(Ponte Vedra Beach, FL) – Jay Haas was named 2006 Player of the Year/Jack Nicklaus Trophy winner by his fellow competitors on the Champions Tour, it was announced today by PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem and Champions Tour President Rick George.
Finchem and George also announced that Eduardo Romero earned Rookie of the Year honors and Tim Simpson was the Comeback Player of the Year.
Haas enjoyed his most productive year since turning professional in 1976. The St. Louis native and longtime Greenville, SC resident won four tournaments in 2006, including his first major title, the Senior PGA Championship. He added two runner-up finishes and 16 top-10s, which included four of the five major championships. After a see-saw battle with Loren Roberts that lasted until the final putt of the year, the nine-time PGA TOUR winner and three-time Ryder Cup team member collected two prestigious year-end honors, the Charles Schwab Cup and the Arnold Palmer Award as leading money winner with $2,420,227. Haas donated his $1 million first-prize annuity from the Charles Schwab Cup to charities in Greenville (Roberts made a similar gesture with his $500,000 annuity in his hometown of Memphis, TN).
"It had been a month since the season ended at Sonoma and I’d kind of forgotten about things (Player of the Year ballot)", said Haas. "It was pretty exciting when I got Rick’s (Rick George) call on Thursday evening. I knew it was a close race. As a matter of fact, I voted for Loren. We both played well pretty much all year and I’m sure the vote could have gone either way. It was certainly one of my goals at the start of the year to be leading money winner and to win the Charles Schwab Cup, goals a number of players have to begin a season. It is very fulfilling to win Player of the Year. I’m going to cherish it for a while, then put it in the back of mind and start thinking about 2007 so I can go out and try and do it again.
"The family was excited for me, of course", Haas added. "Jan and the kids have been great my entire career, allowing me to purse golf and be gone all the time. I know they’re excited for me but at the same time, I’m still just dad. Whether I did it or not, I’m still the same guy".
Romero, a native of Argentina, jump started his Champions Tour career in July when he finished runner-up in a playoff to Loren Roberts in the Senior British Open. The performance provided him access to compete on a regular basis. The eight-time European Tour and 85-time South American Tour winner took full advantage, winning his next Champions Tour start, a major, the JELD-WEN Tradition. He collected two more top-five finishes in his final five starts to finish 17th on the money list with $909,229 and T5 in Charles Schwab Cup points.
A prominent player on the PGA TOUR throughout much of the 1980s who won four times, Simpson encountered a couple of aliments during the 1990s that led to the deterioration of his game. After finishing sixth and eighth on the money list in 1989 and ’90, respectively, the Georgia native fell outside the top 125 two years later and never did crack the mark again. His troubles were first attributed to Lyme Disease he contracted during a 1991 hunting trip. Simpson was later diagnosed as having neurological damage in his left hand known as "benign essential tremor." Idle from professional golf for much of the last five years, he underwent DBS (deep brain stimulation) surgery in March 2005. The former University of Georgia All-American turned 50 last May and went on to compete in 16 tournaments, which included three top-10 finishes, with his best a pair of fifths at the Greater Kansas City Golf Classic and the Senior British Open. He finished the year 46th on the money list with $359,073.
The winners will be officially honored at a Player Dinner in Florida in February.
Contact:
Jeff Adams
Director of Public Relations
Champions Tour
Tel: 904-273-3397
