Sonoma, CA (My Sportsbook) - The Champions Tour has always been about names.

Sure, there's intense competition, but the advent of the Champions Tour years back was about seeing nostalgic names continue competing. Palmer, Nicklaus, Trevino and Chi Chi were just some of the huge names people still wanted to see walk the fairways.

Well those names are gone. (Not Trevino, he's playing as much as ever after back surgery.)

For the past few years, the Champions Tour has been guided by names like Watson, Irwin, Morgan, Crenshaw, Stadler, Zoeller and others. Those players have, and still do, carry the torch admirably, but they are not at the top of leaderboards as much as years past.

The new era of Champions Tour golfer is one who doesn't necessarily commit to the 50-and-over group. Jay Haas and Loren Roberts are duking it out for the money title and Charles Schwab Cup title at this week's event of the same name.

Fred Funk turned 50 in June and won last week. Unfortunately, it was only his third event on the Champions Tour in the four months since his birthday. He's been playing the PGA Tour and even won the Players Championship last year.

All three began their Champions Tour careers splitting time between the Big Show and the Slightly Older Show. Roberts and Haas are almost exclusively teeing it up on the Champions Tour, but Funk isn't yet.

Can you blame them for playing on the PGA Tour? The purse for this week's Chrysler Championship on the PGA Tour is $5.3 million versus $2.5 million at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

The old timers can still do it physically. In the Tiger Woods era of golf, fitness has become a staple of players' lives. Funk and Haas have played Ryder Cups in the last three years and Haas played four of the five sessions.

So, one would think that the Champions Tour would be sour on their new stars' plans?

"It's difficult to assume that the guys are going to come out and play right away," admitted Rick George, President of the Champions Tour. "We think when they're on network and talking about Fred Funk on the Champions Tour, we think that's good for this tour."

The practical reality is that if a 50-year-old man wants to play for more money and in front of a larger audience, there's nothing the Champions Tour can do.

"I don't know if there's anything we can do to entice them, other than having a great event for them to play on very good golf courses," said George. "I think that's going to entice them more than any recruitment we're going to do."

The truth is that, in time, players come to the Champions Tour. Greg Norman is the lone exception to the rule, but he's made so much money off the course that, financially, he could live without the Champions Tour. Plus, a balky back and a sour relationship with PGA Tour management mean very little of Norman.

Curtis Strange basically left a cushy post in the broadcast booth at ABC to play on the Champions Tour. Mark James and Des Smyth basically relocated to play there and both have done well.

For a tour that needs names to exist, it could be getting a jolt in the arm as earlier as next year.

Multiple major winners like Seve Ballesteros, Mark O'Meara, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer and Nick Price all turn 50 in 2007. John Cook and Jeff Sluman also join the fray next year.

It's all a process, and one that has evolved since George took the job. The Champions Tour, with an admitted attendance problem still to be worked on, has a cushy television deal with the Golf Channel and commitments from strong golf courses for years to come.

"In 2003, we were just coming out of a TV relationship, and everyone figured out Jack and Arnie weren't playing as much anymore," said George. "What we did is we re-branded the tour to an area where we thought we had a place in the market. We found out three years later, it does."