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Senior tour, Buy.com changing names

ATLANTA -- The PGA Tour will change the name of the senior tour to the Champions Tour with hopes of appealing to more fans.

During his annual "State of the Tour" message Wednesday, commissioner Tim Finchem said the Champions Tour will have at least three fewer events to keep seniors from playing the weeks of major championships and other big events.

Also, what has been the Buy.com Tour will change names for the fourth time since its inception in 1990. What was the Buy.com Tour (previously the Hogan Tour and the Nike Tour) will be the Nationwide Tour, reflecting a new five-year sponsorship deal.

Finchem also said the PGA Tour has a fully sponsored schedule for 2003, although it might lose one opposite-field event.

The name change for the seniors was embraced by some of its stars.

"I see myself as a champion, and I think this new tour name will broaden the definition of that word," said Hale Irwin, who last week became the first senior to earn $3-million in a season.

Finchem refused to back down from his position on the Augusta National controversy, saying the tour will recognize the Masters as an official event and he expects his players to compete.

That brought a sharp reply from the National Council of Women's Organizations, whose leader accused Finchem of "stonewalling" on the issue of all-male membership.

"If I were his board, I would be asking who he works for: Augusta or the PGA Tour?" Martha Burk said.

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