Tag: Charles Schwab Cup Championship

Phil Mickelson back on familiar turf in Arizona with an eye on another PGA Tour Champions win

Phoenix Country Club is hosting the Schwab Cup, a course Phil Mickelson played in college some 30 years ago.

PHOENIX — Phil Mickelson appearing in Arizona isn’t a big deal, of course. He played golf at Arizona State, lived here for another dozen years early in his career and played in the Phoenix Open a record 30 times.

But appearing and playing at Phoenix Country Club? Mickelson hadn’t played there since the late 1980s and early 90s, when ASU’s team would come over once a month so.

Thirty years or later, that’s about to change. Mickelson is back as part of the field for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, a stop on the PGA Tour Champions.

Mickelson is 51, which confirms the quote from noted philosopher Ferris Bueller: “Life moves pretty fast.”

For at least another year, Mickelson occupies an odd space in professional golf.

At 51, Mickelson can still win on the PGA Tour, but it requires the bottling of lightning, which he did last May in winning the PGA Championship.

At 51, he’s the favorite to win every Champions tour event he enters. He’s entered five tournaments and won three of them.

Winning is fun and the pay is good: Mickelson made almost $1.1 million in those five appearances.

But the atmosphere and the golf are enjoyable, too. The tournaments are 54 holes, not 72 like the regular tour (the Schwab Cup this week will be 72 holes). The courses are shorter, around 7,000 yards or so (6,853 this week), and more forgiving. Mickelson can out-drive almost everyone else on the Champions Tour, and his short game is still deadly.

Thus, the winning.

Mickelson also is around his people on the Champions tour. A rain delay on the regular tour leads to introductions to new people. A delay on the Champions leads to old stories being told in the locker room.

“I know everybody,” he said. “I go in the locker room and it’s ‘Oh, hey. Great to see you again.’ On the regular tour, there are a lot of guys, I just don’t know who they are because they are so young. They’re talented. They got a lot of game. I just haven’t had a chance to spend time with them.

“Coming out here, seeing so many familiar faces, guys I grew up watching play as a kid and competed against for so many years on the PGA Tour makes it really fun.”

Take, for instance, Ernie Els, who preceded Mickelson in the media availability on Wednesday. Els, 52, said he and Mickelson played against each other for the first time in their early teens.

The Champions tour, Els said, is “in good shape, but a guy like Phil to play full-time would be an unbelievable boost. He attracts a lot of attention wherever he goes. He’s such a draw card. He’ll be an absolute asset to the tour. He’ll be the biggest name out here.”

That won’t happen in 2022. Mickelson enjoys competing against the young and the old, and he plans to bounce between the two tours next year.

Mickelson has not put together his schedule for next year but said “there’s a good chance” he will play in the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale, Feb. 10-13. “There’s nothing conflicting. I love coming back here and playing.”

Winning the PGA invigorated Mickelson and germinated hope that another victory or two, perhaps a seventh major, was possible.

After this week, Mickelson plans to put himself through another rigorous fitness schedule to “get the speed back up. It seems as the year goes on, the speed slowly, slowly declines,” he said.

He appears in great shape now, and not just in comparison to his older competitors. But competing on the regular tour requires a different level of conditioning.

“I have to really work hard, now at 51, to try and keep my speed up on the regular tour,” he said. “It’s not easy. Those guys can hit the ball a long ways. Those guys are great players, but when I get a moment like I had in May, it makes it all worthwhile. So I’m going to keep striving to have a few more of those moments.”

Mickelson had a lot of those moments as a senior at ASU and beyond. Now a different kind of senior, he’s hoping for another big moment or two on the regular tour, knowing success awaits him whenever he ages out of it.

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Phil Mickelson is the headliner but he’s not among the final four golfers with a shot to win Charles Schwab Cup Championship

The biggest name in the field can win the tournament this week but not the season-long championship.

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.”

Dominion Energy Charity Classic 2021
Bernhard Langer of Germany at the 2021 PGA Tour Champions Dominion Energy Charity Classic at The Country Club of Virginia on October 24, 2021 in Richmond, Virginia. Photo by Ben Jared/PGA Tour via Getty Images

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.

Jim Furyk
Jim Furyk of the United States putts on the 7th green during the first round of the Sanford International Presented by Cambria at Minnehaha Country Club on September 17, 2021 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)

“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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Kevin Sutherland needs nine playoff holes to win Charles Schwab Cup Championship

The longest playoff in Charles Schwab Cup Championship history needed a Monday finish to determine the winner.

PHOENIX — Kevin Sutherland loves him some playoff.

Sutherland won the 2020 Charles Schwab Cup Championship in a Monday finish on the ninth playoff hole over Paul Broadhurst. His last three wins on PGA Tour Champions have now come in extra time.

The 54-hole event ended up needing 63 holes before things were settled, including 24 on Sunday between Sutherland, the 2017 Charles Schwab Cup Championship winner, and Broadhurst. It’s the second year in a row that the PGA Tour Champions season-ending event went to a playoff at Phoenix Country Club.

Sunday’s playoff was a race against darkness but neither golfer could get the upper hand, as they both parred all six playoff holes. They returned at 8 a.m. local time and resumed the playoff on No. 17 with the temperature at about 50 degrees.

They both parred the 17th and then they both birdied the par-5 18th. Back to 17 they went for the fifth time in the playoff. Sutherland stuffed his approach to about four feet, while Broadhurst came up short of the green. Broadhurst’s chip missed right and was deep and he was still out on the opposite side of the hole from Sutherland.

Broadhurst continued his technique of looking at the hole and not down at his ball and he drained the par putt. Sutherland then made his putt for birdie to finally end the tournament. Sutherland will take home the $375,000 first-place prize.

The Phoenix Country Club members, many of whom were allowed on the grounds to watch the tournament this week, then took to the course for a 10 a.m. shotgun event.

CHARLES SCHWAB CUP: Leaderboard | Money

The longest previous Schwab playoff was five holes. The longest playoff in Champions tour history is 10. The Rapiscan Systems Classic in March of 2019 was the last tour event that needed a Monday finish to settle a playoff. That one involved Sutherland, who beat Scott Parel in seven holes. Sutherland also beat Parel in the 2019 Principal Charity Classic in a playoff.

At the Schwab, Woody Austin birdied the 18th to get to 12 under to finish solo third. Wes Short, Jr., was solo fourth at 10 under. Bernhard Langer, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els, Fred Couples and Glen Day were all T-5 at 9 under.

Langer maintains his lead in the points race.

John Daly withdrew on the ninth hole. He got last-place money along with Mark Calcavecchia and Tom Byrum, who each withdrew on Saturday.

Up next

The next Champions tour event isn’t for 11 weeks.

The 2021 season opens Jan. 21-23 at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai on the island of Hawai’i. The complete 2021 PGA Tour Champions schedule is still being finalized.

The 2021 Charles Schwab Cup Championship will be back at Phoenix Country Club Nov. 11-14. After being a 54-hole event this year, it will return to its 72-hole format in 2021. The club is scheduled to host the event through 2027.

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Sixty holes not enough: Charles Schwab Cup Championship playoff goes to Monday finish

Paul Broadhurst and Kevin Sutherland are going to a Monday finish at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

PHOENIX — The Charles Schwab Cup Championship was scheduled to be a 54-hole event. They played 60 and still didn’t have a winner by Sunday night.

For the second straight year, the PGA Tour Champions season-ending event went to a playoff at Phoenix Country Club but this time, they’ll need a Monday finish between Kevin Sutherland and Paul Broadhurst.

It became a race to beat the setting sun. Both golfers parred the first four holes and on the fifth playoff hole, after they each teed off, rules officials started using golf carts to get them quickly to their next shots.

Sutherland could’ve won it on the fifth extra hole but watched his putt lip out. After a quick chat with rules official Joe Terry, the two agreed to play on to a sixth. After both parred the par-5 18th for a third time in the playoff, it was simply too dark to continue.

“I did this once before and had to come back the next day. I prefer to get it done on Sunday, but coming back the next day is not so bad,” said Sutherland, who admitted he didn’t plan on staying another night in Phoenix. “I’ve got to go find a hotel, that’s next on the agenda.”

Charles Schwab Cup Championship
Paul Broadhurst hits his tee shot on the third hole during the final round of the 2020 Charles Schwab Cup Championship at the Phoenix Country Club in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo: Steve Dykes/Getty Images)

Broadhurst, who has his rental house till Monday, noted the pace definitely picked up in an effort to finish.

“As quick as I’ve ever played six holes. I didn’t dream we’d get six holes in.”

The longest previous Schwab playoff was five holes. The longest playoff in Champions tour history is 10. The Rapiscan Systems Classic in March 2019 is the last tour event that needed a Monday finish to settle a playoff. That one also involved Kevin Sutherland, who beat Scott Parel.

The golfers will be back on the course at 8 a.m. MT (10 a.m. ET). They’ll head to No. 17 and continue to alternate between 17 and 18 until someone claims the $375,000 first-place prize.

CHARLES SCHWAB CUP: Leaderboard | Money

Broadhurst shot the best round of the week, a 63, on Sunday, but he missed a short birdie putt on 18 that would’ve sealed his first win since he won three times in 2018.

Sutherland, the 2017 Charles Schwab Cup Championship winner, later drained a 30-footer on 18 to force the playoff, which might have seemed unlikely at the start of day, as he lead the field by five, and Broadhurst by six, after he shot a second-round 64.

Charles Schwab Cup Championship
Kevin Sutherland hits his tee shot on the sixth hole during the final round of the 2020 Charles Schwab Cup Championship at the Phoenix Country Club in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo: Steve Dykes/Getty Images)

Woody Austin birdied the 18th to get to 12 under to finish solo third. Wes Short, Jr. was solo fourth at 10 under. Bernhard Langer, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els, Fred Couples and Glen Day were all T-5 at 9 under.

John Daly withdrew on the ninth hole. He’ll get last-place money along with Mark Calcavecchia and Tom Byrum, who each withdrew on Saturday.

Season rolls on

Normally the Charles Schwab Cup Championship is a celebration to cap the season, the culmination of a year’s worth of hard work.

Due to the schedule shakeup in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no Cup trophy being handed out. This is still the final event of the calendar year but the PGA Tour Champions is combining the 2020 and 2021 seasons, so the points race continues.

This came in the wake of 14 PGA Tour Champions events getting canceled, although two new ones were added last-minute in August. Four of the five senior majors were lost this year.

The next Champions tour event isn’t for 11 weeks at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai on the island of Hawai’i, Jan. 21-23, 2021. The full 2021 PGA Tour Champions schedule is still being finalized but the 2021 Charles Schwab Cup Championship will be back at Phoenix Country Club Nov. 11-14. The club is scheduled to host the event through 2027.

Off to Augusta

From here, golfers will scatter. There are eight former Masters champions in the field in Phoenix and they’re all planning to travel to Augusta National. Fred Couples says he’s got a Monday tee time with Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas.

“I’ve been trying to stay COVID free because Augusta is my favorite tournament of the year and as I got closer to it, I really started to not do anything but maybe practice a little bit,” Couples said.

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Mark O’Meara said he’s going but only to mingle. He stopped playing in 2018.

“I’m actually going to drive back to Vegas on Sunday night and I’m on a Monday morning flight to Atlanta and drive over Tuesday mid morning, get tested, then go to the dinner on Tuesday night,” O’Meara said. “Then Tuesday night straight back to the Atlanta airport and then Wednesday morning, back to Las Vegas, watching the guys on TV.”

Vijay Singh, Mike Weir, José Maria Olazábal, Larry Mize, Bernhard Langer and Sandy Lyle are all former winners of the green jacket who played Phoenix this week.

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Kevin Sutherland goes low, leads blustery Charles Schwab Cup Championship

Saturday’s scoring average was nearly 2 strokes higher than Friday’s. The cumulative score on Friday was 99 under. On Saturday? 60 over.

From a record high of 99 degrees on Thursday, to perfect conditions without a hint of a breeze on Friday, to mid-70s with gusts up to 30 mph on Saturday, the weather has been a bit of a factor at Phoenix Country Club for the PGA Tour Champions Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

The course is playing at 6,763 yards, and last season, it was the easiest course on tour. Because of the conditions, the scoring average on Saturday was nearly two strokes higher than Friday. The cumulative score on Friday was 99-under par. On Saturday? It was 60 over.

The wind was affecting everyone’s shots and even many putts but also, believe it or not, teed up balls.

“I tell you, my ball was wobbling on the tee on 16,” said Kevin Sutherland a few minutes after he birdied the 18th to get to 13-under par. “It was a little disconcerting watching the ball kind of wobble a little bit as you’re getting ready to hit it.”

Sutherland, 56, was among those who powered through the wind. His second-round 64 pushed his lead to five shots over Wes Short, Jr., who sits at 8 under. Sutherland’s lead is the largest on tour heading into the final round this season.

Tom Lehman and Paul Broadhurst are T-3 at 7 under. Corey Pavin, Jim Furyk, Woody Austin and Mike Weir are T-5 at 6 under.

CHARLES SCHWAB CUP: Leaderboard

Other notables: Ernie Els and Fred Couples are T-13 at 4 under; defending champion Jeff Maggert is T-19 at 3 under; Charles Schwab Cup points leader Bernhard Langer is T-28 at 2 under; John Daly is T-54 at 1 over; and Rich Beem is T-56. He opened with a 67 but shot 78 on Saturday. Mark Calcavecchia withdrew after 16 holes.

Sutherland, who says he’s never taken a lead this large into a final round, won the Cup the first year it was held at Phoenix Country Club in 2017 and would love to cap 2020 with another one.

“It’s hard to believe that was three years ago that I won here and I won the Schwab Cup, so this place has great memories for me and every time I come here I get a good feeling about how things are going to go,” he said. “So far, so good this week. This place is great to me.”

Old stomping grounds

Local favorite Billy Mayfair is among a group of golfers eight shots back.

“I love this golf course, I love playing here in the valley, I love playing in front of my hometown,” he said.

Mayfair went to nearby Camelback High School in Phoenix and later played at Arizona State. He birdied the 18th to shoot a 70 on Saturday. Mayfair, 54, has never won on the PGA Tour Champions but being at Phoenix Country Club brings everything full circle. In junior high and high school in the early 80s, Mayfair volunteered as a standard bearer when the Phoenix Open was played there.

“I carried the sign for Jerry Pate a lot,” Mayfair said. “He had the orange golf ball, I loved playing the old ProStaff orange ball and all that stuff.

“Every day after school we’d come right down here and I’d be out here watching guys hit balls until dark. I can remember watching Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player and all those guys out here practicing, hitting balls, so it’s kind of neat to be back here on the same turf.”

The weather will continue to change. Sunday’s high is expected to be even cooler with a high of 67 and there’s a chance of rain, although it’s likely to come late in the day.

On TV

The final round will be live on Golf Channel from 4 – 6:30 p.m. ET.

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Family affair: Sons, daughters, wives working as caddies at Charles Schwab Cup Championship

The Charles Schwab Cup Championship has 81 fathers and husbands competing this week at Phoenix Country Club.

The Charles Schwab Cup Championship has 81 fathers and husbands competing this week at Phoenix Country Club.

Many of them have their sons, daughters or wives working alongside them as caddies.

There are nine such pairings, in fact, with five sons, two wives and two daughters on the bag.

Dudley Hart is playing this week with his daughter, Rachel, caddying for him for the first time.

“It was very interesting. I don’t know how to rake the bunker, still don’t know, but it was fun,” she said.

She’s one of three triplets and the second of his kids to caddie for her father. Rachel said she’s not a golfer but did say she really enjoyed her time with her dad on the golf course.

“We had a good time,” Dudley said. “She’s a freshman at the University of Tampa and I haven’t seen much of her this fall so it’s nice to have her sneak out and hang out with me, let her experience what I’ve done for 30 plus years now, get an up-close look at it.”

CHARLES SCHWAB CUP: Leaderboard

Tom Lehman’s son, Thomas, is caddying this week. Thomas is on his high school team at Notre Dame Prep in Scottsdale and has caddied for his dad countless times. He estimated it’s been 20 rounds.

“I had a great caddie. He didn’t misread a putt all day and if I simply was good enough to hit them where he said to hit them, I would have scored a lot better,” Lehman said after his round of 68 on Thursday. “We had a good time.”

Tom Lehman
Tom Lehman and his son Thomas at the 2020 Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Photo by Elise Tallent/PGA Tour Champions

Being a golfer, Thomas said he learns a lot about the game watching his dad in tournaments but also from watching the other pros.

“Oh, yeah, definitely, definitely learn a lot caddying. Being able to watch him just go around the course,” Thomas said.

“And the other guys, too,” Tom added. “Watching Lee Janzen hit wedges or chip or putt, for example, or Langer, the way he manages his game, it’s a good learning experience.”

A family affair

  • Dudley Hart and daughter Rachel
  • Esteban Toledo and daughter Eden
  • Tom Lehman and son Thomas
  • Olin Browne and son Olin Jr.
  • Hale Irwin and son Steve
  • Tom Byrum and son Jake
  • Scott Simpson and son Sean
  • Tom Kite and wife Sandy Jones
  • Steve Pate and wife Sheri

Noteworthy: Tom Byrum’s son-in-law Nick Flanagan, the 2003 U.S. Amateur champion, is caddying for Cameron Beckman this week.

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Paul Goydos, Brandt Jobe lead Charles Schwab Cup Championship

Paul Goydos and Brandt Jobe took advantage of perfect conditions on Friday in Phoenix at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Record-high temperatures on Thursday gave way to cooler weather on Friday at Phoenix Country Club, where Michael Allen hit the first tee shot to open the 2020 Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

It was 99 on Thursday, the hottest day Phoenix has ever had in November. When the 81-man field hit the course for the first round on Friday, the group was greeted by overcast skies, no wind and a great golf course.

Paul Goydos and Brandt Jobe took advantage of the conditions, each firing bogey-free 7-under 64s. Both of them birdied the 527-yard par-5 18th and will take a one-shot lead over Mark Brooks, K.J. Choi and Kevin Sutherland into Saturday.

“I kind of got off to I wouldn’t say a slow start but maybe not the most confident start,” said Goydos. “I hit a sprinkler head or something on 3 and it caught a good break and it kicked somewhere I could get up and down, and hit a poor shot. Then I chipped in on 4 for birdie, which kind of got the thing started.”

Charles Schwab Cup Championship: Leaderboard

Goydos has now led or been the co-leader in tournaments on the PGA Tour Champions six times. Four of those came in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. He won the event in 2016, the final time it was played at Desert Mountain Golf Club in Scottsdale. In 12 rounds at Phoenix Country Club, Goydos has nine rounds in the 60s and a 67.17 average.

Jobe has four top 10s this year. He is seeking his third PGA Tour Champions victory.

On Thursday, he was one of three golfers who wore microphones during the round, joining Billy Andrade and Tim Herron. Along the way, the group talked about dinner and the Dodgers winning the World Series but things got interesting on the 7th hole.

Charles Schwab Cup Championship
Brandt Jobe hits his tee shot on the sixth hole during the first round of the 2020 Charles Schwab Cup Championship on November 6, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images

“Billy hits a 3-wood, pretty good shot, kind of right where he’s aiming and we couldn’t find it,” Jobe said. “So finally someone goes, ‘There’s a ball up in the tree.’ So a guy in the gallery takes his shoe off and we start throwing the shoe at the ball. Billy’s throw wasn’t real good though, but (PGA Tour Champions VP of Rules, Competition and Administration) Brian Claar hit it on like the second or third try.”

Andrade had to take an unplayable lie but he saved himself about 250 yards. He ended up taking bogey on the hole. He’s T-50 after his first-round 71.

About those greens

The putting surfaces at Phoenix Country Club have dominated the discussion so far this week. Players, caddies and tournament officials are all raving about the greens.

“The greens are embarrassingly good,” Goydos said. “If you miss a putt, you either misread or mis-hit it, there’s no way it’s not going to roll on the line that you hit it on. It might be the best Bermuda greens I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Phoenix Country Club golf course superintendent Charlie Costello has a lot of fans this week.

“Boy, the greens are so good,” Jobe said with a big smile on his face. “I’ve got to take my hat off to them, these greens are really good. They’re fast, they roll incredible. And when you have greens that good, if you get some opportunities, you’re going to make some putts.”

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PGA Tour Champions rules official throws a shoe to get a ball out of a tree

After Billy Andrade hit a golf ball into a large tree at Phoenix Country Club, a PGA Tour Champions rules official came to the rescue.

Who throws a shoe? Honestly?

Well, on Friday, it was PGA Tour Champions VP of Rules, Competition and Administration Brian Claar, who threw a shoe into a tree at Phoenix Country Club to get a ball down.

On the 7th hole, a par 5, Billy Andrade’s second shot went into a large tree and never came down.

After a few minutes were spent trying to confirm it was his, Claar ended up with a random black shoe from the gallery and so he threw it, dislodging the ball on his first try.

Has Claar ever thrown a shoe like that before?

“No,” he said with a laugh. “In college we threw a lot of stuff to retrieve clubs that were thrown into trees. I’ve thrown a rake once, but that was the first shoe.”

Andrade and his caddie were initially not able to say for certain it was his ball, which was marked with a red line.

“It looked like by the naked eye you could see something but it was just a pine needle, perpendicular to the ball that looked like a line, till you put the binocs on it,” Claar said.

It was important to identify the ball because otherwise it would have been a lost ball and Andrade would have to go back to where he hit his second shot. As it turned out, because he could identify the ball, he was able to declare it unplayable and take a one-stroke penalty and play his fourth from there.

He ended up getting a bogey on the hole.

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Jim Furyk right at home on PGA Tour Champions, where’s he made almost $1 million already

With a fifth-place or better finish at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Jim Furyk will surpass $1 million on the PGA Tour Champions.

Jim Furyk is back in Arizona and he immediately wanted there to be no confusion as to where his college allegiance lies.

“It’s always good to be back in Arizona,” he said on Wednesday at Phoenix Country Club. “I went kind of down the road. I went to college in Tucson at the University of Arizona.”

The former Wildcat is well aware that Arizona State sits just 10 miles to the east in Tempe. His alma mater is about a two-hour drive south.

“This is probably pretty much split Sun Devil and Wildcat country, although we’re much closer to ASU,” he said. “I know if there were fans, there’d be some good Wildcats here.”

There will be no fans indeed at this week’s PGA Tour Champions Charles Schwab Cup Championship, although about 350 tickets were distributed to club members and tournament sponsors.

Who’s in, who’s out, what you need to know about the Charles Schwab Cup Championship

Despite his deep ties to the state, Furyk said Tuesday was the first time he’s played the course. Considering his smooth transition from the PGA Tour to the PGA Tour Champions, he’s likely to be a quick study.

After turning 50 on May 12, Furyk won the first two senior circuit events he entered. He posted a tie for second last week and in five events he has four top-10s with his worst outing so far a tie for 13th.

Furyk’s bank account has swelled in 2020 as well. He’s earned a tidy $885,700 in those five Champions Tour events. A fifth-place finish or better this week will push him over the $1,000,000 mark in earnings. While nothing to sneeze at, Furyk pocketed just $224,450 in 13 events on the PGA Tour. That season ended for him in mid-August at the Wyndham Championship.

“Once the PGA Tour season was over for me at Wyndham, I kinda committed that thought: ‘You know, I’m going to go play the rest of that schedule on the Champions Tour, see what it looks like, see how I feel.’ I think pretty shortly after that, within a couple of weeks, this was pretty much my home,” Furyk said. “This is where I’m going in the future. I’ll still go out and play some events on the PGA Tour but this is going to be predominantly where I play most of my golf.”

His two Champions Tour wins came at Warwick Hills in Michigan and Pebble Beach, courses he says he is very familiar with. But now he’s getting to try out new places.

Phoenix Country Club
The main entrance at Phoenix Country Club in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo by Golfweek

“I’m finally starting to feel more like that rookie,” he joked. “I have to punch into the GPS ‘Where am I going’, asking people ‘Where’s the locker room? Where’s the driving range?’ But I’ve enjoyed it. It’s good to see some old friends.”

The Champions courses are a bit more to his liking at this point in his career, too.

“I enjoy playing golf courses that are 7,000 yards long instead of 7,400 yards or 7,500 yards,” he said. “I went from being one of the five oldest guys and one of the ten shortest on the PGA Tour to one of the five youngest and in the top 20 percent in length, so it’s nice to be young and long. I haven’t been able to say that in so long.”

Furyk is part of a bigger wave of PGA Tour stars heading to the Champions Tour, many of whom fans know by name.

“This tour had a great group of guys already there, but you start adding in the last year Retief, Ernie, Phil, Mike Weir, KJ Choi, Rich Beem. It seems like every month someone else is turning 50.”

Mickelson is not in the field in Phoenix. He’s chose the Vivint Houston Open as his final prep for next week’s Masters, a tournament that Furyk says he’s looking forward to watching.

“I’m not in so I won’t be there. I’ll watch from home like everyone else,” he said. “I’m really curious to see what it looks like. It’s Augusta, so it’s going to beautiful, it’ll be in great shape. Is it going to play firm and fast, like we all wanna see Augusta, or is it going to be a little slower, a little longer, maybe even favor the bomber. Augusta always favors the bomber but maybe it’ll favor the bomber a little more this year.”

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[lawrence-related id=778073511,778073501,778073437]

Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, John Daly headline PGA Tour Champions stop in Phoenix

Phil Mickelson decided against paying a visit to Phoenix but the PGA Tour Champions Charles Schwab Cup Championship has plenty of big names.

The golf world has settled back to mostly normal, but the 2020 calendar certainly was turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic.

Dozens of tournaments on the major golf tours were canceled, including several major championships.

On the PGA Tour Champions, a total of 14 events were knocked off the calendar, although two new ones were added last-minute in August. Four of the five senior majors were lost this year.

Further fallout included the loss of tour’s season-ending championship. The circuit is still holding the Charles Schwab Cup Championship this week but now the tournament is simply part of a combined 2020 and 2021 season, so on Sunday, the 2020 tournament winner will be crowned but the next Charles Schwab Cup will be awarded in November 2021.

Who’s in the field

The field was increased from 78 golfers to 81, while the event was reduced from 72 holes to 54.

Here’s a closer look at some of the big names set to tee it up this week.

Bernhard Langer

Winner of 41 Champions tour events and a five-time Charles Schwab Cup Champion. He tied for second on Sunday in the TimberTech Championship, finishing runner up to Darren Clarke, who won his first PGA Tour Champions title. Langer leads the points race. The World Golf Hall of Famer has earned more than $40 million while playing on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions the past 45 years; $30 million of that was won on the senior circuit.

Jim Furyk

Won his first two starts on the senior circuit, becoming the second to ever do so. He tied Langer for second at the TimberTech.

“I’ve enjoyed playing the Champions Tour, to be honest with you. I feel like I’ll play a handful of PGA Tour  events next year, but I think this is kind of my home,” Furyk said last week. “It’s been nice kind of getting the juices flowing and having chances to win golf tournaments.”

Mike Weir

Turned 50 the same day as Furyk. Has posted three top-10 finishes in just eight starts, including a runner-up finish to Mickelson three weeks ago.

Ernie Els

Turned 51 in October and he, too, has won twice this season. His first came in Newport Beach, California, in the Champions tour’s last event before the shutdown. He won again a month ago.

Jeff Maggert

The defending champion of the event, Maggert holed a wedge shot from 124 yards out on the third hole of a playoff with Retief Goosen to capture the 2019 title in the Charles Schwab Cup on Sunday at Phoenix Country Club.

John Daly

He was the first-round co-leader in Boca Raton, Florida, last week, before settling for a T-26 finish. Daly held a lead for just the second time during a tournament since joining the PGA Tour Champions in 2016. He has one Champions tour win, in 2017, and just 10 top-10 finishes in 77 starts. But he remains one of the tour’s fan favorites.

Hale Irwin

Winningest player in Champions tour history with 45 victories.

Who won’t be there

Phil Mickelson

Matched Furyk’s feet by winning his first two times out on the 50-and-over tour but instead of going for a third senior title this week, Lefty instead has committed to the Vivint Houston Open. It’s the final PGA Tour event before the November Masters.

Mickelson was openly debating between Houston and Phoenix for a few days. After finishing 76th in the 77-man field at the Zozo Championship, Mickelson expressed some concern, despite the PGA Tour’s highly successful protocols to deal with COVID-19, about the Houston Open’s decision to allow 2,000 fans per day on site. But he ultimately decided it was the best way to prep for Augusta National.

Darren Clarke

It had been nine years since Darren Clarke had a victory toast, but on Sunday, he tapped in a short birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win the TimberTech Championship by a shot over defending champion Bernhard Langer and Jim Furyk. It was Clarke’s first victory since the 2011 British Open.

Had he lost, no doubt he would have rued a one-stroke penalty he received Saturday for picking up his ball on the second hole, forgetting the field was no longer using preferred lies.

It was Clarke’s last chance to win this year. Because of visa issues, he has to be out of the country by Wednesday, meaning he won’t play in Phoenix.

The venue

Phoenix Country Club will host the Charles Schwab Cup Championship for the fourth time. PCC is a parkland-style golf course that hosted the Phoenix Open from 1932 to 1986. Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gene Littler, Johnny Miller, Ben Crenshaw and Hal Sutton all have a Phoenix Open title on the résumés.

The course was redesigned in 2002 by Tom Lehman and John Fought.

Five-term Arizona Senator and 1964 Republican Party presidential candidate Barry Goldwater was once an influential member. His brother Bob is recognized by many as the father of the Phoenix Open.

“I thought the idea of a golf tournament in Phoenix in the winter would be an ideal way to bring awareness to Phoenix,” he once said.

In 2017, pro golf returned to the central Phoenix course with the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

No fans, for the most part

In September, the Sanford International at Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, became the first professional golf tournament to welcome fans back, with 10,000 daily tickets distributed.

The Schwab tournament this week is closed to fans, although tournament officials are making about 350 daily tickets available to Phoenix Country Club members and sponsors.

On TV

Golf Channel will have live coverage all three days from 4 to 6:30 p.m. ET.

The Palm Beach Post contributed to this article.