Champions Tour’s Legends of Golf begins Friday in Missouri

Golf fans will have a chance to see some of the biggest stars in the history of golf during the Bass Pro Legends of Golf tournament this week at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Mo.

The event features two divisions. In the Champions Division, players will play 54 holes at Buffalo Ridge and Top of the Rock courses and compete for official Champions Tour prize money. The Legends Division is for players 65 and over who will play 45 holes at Top of the Rock, the only course with all par-3 holes used in an official pro golf tournament.

Players in the Champions field include Missouri natives Tom Watson, who will team with Andy North, and Hale Irwin, who plays with West Short Jr.

Legends Division champs Jim Colbert and Jim Thorpe are back to defend their title. Colbert, who went to Kansas State, and Thorpe will be challenged by some of the best-known players in the game, including the teams of Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, Lee Trevino and Mike Hill, and Chi Chi Rodriguez and Bob Murphy.

Tournament director Kirk Elmquist said fans will enjoy seeing Rodriguez, who will be appearing for the first time.

“He’s 79 years old and still entertaining the crowds like he always did,” Elmquist said.

Elmquist said tournament officials have benefited from having more time to prepare for the tournament than they did last year.

“We are going in a very good direction,” Elmquist said “There is tremendous excitement with the field. Things are going well with sponsorships. It is a tremendous time to be involved with this tournament.”

Fans will benefit from improved parking and a mobile app that fans can use to get information on the tournament. Also new is the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum in the clubhouse of the Top of the Rock course, which is just south of Branson.

This year, the tournament will use a two-man better-ball competition with a modified alternate shot format. That means both players on a tee will hit a tee shot before alternating the rest of each hole.

“The changed format this year I think will make play a little bit better,” Champions Tour player Tom Lehman said. “I think we’ll be a little more aggressive, more birdies, some lower scores. But overall, I think there’s room in golf to do things a bit differently, and this is one of them.”

This story was originally published April 23, 2015 at 10:42 AM with the headline "Champions Tour’s Legends of Golf begins Friday in Missouri."