Lee Janzen defeated Bart Bryant on the first extra hole of sudden death last week to claim the ACE Group Classic for his first win since the 1998 U.S. Open. His sixteen-year drought included 413 starts on all three Tours.

Janzen forced the playoff by making an eight-foot putt for birdie at 18, then took control when Bryant put his approach into the water on the extra hole. Janzen steadily placed his second shot on the green and two-putted for par to seal the victory at TwinEagles Golf Club in Naples, FL.

The two-time U.S. Open winner (1993, 1998) is hoping to recapture those winning ways in his first full season on the Champions Tour this year.

"There's a level of play that I had to have played to win those, and I don't know that it's always just technique," he said. "My technique was way better then than it is now, but there was the mental side where I was able to focus more on every shot, which I would like to do more of. I think it's natural for a golfer to look at his best days to see what he did right and copy it."

Janzen's familiarity with Southwest Florida and the support of his long-time friend Rocco Mediate may have been just what he needed to break through. He and Mediate played together at Florida Southern College in Lakeland and the two have known each other since 1984.

"That's a long time," he said. "So college we met and we found out that we had similar interests in music and other things, so we've been good friends for quite a while. I've been looking forward to getting on the Champions Tour and a lot of it has to do with being able to hang out with Rocco again."

Janzen now has his sights set on being ready to play and post low scores every time out to be successful on the Champions Tour. His former teammate thinks that will happen.

"Lee's going to do great (on the tour)," Mediate said. "He's hungry."

Another player ready to take aim as a rookie on the Champions Tour is the colorful Swede, Jesper Parnevik. A five-time winner on the PGA TOUR, Parnevik is scheduled to make his first Champions Tour start at the next event of the season, the Tucson Conquistadores Classic taking place at Omni Tucson National, March 16 - 22.

Parnevik, who turned pro in 1986, first garnered the attention of European golf fans when he lost an epic six-hole playoff to Seve Ballesteros at the 1992 Turespana Open de Baleares Open. That was also the first week Parnevik experimented with turning the peak of his cap up, a look that rapidly became his long-time trademark and a tradition he continues to uphold to this day.

He joined the PGA Tour in 1992 and gained followers not just because of his style, but due to near-misses at The Open three times in just four years (1994, 1997, 1998).  Parnevik also played in three Ryder Cups (1997, 1999, and 2002).  

After an injury-plagued stretch that limited his time on the course, Parnevik will turn 50 on March 7th and begin the next phase of his career with those he battled in his heyday.