Drives don’t fly quite as far. Guys might not always score as low as they once did. And they might let out an extra groan or two when crouching down to read a putt.

But the major difference on the Champions Tour – the PGA’s senior circuit, for players over 50 – is off the course.

There’s a laid-back feel surrounding events, even the majors, like the Senior PGA Championship that will be contested this week at Colorado Golf Club in Parker.

Now don’t misconstrue that for not caring.

“Once you get out on the golf course, they’re all very competitive,” said Michael Allen, the event’s defending champion, who plays on both the regular PGA and Champions Tours. “Those guys on the Champions Tour are as competitive as anybody around – it’s just in their blood. But it’s just kind of everything around it.”

So after a round, instead of grinding for hours on the range and practice green, most act more like a casual Saturday foursome.

“They don’t work like they once did,” Allen said. “They don’t go to bed and think about it all night – they go out and have a few drinks. So that edge is not quite what it once was – and it shouldn’t be. They’ve made their money. They’re having fun competing now, where before it was their ego, it was their life.”

Asked if the PGA Tour is more cutthroat, Allen said, “Without question, yeah.”

“All these guys that I used to go out there with and butt heads or egos in the locker room, those guys are a lot more laid-back now. … And I think that’s kind of the edge those guys lose a little bit – which also makes it fun.”

“I do like the atmosphere,” Larry Mize told the Raleigh News and Observer in late 2008, when he turned 50. “It’s a little more relaxed and laid back. But the competition is great. These guys are still good. It has everything you need.”

Including plenty of greats and soon-to-be legends of the game. In addition to Mize, who is best known for his miracle chip shot that won the 1987 Masters, Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw, Mark O’Meara, Tom Kite, Bernhard Langer and Hal Sutton will be walking around Colorado Golf Club this week.

The field also will include some relative youngsters, including Champions Tour rookies Fred Couples and Paul Azinger. Couples won the first three Champions Tour events in which he competed, and it seemed to rejuvenate him on the PGA Tour. He was in contention on the weekend at The Masters before finishing sixth.

“To go out like that and have people watch and actually go out and win a golf tournament is fun – it doesn’t matter what level it’s on,” Allen said. “So I think it has (rejuvenated him). I think for a lot of these guys it does – it keeps them going.”

Notes: Among the big names who have withdrawn from the event are Corey Pavin, Curtis Strange and Lanny Wadkins. … Colorado Springs native R.W. Eaks has been added to the field.

Fred Couples finished sixth at the Masters. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS