Five-time ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia winner Michael Long will celebrate his 50th birthday with some of the biggest names in golf as he prepares to make his Champions Tour debut.

Just four days after turning 50 the reigning West Australian PGA champion will make his seniors debut at this week’s Shaw Charity Classic in Alberta, Canada, teeing it up against major champions such as Corey Pavin, Todd Hamilton, Larry Mize, Fred Couples, Mark O’Meara and Bernhard Langer.

Having pre-qualified for the tournament, the Kiwi-born, Perth-based 50-year-old will have an anxious wait, however, paired with Gibby Gilbert III and Stephen Mondshine off the 10th tee in the final group of the day at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club.

Long’s win at Kalgoorlie Golf Course in May not only secured status on his home tour for a further two years but provided an injection of confidence before taking on the game’s best senior players.

Fellow Kiwi Grant Waite is also in the field this week along with Aussie pair David McKenzie and Peter Lonard, Lonard finishing 26th or better in each of his four Champions Tour appearances this year.

On the Staysure Tour in Europe, Peter Fowler will be looking to make it two wins on the trot when he contests the Travis Perkins Masters at Woburn Golf Club in England.

Fowler’s win at the Willow Senior Golf Classic last week, the sixth seniors win of his career, moved him up to fifth on the Staysure Tour Order of Merit ahead of his return to a tournament where he has enjoyed success in the past.

In eight previous appearances in the Travis Perkins Masters, the New South Welshman has recorded five top-five finishes and been top-15 on two other occasions.

Mike Harwood was 20th in last year’s tournament and has a best finish of tied for ninth in 2012 while Peter O’Malley is making his fourth start in the tournament, his best result a tie for 10th two years ago.