2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship

2024 Charles Schwab Cup prize money payouts for all the PGA Tour Champions golfers at Phoenix Country Club

Langer has gone over the $37 million mark on the senior circuit.

PHOENIX — The 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship put a cap on the season-long Charles Schwab Cup points race on the PGA Tour Champions.

Bernhard Langer shot a final round 5-under 66 to win the season finale at Phoenix Country Club. It’s his 47th PGA Tour Champions victory. The win was good for a $528,000 payday and that pushed him past the $37 million mark in career on-course earnings on the senior tour. Langer made $10.7 million during his PGA Tour career.

Unlike the PGA Tour’s post-season – where the Tour Championship winner is declared the FedEx Cup champion – it’s possible to have someone win the final tournament while someone else captures the Schwab season title. And that’s what happened in 2024. Langer won tournament to win the Charles Schwab Cup Championship; Steven Alker won the season-long race to become the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup champion.

Check out the full prize money payouts for the 35 golfers in the field at Phoenix Country Club.

Position	Player	Score	Earnings
1	Bernhard Langer	-18	$528,000
T2	Richard Green	-17	$276,000
T2	Steven Alker	-17	$276,000
4	Alex Cejka	-13	$210,000
5	Rod Pampling	-10	$180,000
T6	Ken Tanigawa	-9	$135,750
T6	Stewart Cink	-9	$135,750
T8	Miguel Angel Jimenez	-8	$84,000
T8	Thomas Bjorn	-8	$84,000
T8	Retief Goosen	-8	$84,000
T8	Padraig Harrington	-8	$84,000
T8	Vijay Singh	-8	$84,000
T13	Ernie Els	-7	$67,500
T13	Jerry Kelly	-7	$67,500
T15	Greg Chalmers	-6	$61,500
T15	Stephen Ames	-6	$61,500
T17	Mark Hensby	-5	$55,500
T17	Tim O’Neal	-5	$55,500
T19	Shane Bertsch	-4	$45,000
T19	Rocco Mediate	-4	$45,000
T21	Joe Durant	-3	$34,500
T21	Tim Petrovic	-3	$34,500
T23	Darren Clarke	-2	$29,250
T23	K.J. Choi	-2	$29,250
25	Ricardo Gonzalez	-1	$27,000
T26	Ken Duke	E	$22,950
T26	Cameron Percy	E	$22,950
T26	Hiroyuki Fujita	E	$22,950
T26	Thongchai Jaidee	E	$22,950
T26	Paul Broadhurst	E	$22,950
31	Bob Estes	1	$20,250
32	Y.E. Yang	3	$19,500
33	Stuart Appleby	4	$18,750
34	Jason Caron	5	$18,000
35	Doug Barron	8	$17,250

Steven Alker wins 2024 Charles Schwab Cup, the PGA Tour Champions season-long points race

Alker joined a select group Sunday.

PHOENIX — Steven Alker joined a select group Sunday.

Alker shot a final-round 5-under 66 to finish in a tie second place at the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship, and that was enough to clinch the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup, the season-long points race on the PGA Tour Champions.

A day after shooting a 63 to tie for low round of the week, Alker carded six birdies under warm, sunny skies during the nicest day of the week at Phoenix Country Club. He battled most of the day with Richard Green for second, with Green hanging around with a shot at the season title as well. But a series of unfortunate events for Bernhard Langer on the back nine brought both men into contention for the tournament title and the points title.

Langer held a five-shot lead on the front nine but back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 10 and 11 and another on 17, after his second shot banged off a tree, brought him back to the pack.

In a span of a few minutes, Green birdied the 18th hole, Alker birdied the 17th and Langer bogeyed the 17th. Suddenly, there was a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard.

Alker says he’s not normally a scoreboard watcher but did ask about where he stood late in the day Sunday.

“The first time I asked my caddie was what has Ernie Els done today on the golf course and that was walking off 17 tee,” he said. Alker started the week in pursuit of Els in the points race. “I knew Richard was right there as well, we had to kind of fend him off as well. But with birdie on 17 and now I’m like I’m tired and trying to win a golf tournament, defend a golf tournament.”

He added that he knew standing on the 18th tee exactly where things stood.

“One of the Golf Channel guys got me and said ‘Yeah, you’re tied, Richard made a putt at the last.’ It was exciting,” he said.

On the closing hole, Alker drilled his second shot, and it rolled across the green before coming to a stop on the back fringe.

After Langer made a dramatic putt for birdie to get to 18 under, Alker faced a birdie of his own from about 10 feet to tie and force a playoff but he left it short.

In the end, it was Langer winning the tournament and Alker winning the season-long title.

“It means a lot. It’s a season-long race, so consistency, you want to try to get some wins in there as well. I’m proud of the fact that I kept that consistency over the last few years,” said Alker, who won the season opener for his lone win in 2024. “Just competing with Bernhard and everybody out here on the Champions tour, it’s just made me a better player. I’m very grateful for that.”

Alker joined a group of six golfers with more than one Cup title: Bernhard Langer, who won the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship on Sunday for his 47th tournament title on the circuit, leads the way with six. Hale Irwin, Tom Lehman, Jay Haas, Tom Watson and Loren Roberts each have two. And now, so does Alker, who has won it twice in three seasons.

Alker picked up $276,000 for the week.

In addition to tournament prize money, there’s more cash on the line as part of the season-long Schwab race. The top five in the final points standings split $2.1 million that will be distributed in lump sum deposits into a Schwab brokerage accounts.

The breakdown:

1st: $1 million, Steven Alker
2nd: $500,00, Ernie Els
3rd: $300,000, Richard Green
4th: $200,000, Padraig Harrington
5th: $100,000, Stephen Ames

That money is considered bonus money and doesn’t count toward a player’s official career earnings.

How it works

The winner of the tournament wins the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The winner of the season-long race is the Charles Schwab Cup champion.

Bernhard Langer wins 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship for 47th PGA Tour Champions win

Langer won the Schwab tournament for the first time.

PHOENIX — Bernhard Langer won the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship and in doing so, kept his streak alive. He also did something for the first time.

Langer made a long birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole, throwing his arms up in the air and tossing his hat to the ground in celebration to close out a final-round 66. He finished his day at 18 under and then watched as Steven Alker missed a birdie putt to end his week at 17 under, tied with Richard Green for second.

For Langer, it’s his PGA Tour Champions-leading 47th victory and his first this season, giving him at least one win on the senior circuit every year since 2007, his first year on the tour.

Langer, 67, shot his age Saturday to take the 54-hole lead. In Friday’s second round, he beat his age by three after posting a 64. He turned the trick one last time on Sunday with a 66 that marked the 23rd time he has shot his age or better.

Bernhard Langer plays a tee shot on the first hole during the final round of the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Langer started the final round with four straight birdies and led by five at one point. He did run into a spot of trouble on the back nine with back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 10 and 11, which cut his lead over Steven Alker and Richard Green to three.

Langer made birdie on the par-3 13th hole to nudge his lead back to three over Green but then on 17, Langer banged his second shot out of the rough off a tree and had it come right back at him. He then put his third on the green but left himself a long putt for par. Moments later, Alker stuffed his third on 17 to less than a foot, setting up a tap-in birdie. Green then drained a long birdie on 18 to finish at 17 under and wait. Langer then made a two-footer for bogey, and suddenly there was a three-way tie for the lead.

On 18, he laid up with his second but hit his third deep, leaving himself a long putt but he made a perfect stroke on it, the ball curling right at the end before dropping in for a birdie.

“It felt like a good stroke, but from that distance you never know until it actually disappears,” he siad. “When I looked up, it looked like it was online more or less and tracking where I wanted to be and then it was just a matter of would it have the right distance and would it actually break because I played it two cups left. It did just perfectly what it needed to do and disappeared. Then all hell broke loose kind of emotionally, so it was pretty wild, yeah.”

Alker’s par at the last securd a tie for second and clinched his second Charles Schwab Cup, the tour’s the season-long points race, for a second time in three seasons.

Langer’s win at Phoenix Country Club came in the tour’s final event on the 2024 schedule. It’s also his first win in this tournament. He has won the season-long title a tour-high six times but each time did so without winning the season finale. This is the 25th different PGA Tour Champions tournament he has won.

In a career where Langer seemingly has done it all, winning in Phoenix marked a first.

“I’ve tried here a number of times and haven’t really come close. To do it on this course, I needed to putt well and I putted really well. That’s because I’m not long enough to come in with shorter irons and stop it, the greens are very firm so my ball runs out a lot. So I’m usually further away from the holes. I need to just make more putts than the other guys and I did that this week,” he said, noting that he’s proud of his ability to match his age and scorecard. “To break my age twice and shoot my age a third time three out of four rounds is pretty exceptional. The first day, if I hadn’t hit that drive out of bounds on 14, which was stupid, or 15, I would have done it all four rounds. Played some pretty incredible golf this week.”

Langer overcame a serious injury in 2024

In February, Langer suffered a ruptured Achilles and missed seven events. He’s been using a golf cart during competition and did so again this week. On Friday, he was asked if at the time did he have thoughts he might not make it back to the tour.

“I’m a very positive person, so I always thought I would be able to come back. My surgeon and PT said if everything goes somewhat well, you should be OK, just you’re probably going to lose half the season or something like that,” he said. “I was fortunate to come back after three months actually. The nice thing, we can use carts out here. Because I wasn’t able to walk 18 holes, it helped me. When people ask me how are you doing now, I’m nowhere near 100 percent, but I’m a functioning golfer.”

How the Schwab points work

The winner of the tournament wins the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The winner of the season-long race is the Charles Schwab Cup champion.

List of Charles Schwab Cup Championship tournament winners and Schwab Cup champions

Only three golfers have won both in the same season.

The Charles Schwab Cup Championship is the biggest event on the PGA Tour Champions after the five majors. The event is the season finale where the golfer who enjoyed the most season-long success is crowned champion.

The winner of the tournament wins the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The winner of the season-long race is the Charles Schwab Cup champion.

Charles Schwab Cup Championship winners

Year	Winner
2024	Bernhard Langer
2023	Steven Alker
2022	Padraig Harrington
2021	Phil Mickelson
2020	Kevin Sutherland
2019	Jeff Maggert
2018	Vijay Singh
2017	Kevin Sutherland
2016	Paul Goydos
2015	Billy Andrade
2014	Tom Pernice Jr.
2013	Fred Couples
2012	Tom Lehman
2011	Jay Don Blake
2010	John Cook
2009	John Cook
2008	Andy Bean
2007	Jim Thorpe
2006	Jim Thorpe
2005	Tom Watson
2004	Mark McNulty
2003	Jim Thorpe
2002	Tom Watson
2001	Bob Gilder
2000	Tom Watson
1999	Gary McCord
1998	Hale Irwin
1997	Gil Morgan
1996	Jay Sigel
1995	Jim Colbert
1994	Raymond Floyd
1993	Simon Hobday
1992	Raymond Floyd
1991	Mike Hill
1990	Mike Hill

Charles Schwab Cup champions

Year	Name
2024	Steven Alker
2023	Steve Stricker
2022	Steven Alker
2020-21	Bernhard Langer
2019	Scott McCarron
2018	Bernhard Langer
2017	Kevin Sutherland
2016	Bernhard Langer
2015	Bernhard Langer
2014	Bernhard Langer
2013	Kenny Perry
2012	Tom Lehman
2011	Tom Lehman
2010	Bernhard Langer
2009	Loren Roberts
2008	Jay Haas
2007	Loren Roberts
2006	Jay Haas
2005	Tom Watson
2004	Hale Irwin
2003	Tom Watson
2002	Hale Irwin
2001	Allen Doyle

This story has been updated to correct an error.

Bernhard Langer grabs lead at 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship, while Steven Alker tops points race

Langer is looking for his first win of 2024.

He’s back at it.

Bernhard Langer, a 46-time winner on the PGA Tour Champions, holds a one-shot lead at the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Challenge after a third-round 4-under 67.

Langer, 67, entered the week ranked 22nd in the Charles Schwab Cup points list, but is projected to end the season at No. 7 if he goes on to win at Phoenix Country Club in Arizona.

The German has done everything but win in 2024. In 15 starts, Langer finished inside the top-25 11 times, inside the top-10 seven times and was the runner-up at the Ascension Charity Classic.

The two-time Masters champion is looking for his first win since the 2023 U.S. Senior Open.

As for the points race, Steven Alker, who entered the week ranked No. 2 behind Ernie Els, has taken over the top spot. He’s shot rounds of 70-68-63 and is 12-under total, alone is second.

Format, TV, prize money | Winners in 2024 | Money in 2024

Els hasn’t played his best golf this week, sitting at 3 under after rounds of 69-70-71. Stewart Cink, the 36-hole leader, struggled throughout the day, eventually signing for a 4-over 75. He’s solo sixth at 8 under, five back.

The shot of the day went to Langer, who used this beauty on the 16th to make his fifth birdie on the round.

An ageless wonder!

67-year-old @BernhardLanger6 has taken lead in Phoenix!@SchwabCupFinale pic.twitter.com/wZY4YtafTZ

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) November 9, 2024

First place at the Schwab is good for $528,000, with $300,000 going to the runner-up, $252,000 for third place, $210,000 for fourth and $180,000 to fifth place. Everyone in the field earns a paycheck, with 35th place getting $17,250.

The winner of the tournament wins the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The winner of the season-long race is the Charles Schwab Cup champion.

Stewart Cink keeps lead at 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Steven Alker takes over points lead

Two down, two to go, a second lucky break and a new No. 1.

PHOENIX — Two down, two to go, a second lucky break and a new No. 1.

Stewart Cink shot a 5-under 66 to maintain his three-shot lead on the 35-man field in the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship. For the second day in a row, he avoided disaster on the par-5 18th hole.

On Thursday, a shot out of a bunker hit the flagstick dead on and stopped two feet away, setting up a closing birdie. On Friday, his second shot was well short of the green, hitting the bank that slopes down towards a lake. But his ball managed to stay hung up in the rough and not get wet. He then chipped on and two-putted for par.

“It was just a little bit of a lazy swing there on 18. This is going to happen, but obviously it was a little further right than I meant for it to be, but we had plenty of distance to make sure we had kind of a wide space to give ourselves a little forgiveness there,” Cink said. “That bank actually does have some grass over there on 18. When you get back in towards the middle of the green, there’s no grass. So that part of the hole will hold a golf ball. Still, very glad it stayed up.”

Cink avoided bogey on Friday and has just one over 36 holes. He’s seeking his second PGA Tour Champions victory in 2024.

67-year-old Langer shoots 64

Bernhard Langer had the round of the day, a 7-under 64. It’s his best round in this event and it’s three shots better than his age. It’s also the 21st time the ageless wonder has shot his age or better.

“Every once in a while I look back at my career and have to almost pinch myself and say, man, that’s pretty amazing what you’ve done the last whatever, so many years,” he said. “Like a day today, to shoot 64, 3 under my age, not a whole lot of people can do that.”

On the par-4 17th, Langer drained a long putt of about 25 feet for his eighth birdie of the day. He said a slight putter alignment adjustment is paying dividends.

“I moved the ball a little bit further away from me. Started to look better, ball was rolling online and so far, so good. It’s worked two days in a row,” he said.

Schwab Cup: Format, TV, prize money | Winners in 2024 | Money in 2024

Langer had plans to make the 2024 Masters his final trip down Magnolia Lane, but a ruptured Achilles in February scuttled that. He later said 2025 would be his last time competing at Augusta National and he confirmed that again Friday.

“It will be, no doubt about it. That course is just so long,” he said. “The last five or 10 years when I played there, it’s just playing very long. It’s not much fun hitting 3-woods into par 4s and 2-hybrids and all that kind of stuff. The holes are made for 7-, 8-, 9-irons and I’m coming in with some metal and other things.”

New No. 1 in Schwab points

As for the tournament within the tournament, the season-long points race, there’s a new leader in the projected standings. Steven Alker, who came into the week in the No. 2 spot, has overtaken Ernie Els, who has been No. 1 for the last 12 tournaments.

Alker, who won the Cup two years ago and then this tournament last season, shot a 3-under 68 Friday at Phoenix Country Club and is tied for fourth. Meanwhile Els shot a 70 and is 3 under overall this week, tied for ninth. Els is seeking his first Schwab Cup points title.

Back to Cink. While he can’t win the season title, there are scenarios where he could finish as high as second.

How it works

The Charles Schwab Cup Championship is a four-round, 72-hole, no-cut tournament.

Unlike the PGA Tour’s post-season – where the Tour Championship winner is declared the FedEx Cup champion – it’s possible to have someone win this event while someone else captures the Schwab season title.

The winner of the tournament wins the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The winner of the season-long race is the Charles Schwab Cup champion.

‘I’m not really supposed to be here’: Jason Caron, a club pro from Long Island, has earned 2025 PGA Tour Champions card

“Someone said ‘You’re playing with house money’ and that’s kinda how I looked at it.”

PHOENIX — Who knew how important a tie for 32nd place could be?

Jason Caron can tell you. That finish he posted at the 2023 Senior PGA Professional Championship earned him a spot in the 2024 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

He then went out and shot 69-70-67 before closing with a 66 to finish tied for fourth. That earned him a payday of $154,000, but more important, gained him access into more PGA Tour Champions events. Caron, 52, has played eight in all, missing just one cut and earning three top fours.

His most recent outing was a tie for third in the penultimate tournament in the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs and that punched his ticket to the season finale at Phoenix Country Club. Even better, by making the final 36, he earned a tour card on the Champions tour for 2025.

What a out-of-nowhere season for a guy who played 168 Korn Ferry Tour events and 65 PGA Tour events – his last full season there was 2003 – before deciding on a different path, moving on from competitive golf to be the head pro at Mill River in Oyster Bay, New York.

“Someone said ‘You’re playing with house money’ and that’s kinda how I looked at it,” Caron said after an even-par first round at the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Schwab Cup: Format, TV, prize money | Winners in 2024 | Money in 2024

Back in his days as a pro golfer, there was always the pressure to succeed because, after all, everyone needs a steady paycheck. But he’s had a great job for a while now and when discussing the sequence of events, Caron makes it clear that he’s found a perspective that lets him swing freely. Reaching the final stop of the year and earning playing status next year is just the cherry on top.

“It sounds, you know, really stupid, but it really didn’t matter to me because I have a job. Mill River is where I’m supposed to be so this was all kind of an added bonus this year. Never in my wildest dreams had I thought about being here [in Phoenix]. It didn’t cross my mind,” he said. “I can honestly tell you I really didn’t think about the consequences, I just played golf and I mean, the checks, like I said, are pretty cool when you play well and to be here is like, ridiculous.”

Caron owns the golf shop at Mill River, which he said will open around May 15. That frees him up to play from January up till the season starts on Long Island. He said he’ll play the majors during the summer then ramp it up again down the stretch in the fall. Without hesitation he said there was never a thought of leaving his club to play full-time.

“No chance, because I know that … listen, when you’re playing great, everything is amazing,” he said. “I’ve had when it’s not so good and it stinks and I know that.”

Steven Alker is familiar with Caron’s play but also his ascension. Alker won the Cup series title two years ago after coming out of nowhere himself. He Monday qualified into an event in 2021 where he finished top 10. Eight more top 10s later and he was a mainstay on the tour.

“I know he’s got good game because I played with him out on Tour,” Alker said. “He’s done the hard yards, he’s been around, he’s done Korn Ferry, he’s been on and off the PGA Tour. I think where he was and what he was doing as a club pro and to come out here, it’s exciting.”

Caron remembers battling to hang on to status with Alker back in the day.

“When we were playing, we weren’t world-beaters,” Caron said. “We were good and we played and kept cards and stuff like that but we weren’t the guys that were at the top and playing the PGA Tour and playing super well.

“It’s been awesome to watch, a guy that hasn’t had huge success in his early golf life but now he’s killing it.”

Will Caron follow the same path? Only time will tell. If not, he’ll be content to go back to his full-time gig on Long Island, where most people are fans of the New York sports teams.

Caron, though, grew up in Massachusetts and is a lifelong fan of the Patriots, Bruins and Red Sox.

“So I was not disappointed when the Yankees lost,” he quipped.

How it works

The Charles Schwab Cup Championship is a four-round, 72-hole, no-cut tournament.

The winner of the tournament wins the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The winner of the season-long race is the Charles Schwab Cup champion.

Here’s why strategy at Phoenix Country Club will be a bit different at the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship

The 14th tee box at Phoenix Country Club can be quite the scare, especially from the tips.

PHOENIX — For mere mortals, the 14th tee box at Phoenix Country Club can be quite the scare, especially from the tips.

The par 4, which is playing at 438 yards for the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship, runs alongside Osborn Road, with green scrim on the fence the only thing separating golfers from a steady stream of vehicles heading east and west.

It’d be quite easy for someone to slice a ball into traffic but that’s not something pros do. However, there is a significant change to the hole from a year ago and that’s the removal of a giant tree that was down the left side.

It provided just enough of an obstacle for the pros, but after another brutal summer of Arizona desert heat, that tree died and was removed.

Phoenix Country Club head professional Paul Griffin confirmed that a number of trees died last summer but it’s the loss of one on 14 that may alter things the most this week when it comes to strategy at the par-71 track that’s playing 6,860 yards.

The tree on 14 was about 265 yards from the tee and about 10 yards left of the center of the fairway.

“The one on 14 for me, trying to hit a draw in a left-to-right wind with out-of-bounds on the right was no fun,” said 2022 Charles Schwab Cup Championship winner Padraig Harrington, who enters this week fourth in the points race. “Now without that tree there we can hit a low straight one and you’re good to go.”

Schwab Cup: Format, TV, prize money | Winners in 2024 | Money in 2024

Steven Alker, won the tournament a year ago and the Cup two years ago, lives in Scottsdale and has played the course often.

“I think maybe the target line is maybe slightly more left than it used to be, but not really. You’re still just trying to hit a good drive out there and you still have to hit a good drive,” Alker said. “Knowing that tree’s not there, you’ve got more room on the left, kind of frees you up a little bit. Yeah, the same plan, straight down the middle.”

How it works

The Charles Schwab Cup Championship is a four-round, 72-hole, no-cut tournament.

The winner of the tournament wins the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The winner of the season-long race is the Charles Schwab Cup champion.

Check out some photos of the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club

Phoenix Country Club was established in 1899.

PHOENIX — The field for the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship had 36 golfers who qualified but there are only 35 who headed to Phoenix Country Club, as Steve Stricker did not commit to the event.

The tournament is a four-round, 72-hole, no-cut tournament.

The winner of the tournament wins the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The winner of the season-long race is the Charles Schwab Cup champion.

Only three golfers have won both in the same season:

Bernhard Langer: 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
Tom Lehman: 2012
Kevin Sutherland: 2017

Check out some photos from the tournament.

Stewart Cink leads 2024 Charles Schwab Cup a day after helping Phoenix Suns mascot dunk

Cink, a Hawks fan, has a thing for the Phoenix Suns.

PHOENIX — Stewart Cink has a thing for the Phoenix Suns. He might start having a thing for Phoenix Country Club.

Cink opened the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship with a 7-under 65 and walked off the course with a three-shot lead in the 35-man field at the PGA Tour Champions season finale. His scorecard featured eight birdies and one bogey.

He did catch a bit of luck on the par-5 18th hole, when his third shot from a bunker hit the flagstick head on. Had it not done so, he might have ended up in the water but instead the ball dropped straight down, stopping about two feet from the cup. Cink took advantage of this stroke of luck to make birdie at the last.

“It was probably a good enough break that made up for about six bad breaks out there,” he said. “But I’m just glad that it was straight because right in the center of the hole and it kept me from definitely taking a penalty shot.”

Before golf, an NBA game

On Wednesday night, Cink took in the Phoenix Suns game and during a break in the action, got called him down to the court to help the Suns mascot, the Gorilla, who bounced off a trampoline, grabbed the ball out of Cink’s outstretched hand and flew through the air for a dunk.

When in Phoenix 🔥@StewartCink had some fun last night ahead of @SchwabCupFinale.

🎥 @Suns pic.twitter.com/9wPr4TJOKq

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) November 7, 2024

To top it off, the Gorilla then did the stand-on-his-head celebration that was made famous by Incarnate Word receiver Jalen Walthall.

“It was cool, I got on the court with the Gorilla. I’ve never had a gorilla run towards me that fast on that trampoline,” he said. How did he not flinch?, he was asked. “Part of me wanted to flinch, the other part of me wanted to be holding my camera right here to video that because he was like sprinting.

“It was pretty fun. Like I said, I love the NBA. The energy at the games all across the whole league is awesome, but the Suns is right up there at the top.”

During the 2023 WM Phoenix Open, Cink donned a Kevin Durant jersey on the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale. What was impressive then was Durant had just been traded to the Suns the day before, and Cink pulled some strings to get a jersey made.

Format, TV, prize money | Winners in 2024 | Money in 2024

Cink went to Georgia Tech, lives in Atlanta and is a self-described die-hard Hawks fan. He says he looked around for a No. 2 Suns jersey of Josh Okogie, a fellow Yellow Jacket, but he struck out there.

As far as his play on Thursday went, Cink sounded pleased.

“The things I’ve been working on this year are swing related. They’re coming together. I still don’t feel 100 percent there, but good enough to battle with,” he said. “And then my heart is the biggest piece. If I get my heart in the right place, I can be pretty dangerous out here.”

Cink earned his first PGA Tour Champions win earlier this season but he entered the finale 12th in the points, falling just shy of the group of 10 who have a shot to capture the season-long points title.

Still, he’s off to a solid start in hopes of winning again in 2024.