PHOENIX — It all comes down to this.
After a wrap-around 2020-21 “super season”, the PGA Tour Champions has reached its final destination at Phoenix Country Club for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
It’s the third leg of the senior circuit playoffs and the 72-hole event features the top 35 golfers in the standings (the top 36 qualified, but Steve Stricker withdrew earlier this week).
Phil Mickelson is the biggest name in the field but he’s not among the four players who have a chance to win the Schwab Cup and its $440,000 first-place prize.
Lefty has three wins on the circuit in five outings and enters the finale 24th in the standings. He also had, by far, the biggest gallery on Wednesday during the pro-am.
“This is my last tournament of the year, I’m going to shut it down after this,” he said after the pro-am. “I kept playing and working on my game on some areas to make some equipment adjustments for next year. I can’t use them right now because they’re not on the approved list, but I wanted to be sharp. I didn’t want to be trying new stuff when I hadn’t been playing.
“I’ll start working on my fitness again to get speed back up. It seems as though as the year goes on, slowly, slowly the speed starts to decline. So I have to really work hard now at 51 to keep my speed up and be competitive on the regular tour. It’s not easy. … But when I get a moment like I had in May, it makes it all worthwhile, so I’m going to keep striving to having a few more of those moments.”
That moment in May was a big one, with Mickelson capturing his sixth major at the PGA Championship.
Similar to the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, the Champions’ postseason has three events. Unlike the FedEx Cup, where the winner of the Tour Championship is the FedEx Cup champ, there could be one golfer who wins the tournament this week but another who claims the top season-ending prize.
Who made the final four? Let’s take a look at who has a shot.
Bernhard Langer
Ageless wonder Bernhard Langer, who last month became the oldest player to win on the tour at age 64, is aiming for his sixth Schwab Cup.
“As you get older, there’s more and more young guys coming up that hit it further and they’re really good players and it’ll be tough for me to be in contention year after year so this could be my last chance to ever win the Schwab Cup and it’d be pretty unique to get six of them.”
He leads the standings thanks to his two victories and 24 top-10s during this super season. Langer wins the Schwab Cup with a win or even a solo second as long as Jim Furyk doesn’t win. Beyond that, there are several other scenarios where Langer is the champ but those are the most clear-cut.
Jim Furyk
He joined the tour in 2020 but is still considered a rookie during this super season. He finished T-2 last week at the TimberTech Championship. He won three times overall, including his first two times out last summer. He also won the U.S. Senior Open in July.
“You kinda jockey all year to try to get yourself in a good position,” he said after the pro-am. “I do like the position but I do have a lot of work to do.”
He then added that there’s no let up on this tour week in and week out.
“Every week it’s Bernhard, Ernie [Els], Retief [Goosen], Miguel [Angel Jimenez], Darren [Clarke]. … you just keep going down the list, it’s a bunch of Hall-of-Famers, a bunch of great players, and so I enjoy the competition and enjoy the camaraderie and love being out here.”
Furyk can claim the Cup with a win this week but can also win with a finish as low as T-3. There are a few other scenarios where he can win the big prize but like Langer, a win this week means he wins it all.
Miguel Angel Jimenez
Jimenez is one of two golfers who will need help. He enters third in the standings after he was runner-up last week but does have two wins this season as well as 16 top-10s in 31 starts. For Jimenez to claim the crown, he needs to win and have Langer finish in a three-way tie for sixth or worse.
Ernie Els
Els is fourth in the standings after a season in which he won twice and posted 18 top-10s in 35 starts. He finished T-4 in each of the two playoff events. He needs to win this week and hope that Langer finishes T-7 or worse.
“He’s just dedicated,” Els said of Langer. “Ironman. Loves what he does, obviously, and does it very well and he just sticks with what he does.
“Hats off to Bernhard, he’s been an inspiration to a lot of players.”
In addition to the prize money, there is $2.1 million in annuity bonus money up for grabs for the top-five finishers in the standings. The annuity will be distributed over 10 years. The winner of the Schwab Cup gets $1 million, with second place worth $500,000; third place getting $300,000; fourth place $200,000 and fifth place $100,000.
Phoenix Country Club is a par-71 course that will play 6,853 yards this week.
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