get to the first tee,' " Watson told Nicklaus in a news conference. "As old as we're getting, I don't think we have that advantage any more. We're going to have to play our butts off."
Nicklaus replied, "I don't even know if we have a 1-up (advantage) anymore."
Along with their Ryder Cup record, Nicklaus and Watson estimated they have played a dozen times as partners during practice rounds. How often did they reach for their wallets?
"Not very often," Nicklaus said.
The defending Senior champions are Gil Morgan and Jay Sigel. Also in the bracket are the teams of Bruce Fleisher-David Graham and Allen Doyle-Dana Quigley. The PGA Tour teams are defending champs Steve Elkington-Jeff Maggert, Fred Couples-Mark Calcavecchia, Steve Pate-Mark Wiebe and Skip Kendall-Chris Perry.
The LPGA Tour matches are between defending champions Juli Inkster-Dottie Pepper, Laura Davies-Kelli Kuehne, Annika Sorenstam-Lorie Kane and Karrie Webb-Kelly Robbins.
DIVOTS: The Tour Championship will return to Champions Golf Club in Houston in 2001. ... The Arnold Palmer Co. will no longer sponsor the Palmer Cup, but IMG has stepped in to make sure the Ryder Cup-style matches between college players will retain the name of its first client. ... Paul Lawrie, beaten by Tiger Woods in the Grand Slam of Golf, has been invited to play the Williams World Challenge the last week of the year in Arizona. ... Along with courtesy cars at every event, PGA Tour and Senior Tour players will get cell phones, wireless service and complimentary long-distance service in the locker rooms from AT&T, which expanded its relationship through a new four-year deal. ... Senior Tour events raised a record $11 million for charities this year, nearly $1 million more than in 1998.
STAT OF THE WEEK: Only one player -- Payne Stewart -- among the top 15 on the PGA Tour career money list at the start of the season won this year.
FINAL WORD:"I've been staying at the same hotels and playing the same golf courses for so many years. I get to go to a town and not know where the hell I'm going.'' -- Lanny Wadkins on joining the Senior Tour.
