The Crosswater Club at the Sunriver Resort in Oregon this week plays host to the JELD-WEN Tradition tournament, one of five major championships on the Champions Tour.
The tournament first moved to the Crosswater Club in 2007 and has been played there since with Mark McNulty, Fred Funk and Mike Reid the winners in the three previous years at the Robert Cupp designed layout.
A purse of US$2.6 million is up grabs this week with US$392,000 to the winner. Being a major championship all the Champions Tour leading players are in the field including the leading money winner in 2010 Bernhard Langer who with four victories this season leads the money list over Fred Couples and Nick Price. Langer and Couples have established a huge break on the rest of the Champions Tour field.
Langer could manage only 17th in this event last year and 7th in 2008 but he is in such remarkable form in 2010 that it would be no surprise to see him add a third Champions Tour victory in his last four starts after his wins at the British and US Senior Opens.
Fred Couples is playing this event for the first occasion but he knows this area of the US well having been raised in Washington State to the north. He is looking for his fourth win of the season and is well placed to secure it.
John Cook has been very consistent in 2010 and having finished runner up after a playoff last season he gets his chance to atone this week. He has been three times second and twice third in 2010 and this could be the week for the breakthrough.
The Australian challenge rests with Peter Senior and the 66 year old Graham Marsh. Senior is having a very good rookie season on the Champions Tour and is currently in 14th position while for Marsh he is now playing only a limited schedule as he focuses his attention on his golf course design business.
