Tag: Charles Schwab Cup Championship

Steve Stricker withdraws from season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship

“I was eagerly looking forward to competing in this event to cap off this season,” Stricker said.

PHOENIX — Steve Stricker has withdrawn from the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship after announcing that his dad was taken to the hospital.

“He is currently receiving care and it is important that I am here for my family during this challenging time,” Stricker wrote in the statement released through the PGA Tour Champions on Wednesday.

Originally on the pre-tournament news conference schedule, Stricker was then slated to arrive late Wednesday for his first-round tee time Thursday.

Stricker clinched the season-long championship two weeks ago. He didn’t play in the first two playoff events but was all set to play Phoenix Country Club this week in what would have essentially been a four-day victory lap. His six wins and 15 top-10s in 16 events in 2023 gave him such a commanding lead that he became the third golfer in the circuit’s history to clinch the Cup title before the finale.

Statement on Behalf of Steve Stricker

Unfortunately, I will be withdrawing from this week’s Charles Schwab Cup Championship. I was eagerly looking forward to competing in this event to cap off this season – which has been an incredibly special one for me – but a personal emergency has come up that requires me to stay home.

My father was admitted to the hospital on Monday afternoon. He is currently receiving care and it is important that I am here for my family during this challenging time.

I would like to express my gratitude for the tireless efforts of the PGA Tour Champions staff, tournament directors, Charles Schwab and all of the sponsors this season, who have provided us with the opportunity to participate in a season-long race that has been nothing short of exceptional. I am truly grateful for the support and encouragement I have received throughout the season.

Finally, I want to extend my best wishes to all the players playing in the season finale. I will be following the event from afar, cheering for my friends and fellow competitors.

I appreciate everyone’s understanding and support during this time.

Stricker is at $3,986,063 in on-course earnings this season. His withdrawal means no he’ll get no money this week, which will keep him from becoming the first to earn $4 million in a season on the Champions tour.

“It’s a shame,” said Steven Alker after his pro-am round Wednesday. Alker who won the Cup at year ago. “He’s the No. 1 man. He’s got it sewn up. I’m sure he would’ve liked to be here and play and we would have, too, just to see him finish it off in style. It’s sad news.”

Last year’s tournament champion, Padraig Harrington, said he’ll be missed this week.

“We’re all at that age in our lives, we’ve a lot going on, it’s part of life,” he said. “We feel for Steve. I’m sure he would have loved to have been here and take a bow for his great year. But there’s more important things than golf. Family comes ahead of it, and he’s definitely doing the right thing staying at home. We wish him and his family and his father all the best.”

Stricker’s withdrawal means the field is now 35 golfers. The 72-hole tournament concludes Sunday.

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5 things to know about the 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Championship (which already has a winner)

On Sunday, regardless of his position on the leaderboard, Steve Stricker will hoist the Schwab Cup trophy.

PHOENIX — For just the third time since it started in 2001, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship has been decided before reaching the final event of the year.

Steve Stricker lapped his over-50 cohorts in 2023, winning six times, including three senior majors. He’s closing in on the $4 million mark in earnings for the season, and even if he were to finish last this at Phoenix Country Club, he’d earn enough to become the first Champions player to reach that plateau in a single season on tour.

Stricker had more than doubled the No. 2 golfer on the money list, Steven Alker, and with such a sizeable lead, Stricker chose to skip the first playoffs event. Then, anyone with a shot to catch him finished far enough down the leaderboard that he was able to clinch the season title without even playing.

He also chose not to play last week’s TimberTech Championship but will compete in the 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Championship, an event he skipped a year ago. On Sunday, regardless of his position on the leaderboard, he will hoist the Schwab Cup trophy for the first time.

Bogey is enough for the final spot in top 36 for 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Championship

Labritz bogeyed three of his last seven holes but held on to the 36th spot in the points standings.

Kevin Sutherland dropped out. Charlie Wi zoomed in. And Rob Labritz, despite a final-hole bogey, held on to the final spot.

The third and final event in the 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs is here, with the top 36 players in the PGA Tour Champions points standings following the TimberTech Championship earning a spot in the field at Phoenix Country Club.

For the third time in tour history, the finale will lack drama, as the season-long crown has already been claimed by Steve Stricker, who clinched the title after the first playoff event, which he skipped. He also chose not to play this week but indicated a few weeks ago that he will be in the field in Phoenix, Nov. 9-12, saying “I’ll definitely be at the last one.”

Bernhard Langer finished second in the points. Padraig Harrington, who won the TimberTech by a whopping seven shots, ended up in the third spot in the points. He won the season-ending tournament in Phoenix in 2022. Last year’s season-long champ, Steven Alker, finished fourth this time around. Ernie Els nabbed the fifth-place spot.

One up, one down

One golfer moved into the final 36, and that was Charlie Wi, whose final-round 64 vaulted him into a tie for second at the TimberTech and into the 35th spot in the points standings. Kevin Sutherland, winner of the 2020 Charles Schwab Cup Championship, fell out of the top 36, dropping seven spots to 41st after a WD at the TimberTech.

Hanging on

Labritz shot 69-68-71 at the Old Course at Broken Sound and it was just enough to advance. He was flirting with danger, however, shooting a 3-over 38 on the back nine Sunday, including a bogey putt on the closing hole. But he knew bogey would be enough and let it all out after sinking that final critical putt.

The 72-hole, no-cut Charles Schwab Cup Championship would essentially be a four-day victory lap for Stricker, who won six times this season. He played 16 events, finished top 10 in 15 of them and was runner-up five times. His only non-top 10 was right after he returned from serving as vice captain at the Ryder Cup near Rome.

Even a last-place finish in Phoenix would earn Stricker enough money to become the first to surpass the $4 million mark in one season on the senior circuit.

Qualifiers for 2023 Charles Schwab Championship

Pos Player
1 Steve Stricker
2 Bernhard Langer
3 Padraig Harrington
4 Steven Alker
5 Ernie Els
6 David Toms
7 Stephen Ames
8 Jerry Kelly
9 Brett Quigley
10 Alex Cejka
11 Miguel Angel Jimenez
12 Harrison Frazar
13 Y.E. Yang
14 Richard Green
15 Vijay Singh
16 K.J. Choi
17 Dicky Pride
18 Rob Pampling
19 Thongchai Jaidee
20 Paul Broadhurst
21 Darren Clarke
22 Joe Durant
23 Paul Stankowski
24 Ken Duke
25 Robert Karlsson
26 Mark Hensby
27 Justin Leonard
28 Colin Montgomerie
29 Ken Tanigawa
30 Steve Flesch
31 Retief Goosen
32 Marco Dawson
33 Mike Weir
34 Billy Andrade
35 Charlie Wi
36 Rob Labritz

First five out

37 Lee Janzen
38 Paul Goydos
39 Shane Bertsch
40 Scott McCarron
41 Kevin Sutherland

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Steve Stricker could skip Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs and still win season-long title

There are just three events left in the 2023 season to determine the top player on the PGA Tour Champions.

There’s dominating your tour and then there’s what Steve Stricker is doing in 2023.

Stricker has such a massive lead in the season-long points race on the PGA Tour Champions that it’s possible he could skip all three playoff events and still win the title.

Since 2001, the winner of the season-long race has won the Charles Schwab Cup. The Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs are a three-tournament series used to determine the winner of the 2023 Charles Schwab Cup.

Stricker has been the hands-down best player on the circuit in 2023, winning the most events and earning the most money. The money earned through last week’s SAS Championship has since been converted into a points list for the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs and Stricker’s lead will be difficult to overcome.

Here’s what else you need to know about the 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs.

Steven Alker continues amazing PGA Tour Champions run, wins 2022 Charles Schwab Cup

To think it all started at a Monday qualifier 15 months ago.

PHOENIX — To think it all started at a Monday qualifier 15 months ago.

Thirty-two events and $4,710,612 later, Steven Alker has reached new heights. On Sunday, he clinched his first PGA Tour Champions series title at Phoenix Country Club, punctuating his win with a big smile and a fist pump on the 18th green.

Alker shot a final-round 68 to finish solo third, which was a whopping eight shots back of tournament winner Padraig Harrington, but still good enough to clinch the series title for the first time. With a Harrington win, any finish inside the top five would have been good enough for Alker.

“Amazing. Honestly, just having friends and family and the support here this week has been amazing,” said Alker, who has lived in Arizona since 2002. “Playing with Padraig today, it was kind of difficult because ‘Do I chase him, do I protect?’ … I just tried to play my game as good as I could, but he played amazing and just glad to be champion.”

This moment is the culmination of a rapid-fire success rate for Alker since joining the senior circuit.

In 2021, 18 days after he turned 50 which made him eligible for the PGA Tour Champions, Alker flew to Seattle looking for an outside shot at getting into the Boeing Classic. He got in thanks a strong Monday qualifier score, a rout he had to take because he had no status on the tour.

He hasn’t played in a PGA Tour event since 2017 and he spent the majority of his pro career slogging through Korn Ferry Tour events. According to Harrington, Alker grinding on the Korn Ferry Tour into his late 40s is what most likely set the table for his amazing run now.

2022 Charles Schwab Cup Championship
Steven Alker holds the trophy after winning the 2022 Charles Schwab Cup. (Photo: Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic-USA TODAY NETWORK)

“The fact is he was always a nice player,” Harrington said Wednesday before the championship got started. “He’s probably as physically fit now as he was 20 years ago, so he hasn’t gone backwards. The players who tend to do nicely out here are the ones who are still trying to be competitive from 45 years of age to 50 years of age. Those are the ones. You can’t give the game up for five years or eight years or 10 years and hope to come out here and find it again, you know, unless you were a world-class player. You’ve got to keep being competitive and he did that. That’s why you’re seeing his good play now. He was still on the Korn Ferry Tour when he was 49 years of age. There’s not a lot of guys at 49 who could do that.”

Rounds of 67-73-67 in his first Champions event netted him a tie for seventh in the 2021 Boeing Classic, and that would be it for his Monday qualifying days as that top-10 finish earned him a spot in the field the next week at the Ally Challenge, where he finished solo third. From there, he kept getting into more Champions events because he kept stacking up top-10s.

In fact, he posted six straight top-10s and earned a spot in the 2021 Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs. In the second of the two playoff events last year, Alker found victory lane at the TimberTech Championship. A second-place finish at Phoenix Country Club the following week capped a whirlwind stretch and put $1,146,207 into his bank account.

The calendar change to 2022 didn’t slow him down. Alker won three times before June 1 and then won for a series-tying fourth time to open the Schwab playoffs.

By the time they got to Phoenix, Alker had a commanding lead in the points race. Even Harrington’s blistering weekend scores of 62 and 65 had no bearing on the steady Alker. He didn’t make a bogey until the 12th hole Sunday. He had another one on 13 but then birdied the 14th. A birdie on the 16th was his 21st of the week.

Alker’s third-place finish is worth $210,000, bringing his 2022 total $3,544,425 and career total to $4,710,632.

“Just a lot of hard yards. It’s just, you know, I’ve played everywhere, I’ve played everywhere and I think that kind of helped today in a way just playing the PGA Tour and Australasia and Asia and Korn Ferry,” he said. “I’ve played everywhere. It’s been an amazing journey and just to be here and to have this opportunity has been amazing.”

Now it’s time to celebrate, but how?

“I like red wine,” he said. “I don’t want to mix drinks tonight, won’t be a good idea, but we’ll have a couple. It will probably sink in a bit more tomorrow, but yeah, this is neat, it’s so cool.”

Alker will also collect $1 million in bonus money for winning the Schwab Cup series title, money that will be paid out as a lump sum deposit into a Schwab brokerage account.

  • First place: $1 million
  • Second: $500,000
  • Third: $300,000
  • Fourth: $200,000
  • Fifth: $100,000

For winning the tournament, Harrington earned the first-place prize of $440,000, bringing his season total to $3,293,255.

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Padraig Harrington wins Charles Schwab Cup Championship in record fashion for fourth PGA Tour Champions victory

Harrington tied a 32-year-old record held by Jack Nicklaus and broke a 10-year-old mark of Tom Lehman.

PHOENIX — It was a banner day for Padraig Harrington, who backed up his Saturday 62 with a Sunday 65 to win the 2022 Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Along the way, he broke a 10-year-old mark held by Tom Lehman and tied a 32-year-old record held by Jack Nicklaus.

Harrington won the tournament by seven shots over Alex Cejka and eight over Cup series champion Steven Alker.

Harrington’s 27 under total tied the mark set by Nicklaus in the 1990 Bridgestone Senior Players Championship. His total of 257 breaks Tom Lehman’s mark of 258, recorded at the 2012 Charles Schwab Cup Championship held that year at Desert Mountain Club (Cochise) in Scottsdale, Arizona.

“I didn’t realize that. It’s nice to hold the record with Jack Nicklaus, I believe he’s done it as well. Kind of glad I didn’t beat him,” he said.

Harrington started the final round with a five-shot lead but margin of victory wasn’t a factor in the points race. He only had an outside shot at winning the season-long title because he needed to win and also have Steven Alker finish outside the top five.

Alker, steady all week with scores of 65-64-68-68, finished solo third, more than enough to clinch his first championship.

Harrington’s Sunday was highlighted with a long putt from off the green on the par-3 15th hole.

A huge smile crossed his face after his ball found the cup, which Alker fetched out of the cup for him, and that got him to 26 under. An ensuing birdie on the par-3 16th hole got him to 27 under. He then parred the final hole.

Harrington had one of the only three eagles made the entire week (1st hole Saturday) and he only had two bogeys over 72 holes. His first full season on the Champions circuit also included a major at the U.S. Senior Open and more than $3 million in earnings.

“I’m not a person when I’m on the golf course, I hate watching my opposition and wishing them bad,” Harrington said. “I much prefer a rising tide lifts all ships, so I just didn’t want to get involved in what Steve needed to do and just focused on what I needed to do. I think we both played well the three days we played together and we both played well every day.”

Alker now has a second and a third in two appearances in the finale. Overall, he has five wins and 27 top-10s in his first 33 starts on the tour.

Cejka rode an eagle-birdie-birdie start to slide into second. His eagle on the par-5 opening hole was just the third eagle from the entire field; Thongchai Jaidee eagled the 18th on Friday. Cejka shot 63-65 over the weekend.

Miguel Angel Jimenez, Lee Janzen and Stephen Ames tied for fourth at 16 under. Retief Goosen was solo seventh at 15 under.

Seven days after earning his 44th PGA Tour Champions title, Bernhard Langer finished tied for 17th at 7 under. His 45th win will have to wait until at least January when the 2023 season starts at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in Hawaii.

A look at the money

For winning the tournament, Harrington earned the first-place prize of $440,000. That brings his season total to $3,293,255.

Alker’s third-place finish is worth $210,000, bringing his 2022 total to $3,564,425. Alker’s career earnings on the senior circuit is now $4,710,632.

But wait, there’s more. Alker will also collect a $1 million bonus for winning the Schwab Cup series title. That will be paid out as a lump sum deposit into a Schwab brokerage account.

  • First place: $1,000,000
  • Second: $500,000
  • Third: $300,000
  • Fourth: $200,000
  • Fifth: $100,000

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Padraig Harrington opens huge lead at Charles Schwab Cup Championship, buys beer for a few fans along the way

Padraig Harrington could win by 10 shots this week in Phoenix and it might not matter.

PHOENIX — Padraig Harrington could win by 10 shots this week and it might not matter.

Harrington, second in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship points race, lit up Phoenix Country Club on Saturday, bombing his way around the 6,860-yard, par-71 course to the tune of a 9-under 62 to take a sizable five-shot lead after 54 holes.

Harrington has put himself in great position to win the tournament but to win the series title, he needs to win and have Alker finish outside the top five.

“Today was a good day. I think I’ve been playing pretty solid all the way through and just waiting for a good day like today,” Harrington said.

Alker was a little more direct with his assessment.

“Padraig kicked my ass today, that’s basically what happened,” he said.

The problem for Harrington, who is at 21 under, is that Alker shot a 3-under 68 on Saturday to get to 16 under, and while he’s still five shots back of the tournament lead, he’s still ahead of everyone but Harrington. In other words, as gaudy as Harrington’s lead is now, the steady Alker is now just 18 holes away from his first series championship.

Harrington jump started his round with an eagle on the first hole, just the second eagle the entire field has produced over 54 holes. Starting the day a shot back of Alker, Harrington quickly had the outright lead.

Birdies on Nos. 5 and 7 helped him get to the turn in 32. On the 11th hole, Harrington made birdie to get to 17 under for a three-shot lead. He then poured in a curling left-to-right putt from about 12 feet to get to 18 under. That birdie on No. 12 was made possible after Harrington converted a ridiculous second shot over some tall trees.

Even a stray tee shot on the 14th hole didn’t faze Harrington. Hitting from the rough off the right side from 111 yards out and just a few feet from the perimeter fence, Harrington stuffed his approach, then made yet another birdie putt to be the first one in the field to get to 20 under for the week.

On 18, Harrington had his fifth eagle putt of the day, this one for a 61, but he missed left. Still, his two-foot birdie gave him a 62, the tournament’s best score of the week. It also got him to 21 under.

“I think I’m better than, you know, I’ve been in past years,” Harrington said. “I’m bold, I do my own thing, which has never been my strength. I’ve always been a better chaser than leader. We’ll go and see tomorrow what happens. I’ve certainly given myself a few options. You know, five ahead, so hopefully I’ll go out there and play well and can wave at the crowds which if it doesn’t happen that way, well, we’ll have to dig deep and find another way of winning.”

Alker’s birdie on 18 capped a bogey-free 68. In fact, he’s bogey-free through 54 holes.

“I’ve got a lot of chasing to do now to win the tournament, but yeah, get a good night’s sleep and we’ll be all right,” he said.

Brian Gay shot a 66 on Saturday and is solo third. He’s six back and not counting himself out just yet.

“[Padraig’s] playing great, obviously. I didn’t really pay much attention to the scores, and then late in the round my caddie said he was 20 so he’s still rolling,” Gay said. “So, you never know, just go out and try to play well and make as many birdies as you can and see what happens.”

For about an hour Saturday, Alex Cejka held the honor of round of the week at Phoenix Country Club after his 8-under 63. He’s in solo fourth at 14 under. Retief Goosen is solo fifth at 13 under after shooting a third-round 68.

Alker and Harrington entered the season finale as the only two golfers who had a shot to claim the Cup.

Beer time

There was a light moment on the 16th hole Saturday. Harrington stepped up to the tee box, but “there was a bunch of guys who were sitting in the corner of the grandstand on 16, and the shadows late in the day were just coming across,” Harrington explained. “They were moving. They wouldn’t know, so I needed them to move, which they’d been sitting there I assume all day waiting for this; I hope they were waiting for me all day. I got them to move.

“They still got a good view, but I did buy them a beer afterwards.”

Langer now a long shot

Bernhard Langer entered the week chasing a different kind of history. A week ago, he won his 44th title on the Champions tour; a 45th would tie Hale Irwin’s all-time Champions mark, set 15 years ago.

After opening 66-69, Langer shot a 1-under 70 Saturday and will start the final round at 8 under, 13 shots back. His record-tying win will have to wait until at least January in the 2023 season opener at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in Hawaii.

Prize money this week

First place at the Schwab Cup is $440,000. Whoever wins the series title banks a $1 million bonus. In fact, the top five finishers in the final Cup standings will earn a lump sum deposit into a Schwab brokerage account:

  • First place: $1,000,000
  • Second: $500,000
  • Third: $300,000
  • Fourth: $200,000
  • Fifth: $100,000

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Steven Alker and Padraig Harrington, 1-2 in the points race, are 1-2 on the leaderboard at Charles Schwab Cup Championship

Steven Alker and Padraig Harrington are separated by just a shot.

PHOENIX — It should come as no surprise that two of the best players on the PGA Tour Champions in 2022 are dominating the field at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

It should also come as no surprise that the golfer who has taken this tour by storm in the last 15 months has put himself in the driver’s seat to claim his first series title.

Steven Alker, tied for the tour lead with four wins this season, including a major at the Senior PGA Championship, came into the playoffs leading the points race. Padraig Harrington, in his first full season on the tour, is No. 2 in points and has won three times, including a major at the U.S. Senior Open.

Once the computers crunched all the numbers, Alker and Harrington were the only ones mathematically alive who could claim the season title. After the two pre-tournament favorites went shot-for-shot on a sunny Friday afternoon at Phoenix Country Club, it’s Alker and Harrington atop the leaderboard.

Harrington, playing in the third-to-last group in the second round, posted a birdie-birdie finish to shoot a 64, tied for low round of the week. He is at 12 under after 36 holes. For Harrington to claim the Cup, however, he needs to win but he also he needs Alker to finish outside the top five.

That’s starting to look like a long shot.

“Steve is relentless,” Harrington told Golf Channel after his round.

Alker was tied for the lead after 18 holes and after a 7-under 64, he holds the outright lead. Alker opened his round Friday with a pair of birdies, took his first outright lead with another birdie on No. 5. For the next couple hours, he would share the lead with Harrington a couple more times. Birdies on 15 and 17 got him to 13 under for the week so far. Alker has 13 birdies over two days and has yet to bogey a hole.

“I know what I’ve got to do, the numbers are all there. It’s kind of black and white. I just try and put myself in position to win a golf tournament, that’s big for me,” Alker said. “I’ve got to keep hammering those birdies out.”

Alker, a New Zealander who moved to Scottsdale in 2002, has his family following him this week, including his wife Tanya, son Ben and daughter Skye. That rooting section will be down one Saturday as Skye, a member of the Fountain Hills High School cross country team, will be competing in the state championships.

“Go Falcons,” Alker said.

Alker and Harrington are the only two golfers who can win the Cup this week. Even if Harrington wins this tournament, he needs Alker to finish outside the top five.

What about Langer?

Bernhard Langer, the ageless wonder who at 65 won for the 44th time on the Champions tour last week, has posted scores of 66 and 69 and is tied for eighth at 7 under. A 45th win would tie Hale Irwin’s mark set 15 years ago, but he’ll start Saturday’s third round six shots off the pace.

Lots of birdies but just one eagle

The quirky stat of the week after 36 holes: it took until late in the day Friday for the first eagle to be finally recorded.

Thongchai Jaidee rolled in a birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole to give him a second-round 68 and move him into the top 10. It’s the only eagle after 1,188 holes of competition. There have been 284 birdies so far this week.

What’s on the line?

First place this week is good for $440,000. The winner of the Cup race banks a cool $1 million bonus.

In fact, the top five finishers in the Cup standings will earn a lump sum deposit into a Schwab brokerage account:

First place: $1,000,000

Second: $500,000

Third: $300,000

Fourth: $200,000

Fifth: $100,000

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Photos: 2022 Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club

The Schwab Cup is the only 72-hole non-major tournament on the Champions schedule.

The 2022 PGA Tour Champions season comes to a close at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Phoenix Country Club, measures 6,860 yards and plays to a par 71 this week.

Outside of the five majors on the 28-event Champions schedule, the Schwab Cup is the only other 72-hole tournament.

The club was established in 1899 with 75 members and was home to a log-cabin clubhouse, a nine-hole layout and tennis courts. The club moved to a second location a few miles north for a few years and then in 1919, upgraded to its permanent home in central Phoenix.

Check out some photos from the 2022 Charles Schwab Cup Championship, won by Padraig Harrington. Meanwhile, Steven Alker’s third-place finish was enough for him to win the series points title.

John Huston needs just two hours, 17 minutes to shoot a 6-under 65 at Charles Schwab Cup Championship

John Huston’s caddie has seen this act before.

PHOENIX — John Huston’s caddie has seen this act before.

Travis, in his first full year caddying for his dad, laughed when asked about their two-hour, 17-minute first round Thursday in which he posted a 6-under 65.

“He’s well-known for how fast he plays and our whole family is that way, so it’s a good way to be,” Travis said.

There were 36 golfers who qualified for the PGA Tour Champions season finale at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship but only 33 arrived at Phoenix Country Club this week.

Because of the odd number, Huston, who was the last golfer to qualify in the field, went off alone at 10:20 a.m. local time (12:20 p.m. ET). He quickly birdied the first two holes and he was off and running. OK, not quite running but he was quickly making his way around the golf course.

“There’s not that many guys that like to get around, but there’s a few,” John said. “It was pretty nice just to play at my own pace.”

He’s making his first appearance in the Schwab Cup final, something he might not have imagined after undergoing two brain surgeries, the first of which he stayed awake for, in 2015 and 2016.

Huston has a neurological condition called cervical dystonia which causes the neck muscles to contract involuntarily, which in turn can force the head to twist or turn to one side, or tilt forward or backwards. It is also painful.

Huston, 61, said he first started noticing symptoms about 15 years ago but wasn’t diagnosed till he was 52.

“I can’t believe I’m still playing,” he told the PGATour.com. He also had neck fusion surgery in November 2021 and didn’t get his 2022 season going until May. A late-season charge of five top-25 finishes in his last six events put him on a path for Phoenix, where he posted seven birdies in his opening round, including one on the par-5 closing hole. That final putt dropped at 12:37 p.m. local time, just in time for a late lunch.

“The faster he plays, the better I’ve seen him play. I kind of expected him to play pretty good,” Travis said.

Even with his putting, there’s no time wasted.

“He says while he’s walking up to the green he’s already reading it so he already has an idea when he gets there. He doesn’t tend to go around the other side or anything. He just looks from behind and goes. It’s worked pretty good.”

John said it’s not the quickest competitive round he’s ever played.

“I played a round faster than this on the regular Tour, but it was a Sunday get out-of-town round,” he said, proclaiming “I think it was 1:40-something.”

Was a marker made available today?

“They didn’t ask. They probably knew,” Huston said, smiling.

If his scores holds up, he’ll go from the first one out Thursday to playing in the final group Friday.

“Maybe they’ll go the other way and let me play by myself in the last group,” he joked.

Huston will indeed be in the last group, where he’ll play alongside Stephen Ames, who also shot a 65.

Series leader Steven Alker was the last golfer on the course when he made a short par putt to also card a 65, which forged a three-way tie for the lead.

“I’m pleased. One down, three to go, pleased with my start,” Alker said. “The golf course is totally different to the pro-am yesterday with the rain and the wind. Just have to stay patient and just take your birdies when you could.”

Bernard Langer and Padraig Harrington are tied for fourth after shooting 5-under 66s.

“I’m in a good place in the tournament. I’m in a bad place in the Schwab Cup. That’s the way it is,” said Harrington, who is second in the series points race. However, for him to win the Cup championship, he needs to win and he needs Alker to finish outside the top five.

“Steven [Alker] played very nicely today, very steady. Doesn’t look like, you know, he’s going to do much wrong between here and the end of the week going on today, so it would be hard to see him not finishing in the top five.”

Friday’s second round starts at 12:10 p.m. ET with the final group starting at 2:50 p.m. ET.

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