Whoever it was, didn’t consider Bristol, Rhode Island native and professional golfer Billy Andrade. One of the better-known and well-accomplished athletes from the Ocean State, Andrade recently turned 50 years old that, for most athletes in pro sports, means your career has long been over with. Not Billy’s.
You see the PGA Tour has this thing called the Champions Tour (formerly known as the Senior Tour) where players age 50 and older compete against one another just as they did for many years on the PGA Tour, just in front of smaller crowds and for smaller purses.
Andrade, who just turned 50 in January of this year, seems to be starting his Champions Tour career in a very similar fashion to that which he started his PGA Tour career, which is to say on fire.
While he has yet to win a Champions Tour event as he did in back-to-back weeks on the PGA Tour as a rookie in 1991, he has shown that it may only be a matter of time before he is back in the winner’s circle. In four events thus far, Andrade has had three top-ten finishes including a second place finish at the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in Biloxi last month.
If you’re wondering how Billy feels about being a member of the Champions Tour, he couldn’t be happier. “This is an unbelievable fraternity to be a part of,” Andrade said.
“To be playing with all of these legends, many of the same guys I competed against on the PGA Tour is awesome. And I can’t believe how they have all accepted me as a newcomer on this tour with open arms.”
The biggest problem Andrade has with the Champions Tour is that they don’t play often enough for his liking. “I really feel like I need to play every week for my game to take off and out here we play for two weeks and then take three weeks off. We play two more weeks and take three weeks off,” he said.
“Take last week (at the Greater Gwinnett Championship), I couldn’t build on my momentum from Mississippi after three weeks off, but (Miguel Angel) Jiminez coming off the Master’s wins it and (Bernhard) Langer and (Freddie) Couples also played well because they played the week before at Augusta.”
One guy who is not surprised by Andrade’s early success on the Champions Tour is his so-called partner in crime and long-time friend Brad Faxon. “When pro golfers get into that 45-50 year old range, that can be a dangerous window,” Faxon said. “You’re not playing as much competitive golf, you’re doing the TV thing. The biggest challenge is keeping your competitive game in shape and staying excited about golf and Billy did that. What really told me that he was ready to go out and play at a high level on the Champions Tour was the fact that he finished fourth in a PGA Tour event in Mississippi at age 49. If you can still play at that level against PGA Tour competition, then you’ll do well once you turn 50 and hit the Champions Tour, he added.”
Faxon also pointed out a few other factors that may lead to Andrade having success in his new venture. “There are only 80 players on the Champions Tour and about 30 to 40 who have a legitimate shot to win,” he said. “So the fields aren’t as deep as they are on the PGA Tour.”
“I think another thing to consider is that guys are keeping themselves in much better shape these days so turning 50 isn’t such a bad thing. Look at this year’s Masters Tournament,” Faxon said. “You had six 50-year-old guys make the cut at Augusta.”
Brad also believes that Billy has the three main ingredients to have success on the Champions Tour. “Number one, he’s hitting the ball long and on the Champions Tour, the courses aren’t as long,” he said. “Number two, he’s approached the Tour with a great attitude and he’s excited about playing golf again. And number three, he’s putting well. If you have those three things, you’ll do fine out there.”
Meanwhile, Faxon himself is hoping to jumpstart his season on the Champions Tour and start playing at a higher level than he has as of late. “I plan on playing a pretty full schedule out there this year but I will still do three or four events on TV for the Golf Channel,” he said. “It’s been a little frustrating because I haven’t played my best out there as of late, and I can’t really pinpoint a reason as to why that’s the case.”
“Maybe the combination of living here in Rhode Island (where we had a rough winter) and the fact that the Champions Tour gets off to a slow start with only a few events in the first few months of the year has something to do with it,” he said.
Which is why Faxon, his wife Dory and their children are going to be moving from Rhode Island to Florida in August. “Our daughter is going to school down there and we’re going to give it a try for a year,” he said. “Given how much I travel and am away from home and the fact that Dory is not a big fan of the cold weather, we’ll see how it goes.”
The feeling here is that such a move could very well help Brad Faxon get back to being the player he is capable of being and, more importantly, help him develop the consistency that seems to be lacking in his game at the moment.
And wouldn’t that be nice? Andrade and Faxon enjoying success together again on Tour — Who said you can’t go back in time?
