Champions Tour

John Cook and Tom Lehman finished atop the leaderboard at Hualalai to open the 2011 Champions Tour season. The rest of the year went pretty much the same way with each player claiming three events on the 50-and-over circuit. Cook is back in Hawaii to defend his title at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship, which starts Friday and is the first of 23 official events on the 2012 schedule. Lehman is coming off a strong season in which he won a career-best $2.1 million en route to claiming the money title and player of the year honors.

After playing only one event on the European Senior Tour, Roger Chapman showed up at the Senior PGA Championship in fine form. Chapman shot a 3-under 68 on Thursday to take the first-round lead at Harbor Shores. Chapman tied for 16th this month in the Mallorca Open — and that's about all he's done this season. "We have only played one event in Europe this year, so this is probably my fourth real competitive round this year," the Englishman said. "It's a long way to come, a long wait.

Tom Lehman now has won player of the year at every stage of his career. Lehman has been voted the Champions Tour player of the year after a season in which he won three times and won the Charles Schwab Cup. Lehman also won the money list, the only Champions Tour player to surpass $2 million. Two decades ago, Lehman was player of the year on what then was called the Hogan Tour. He was voted player of the year on the PGA Tour in 1996 when he won the money list and two tournaments, including the British Open for his lone major.

She might be only 14 years old, but Megan Khang has qualified for the most prestigious tournament in women's golf. Khang, from Rockland, earned one of two spots into this year's US Women's Open at a qualifier on Monday at Longmeadow Country Club. Her two-round, 141 total trailed only the 140 from Westford's Alison Walshe , and sent both to the women's national championship, which is July 5-8 at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis. It'll be Khang's first appearance in the US Women's Open, but she's no stranger to US Golf Association events, having played in the last three US Girls...

Dan Forsman won the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship on Sunday for his third Champions Tour title, closing with a 3-under 69 in windy conditions for a two-stroke victory over Jay Don Blake. The 53-year-old Forsman, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, finished with a 15-under 201 total at Hualalai Resort. He opened with rounds of 67 and 65 to take a two-stroke lead into the final round. Blake finished with a 67. John Cook, the 2011 winner, shot a 68 to tie for third with Michael Allen at 12 under.

Tom Lehman looks to continue feasting on the Champions Tour when he begins the defense of his title at the Allianz Championship Friday. His victory at last year's Allianz Championship kick-started a season in which Lehman won the Charles Schwab Cup, the money title and was named by his peers as the Champions Tour's player of the year. That honor completed a rare trifecta. Lehman became the first golfer to be named player of the year on the Nationwide Tour (1991), PGA Tour (1996)

Corey Pavin made a 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole Sunday to defeat Peter Senior and win the Allianz Championship for his first Champions Tour title Sunday at Broken Sound. Both players shot a final-round 71 to finish tied at 11-under 205. Senior forced the playoff with a birdie on the last hole of regulation, but his birdie try in the playoff stopped an inch short of the cup. Mark Calcavecchia appeared to be cruising to the victory when he birdied the par-5 11th hole to take a three-shot lead over Pavin.

Jay Don Blake beat John Cook on the fifth playoff hole Sunday to win the Songdo IBD Championship for his first Champions Tour victory. The two Americans shot 68s in the final round to finish at 13-under 203 with Mark O'Meara and Peter Senior at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea. O'Meara and Senior were eliminated from the playoff after bogeys on the third hole. Blake won with a 10-foot birdie on the fifth. In April, Cook beat Blake in a playoff in Lutz, Fla. "It's not like I was out to get revenge, but it's kind of nice to even the score and take him down," Blake said.

Bob Tway was walking from the putting green to the first tee at Rock Barn on Friday morning when he saw Mike Goodes shot a 28 on the front nine. “After playing the pro-am we knew we had to shoot low,’’ Tway said. “But then when you see someone shoot 28, I think it kind of shocks you in that, ‘Ooh, we’re going to have to shoot really low.’’’ No problem for Tway, especially when you have only 23 putts. Tway birdied the 18th hole for a 9-under 63 on Friday to open a one-shot lead over Goodes, Tommy Armour III, Joe Ozaki and Mark Wiebe after the first...

Mark Wiebe felt terrible about missing his induction into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. His decision to go to work instead was a good one — even if he had to put in overtime. Hours before he was to be honored on the other side of the country, Wiebe won his first Champions Tour title in three years Sunday at Rock Barn. He holed a par putt on the third playoff hole following a weather delay and won the Greater Hickory Classic when Monday qualifier James Mason missed a 4-foot putt.

Fred Funk birdied the final hole to edge Tom Lehman and win the Champions Tour's Insperity Championship. Tied with one hole left, Funk hit his approach on No. 18 to 2 feet. Lehman missed his birdie putt, and Funk tapped in for his seventh victory on the 50-and-over tour first since 2010. He finished with a 5-under 67 for a 14-under 202 total. The 55-year-old Funk added one more good memory at the Woodlands Country Club, where he won the Houston Open in 1992 for the first of his eight wins on the regular tour.

Each Thursday, the Boston Globe hands out its weekly golf award, goes inside the numbers, and looks at the week ahead on the tours: Player of the week: Jason Dufner. It's tempting to recognize Dufner for his impending wedding on Saturday to Amanda Boyd, but we'll keep the honor reserved for on-course achievement. Dufner did deliver himself and his bride-to-be a timely wedding present, winning the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for his first PGA Tour victory in his 164th start. Dufner, by most accounts, had been the best player without a tour win (you're...

Michael Allen, with a little help from David Frost, has gone from practically unknown on the Champions Tour to practically unbeatable. Allen and Frost shot a better-ball 10-under-par 62 Sunday for 29-under 187 and a one-stroke victory over John Cook and Joey Sindelar in the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf championship. Allen won the 2009 Senior PGA Championship, then went winless in 40 consecutive events until winning at TPC Tampa Bay last week. Now, he's the top money-winner on the senior circuit and leads in the Charles Schwab Cup race.

Nice move from the Travelers Championship, which hosts an annual dinner in Augusta during Masters week. Attending the cocktail portion of the evening was Hunter Mahan, who earned the first of his five PGA Tour titles at the 2007 Travelers. Mahan is the only multiple winner on tour this season (Match Play, Houston Open), and is ranked a career-best fourth in the world. Tickets are available for the Travelers (which used to be known as the Greater Hartford Open), which is June 21-24 at TPC River Highlands near Hartford.

Jeff Sluman shot an 8-under 64 on Saturday to climb into a tie with Fred Couples for the second-round lead in the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic. Sluman birdied five of his final seven holes in his bogey-free round to reach 11 under at Fallen Oak. Couples followed his course-record 63 in the opening round with a 70 in the second. Couples made six birdies in a row to finish his course-record round early Saturday morning. Jim Thorpe will join Sluman and Couples be in the final group Sunday.

Tiger Woods ran off four straight birdies early in his round Friday and made short work of the par-5s on his way to a 7-under-par 65, giving him a share of the lead with Charlie Wi after two rounds of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Fla. Woods is a six-time winner at the Bay Hill course. He looked closer than ever to winning a tour event - any tour - for the first time since November 2009. "It was a solid round of golf," Woods said. "I felt like I actually hit it better yesterday than I did today.

Loren Roberts shot a 69 on Sunday to win the Toshiba Classic by two strokes over Mark Calcavecchia, Tom Kite and Bernhard Langer. Roberts made a 5-foot birdie putt on the final hole to ensure the victory after bogeys on three of the previous four holes. "We did make it interesting," he said. "We got off to the start you dream of doing, but hit a snag on the back. " Roberts began the day two strokes behind Calcavecchia, but made birdies on three of his first four holes.

Kenny Perry shot a 2-under 70 Sunday for his second Champions Tour title, cruising to a five-shot victory in the ACE Group Classic. Perry birdied three of his first eight holes, and no one ever got closer than four shots after that. Perry totaled 24 birdies — two short of the tour record for a 54-hole event — and tied Allen Doyle (1999) for the largest margin of victory in the 25-year-old tournament. Last year's Champions Tour rookie of the year set the tour's 36-hole scoring record in relation to par at 18 under following a 62 in Saturday's second round.