DEARBORN, Michigan -- There has been a different winner in each of the Senior PGA Tour majors this year, and Allen Doyle hopes to keep it that way.

Doyle again will try to use the Senior Players Championship to jump-start his season when the fourth and final major of the year begins Thursday at the TPC at Michigan.

Jim Thorpe won The Tradition, Fuzzy Zoeller took the Senior PGA Championship and Don Pooley captured the U.S. Senior Open.

Doyle is the defending champion of the $2.5 million event after sinking a 35-foot birdie putt to force a playoff and beating Doug Tewell with a par on the first extra hole to win his second major title. Doyle won again two weeks later and went on to capture the Charles Schwab Cup and Player of the Year honors.

The 53-year-old Doyle has yet to win this season, but has eight top-10 finishes, including ties for seventh at the U.S. Senior Open and last week's Canada Senior Championship.

Most of the top senior players are entered, including Hale Irwin, who leads the money list with $1,460,706, nearly $340,000 ahead of Dana Quigley. Irwin, who has competed in seven fewer events than Quigley, has finished no worse than 11th in his last 13 starts.

Irwin won this event in 1999, collecting the fifth of his six major titles. His scoring average in seven Senior Players Championships is an impressive 68.86, the best of any player.

Among the fan favorites at Dearborn is Walter Morgan, who became the youngest senior player (61) to shoot under his age (60) at last week's event in Canada. Morgan also set a senior record for 36 holes with consecutive rounds of 60 and 65.

Morgan is a good friend of Lem Barney, and the Detroit Lions Hall of Famer carried Morgan's bag briefly during a practice round on Tuesday.

The par-72 TPC at Michigan course measures 7,057 yards and is considered among the more difficult on the Senior Tour. It was designed by Jack Nicklaus, who was forced to withdraw Wednesday due to recurring back problems.

First prize is $375,000.