KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship

Padraig Harrington admits to ‘the longest pee ever’ at 2023 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship

Harrington is 18 holes away from his second senior major golf championship.

Padraig Harrington is 18 holes away from his second senior major golf championship. He’s doing his best to not let a prolonged pit stop knock him off track.

A member of the over-50 circuit since last year, Harrington leads the 2023 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in Frisco, Texas, 16 under by a shot over Steve Stricker. Rounds of 64-68-68 at the brand new East Course has Harrington in a solid position and he’s happy with how his week is going so far.

“First day I shot 64 easy. Second day I got everything out of it to shoot 68. Today I left a lot out on the golf course and shoot 68,” he said Saturday after his third round. “Golf’s a crazy game.”

Golf can be crazy indeed.

Turns out during the third round Mother Nature came calling for Harrington and let’s just say he’s wasn’t shy about discussing a very personal incident.

“Probably have had the silliest, maybe the most silliest. … I come up with the silliest excuse ever for making. … I’m glad I broke my par streak. It’s not good not to have made a bogey. That’s not a good thing. I know that sounds strange, so that’s the first thing I’ll say,” Harrington began to explain, slowly working his way up to the, uh, well, the interesting part of the story.

“Sixteen came out of nowhere, which is, I have a. … so, essentially, I went in the toilet. The door was locked. Took me a minute to realize there wasn’t somebody in there, another few, another while to get the door open.

“As we are on the Champions Tour, I had the longest pee ever.”

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You gotta go, the door is locked, you’re not sure someone’s in there, your group is waiting on you. We’ve all been there.

“And then I kind of rushed down the fairway and hit my shot. The second shot was kind of innocuous because the pin was so tight I was just playing 15 feet left of it and to be honest, yeah, I just, I wasn’t. … I do that sometimes, I just wasn’t focused, I wasn’t into it and I hit a bad shot in the hazard.”

Harrington ended up with a double bogey on the par-4 16th hole. He carded five birdies on the day before that, and then closed with a birdie on the par-5 18th, keeping his lead intact after 54 holes.

“But, yeah, so when you get over 50 it sometimes takes a long time to have a pee. And that was, yeah, that’s my excuse. That’s got to be original, I would assume.”

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‘It’s nice to catch it’: After more than 40 years, PGA club pro Cameron Doan has finally achieved his major championship dream

Doan has been the director of golf at Preston Trail Golf Club in Dallas since 1999.

Last week, Michael Block was the feel-good story in golf. This week another club pro is having his moment in the sun.

Cameron Doan, the director of golf at Preston Trail Golf Club in Dallas since 1999, is making his first start in a major this week at the Senior PGA Championship, which is being played at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco in nearby Frisco, Texas, and Doan had the honor of hitting the opening drive on Thursday. He went on to post an opening-round even-par 72.

Doan, the PGA’s 2018 Bill Strausbaugh Award winner, competed in more than 10 PGA Professional National Championships before turning 50 without qualifying for the PGA Championship. He attempted to qualify for the Senior PGA four times in the Senior PGA Professional Championship without finishing in the top 35. Twice he came within just a few strokes of getting to that elusive major.

“You get to be my age at 55, you wonder,” Doan said.

Ahead of the 2022 Senior PGA Professional Championship in October, Doan, who was making his fifth appearance in the championship, told PGA.com, “The goal of playing in a major has been there for 40 years. I have to show my students, staff and kids that you can do it. You can set goals, work hard and achieve them.”

The 2022 qualifying tournament was held at Twin Warriors and Santa Ana Golf Clubs in New Mexico, where Doan grew up. Hailing from Silver City, Doan learned the game at a nine-hole course where his dad was the head pro and the course superintendent.

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“During the summers, the course was the babysitter for my younger brother and me,” he said.

Fittingly, he finished the tournament T-3 in his native state to secure a spot in his first major this week.

“I chased this a long time. It’s nice to catch it,” he said.

North Texas PGA CEO Mark Harrison caddied for Doan on the first hole—helping him start the Championship with a par.

“The first call I made, I called him (Harrison) and said, ‘All right, you’re in for the first hole,’” Doan said. “When I was in the hunt in New Mexico last October, he flew out, showed up Sunday morning on the last round and came strolling up on the 8th fairway when it’s blowing 30 and cold.”

“Incredible, better than you could dream, I would say,” said Harrison after handing off the bag to Doan’s son, Tristan, to caddie the rest of the round. “And to have him hit it right on the screws, that was incredible.”

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What some pros, and designer Gil Hanse, are saying about new golf course at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco, host of 83rd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship

The East course at PGA Frisco is scheduled to host 26 championships through 2034.

There are big plans for the PGA of America’s new home in Frisco, Texas, including the playing of multiple major championships.

The first of those is taking place this week at the 83rd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

PGA Frisco officially opened on May 2, with the Beau Welling-designed West course the first to open. The East, designed by the team of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, is scheduled already for 26 championships through 2034.

The Fields Ranch courses are part of the Omni PGA Frisco Resort. The property also serves as the new headquarters for the PGA of America, which previously had been located in South Florida.

How will the East course play? Ahead of the Senior PGA, several players discussed the layout, as did Hanse, the mastermind behind the venue.

Steven Alker wins KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship for third win in five starts

Steven Alker shot a 63 in the final round to win the 82nd Senior PGA Championship.

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — A year ago, New Zealand golfer Steven Alker was preparing to turn 50 in two months so he could try to carve out a decent living on the PGA Tour Champions.

His professional résumé left much to be desired.

Now Alker is the hottest golfer on the senior circuit.

Sunday at the par-71, 6,762-yard Jack Nicklaus-designed Harbor Shores by Lake Michigan, Alker overcame a four-stroke deficit at the start by shooting an 8-under 63 in the final round that included nine birdies. His 16-under 268 earned him the 82nd Senior PGA Championship with a three-shot victory over third-round leader Stephen Ames for his third victory in his last four starts.

“It’s been a great ride out here and I’m enjoying myself,” said Alker, who earned $630,000, pushing his bankroll to $1,813,961 with his seventh top-10 finish. “The first couple of weeks were okay. I wouldn’t say I’m comfortable yet, but just comfortable playing with the guys out here.”

Alker’s amazing play this season has certainly impressed his colleagues, especially Ames, who managed a 1-under 70 to finish runner-up at 13-under 271, three strokes ahead of 64-year-old legend Bernhard Langer of Germany, who closed with a 71.

“I’ve watched Steven play on the European Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour,” said Ames, whose round included four birdies and three bogeys. “All of a sudden out here, wow. It’s fantastic, great to see.”

The victory also secured Alker a spot in next year’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York. “It’s just perseverance with a capital P,” Alker said about his career turnaround.

Alker, who birdied three of his first five holes, bogeyed the difficult 443-yard seventh but then ran off four birdies in a row beginning at No. 8. He added birdies at Harbor Shores Nos. 15 and 16 to close the door on the competition.

Alker, who played in the second-to-last group Sunday, was comfortable chasing Ames, Langer and Canadian Mike Weir.

“I was very, very calm,” he said. “I wanted it but I had a lot of ground to make up. I didn’t want to push too hard and go too aggressive. So I got a nice start, made some nice putts. I just kind of did everything well today.”

Ames, who had a share of the 36-hole lead with housemate Scott McCarron at 8-under and was the solo third-round leader by two strokes over Langer and fellow Canadian Mike Weir, said Harbor Shores played different Sunday because of warmer temperatures in the low 80s and south-southwest winds gusting to 25 miles an hour.

“The lines and clubs were different off the tee, but I think everybody adjusted well,” Ames said. “Obviously some (golfers) played better than others.”

One of them wasn’t Langer, who now has four top-10 finishes at Senior PGAs played at Harbor Shores but not a victory. Seeking his 12th senior major title, Langer bogeyed three straight holes starting at No. 12—doubling his bogey total of the first three rounds—for a closing 71 and a 10-under 274 for solo third. Four golfers tied for fourth at 9 under: Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez (69), South Korea’s K.J. Choi (65), Weir (72) and California’s Paul Goydos (71).

Langer, who made four birdies on his front nine, had to play out of two divots at the 548-yard 10th before managing to save his par 5. “That really stopped the momentum,” said Langer, who then bogeyed Nos. 13 through 15. “It was obviously a missed opportunity. I was 14 under leading by one with eight holes to go and just didn’t close it.”

Ames birdied Nos. 2 and 3 to build a three-shot lead at 14-under. But Ames gave a stroke back with a bogey at the difficult 443-yard seventh hole overlooking Lake Michigan and Alker, Langer and others began to close in.

Langer caught Ames at 13 under with his third birdie of the day at No. 8 and then added another birdie at par-5 ninth to turn at 14 under.

Alker, meanwhile, started the day with four straight 3s, two of them birdies, and then after bogeying the seventh, strung together four birdies beginning at the short 376-yard eighth hole to reach 14 under through 11. When Ames birdied the 133-yard 11th, the three foreigners were in a three-way tie and had effectively separated themselves from the rest of the field.

The three-way tie didn’t last long as Langer made bogey from the fairway at the 12th, and then he hooked his tee shot at the 193-yard 13th into the rough on way to a second straight bogey to fall two back at 12-under.

Up ahead, Alker made birdie at the 508-yard, par-5 15th by the Paw Paw River after Ames and Langer bogeyed the 14th hole, and Alker suddenly found himself in control of the tournament at 15-under. His final birdie at 16 and two up-and-down pars at 17 and 18 secured it.

Alker leads the tour with three wins. He has three wins a tie for second and a tie for third in his last five starts.

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Senior PGA: Can Stephen Ames hold off Bernhard Langer and Mike Weir?

The 58-year-old Canadian would prefer to be the hunter instead of the hunted in Sunday’s final round at Harbor Shores.

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — If Stephen Ames had his way in the 82nd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, the 58-year-old Canadian would prefer to be the hunter instead of the hunted in Sunday’s final round at Harbor Shores.

“I don’t like to be that guy, period,” said third-round leader Ames after his 4-under-par 67 in Saturday’s third round left him at 12-under 201, two strokes ahead of fellow Canadian Mike Weir and PGA Tour Champions legend Bernhard Langer of Germany, who also recorded 67s at the par-71, 6,852-yard Jack Nicklaus design by Lake Michigan.

In addition to Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, and Langer, who has won two Masters and a record 11 senior major titles, the leaderboard’s top 12 golfers include defending Senior PGA champion Alex Cejka of Germany and the top two money-winners on senior circuit – No. 1 Steve Alker and No. 2 Miguel Angel Jimenez.

That’s heady company for the 58-year-old Ames, the 2006 Players champion who has just two senior victories, to hold off.

“Either way I look at it, I’m going to go out there and play my game,” Ames said. “I can’t control what anybody is doing. The only thing I can control is myself, so I’m going to try and keep my emotions the way they are right now and play golf. If it comes out, it comes out.”

The 64-year-old Langer and the left-handed Weir, who started the day two strokes behind Ames and his co-leader and housemate for the week, Scott McCarron, were among the 39 golfers who shot sub-par rounds in Saturday’s ideal scoring conditions which were opposite of Friday’s rain, wind and cold temperatures.

Ames started his round with birdies at Nos. 2 and 3. After he bogeyed the 436-yard seventh hole, Ames finished the front with a birdie on the par-5 ninth to turn in 2-under 34. Ames then birdied Nos. 10 and 12 and finished with six straight pars to maintain his lead over Langer and Weir, who stumbled on their way to the clubhouse.

“I was just keeping it in play and getting those long putts really nice and close,” added Ames, who had double bogeys in each of his first two rounds but didn’t come close to one Saturday.

The 52-year-old Weir couldn’t avoid one at the par-3, 201-yard 17th hole where his 6-iron tee shot missed a bunker but not a rake outside of it. The ball caromed off the rake into the hazard where it lodged against a couple of branches. Weir ended up making an 8-footer to save his double bogey.

“That was an unfortunate bounce,” added Weir, who made seven birdies in his round, including five in a six-hole stretch beginning at the fifth hole. “I hit a nice drive and an 8-iron close at 18 (for his last birdie).”

Langer would be a shot closer if not for his three-putt bogey from 35 feet at 18, his only mistake in a round which began with a birdie at No. 1 and two more at Nos. 6 and 9 for a front-side 33. He added two more on the back nine at Nos. 12 and 15 before chipping in from the fringe for par at the par-4 16th and then getting up-and-down at No. 17 for another par.

“It’s always fun to be in contention,” said Langer, who has three top-10 finishes in previous Senior PGAs played at Harbor Shores in 2012, 2014 and 2016. Langer, who makes his home in Boca Raton, Florida, completed the senior grand slam with his Senior PGA championship in 2017 at Trump National outside Washington, and while he didn’t play in the 2018 event at Harbor Shores because of his youngest son’s high school graduation, he did show up for its media day.

“The golf course was perfect,” Langer continued. “(It was) really (in) very good shape. Nice fairways, fantastic greens and the weather was phenomenal.”

As was the scoring. American Paul Goydos, who has just three bogeys in three rounds, was a stroke behind Langer at 9-under 204 after a four-birdie 67. A stroke behind Goydos at 205 are defending Cejka (68), Florida’s Brian Gay (69) and the 50-year-old Alker (69), who has two victories and almost $1.2 million in earnings. Alker managed to overcome a pair of double bogeys in his round with six birdies.

Jimenez, who is No. 2 in money earnings with two victories, had the best round of the day, a 6-under 65, and leaped into a tie for eighth at 7-under 206 with Americans Shane Bertsch (67) and Gene Sauers (66), Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee (66) and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, who fought through a stiff neck to shoot 68.

Sunday’s weather is predicted to be sunny and warmer but with gusty south winds. That could mean Harbor Shores’ record winning scores of 19-under 265 by champions Rocco Mediate (2016) and Paul Broadhurst (2018) could be safe.

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Two players sharing a house at the Senior PGA Championship are also sharing the 36-hole lead

Housemates for this week’s 82nd Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores have something in common – a share of the 36-hole lead at 8-under.

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — The Odd Couple, golfers Scott McCarron and Stephen Ames, they are not.

But the housemates for this week’s 82nd Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores do have something in common – a share of the 36-hole lead at 8-under 134 after shooting matching 5-under 66s in Friday’s second round which started with rain and wind and only got colder as the day progressed.

“It was crazy,” said 56-year-old McCarron, who has 11 PGA Tour Champions victories including the 2017 Senior Players major title. “Weather (when) we teed off … was not too bad. (It was) 60 (degrees) and then we got to the third hole, and I think it dropped 10 or 15 degrees.”

Nevertheless, McCarron made eight birdies in his round, five for an incoming 30 on the back nine of the 6,852-yard Jack Nicklaus design that sits near Lake Michigan. The 58-year-old Ames, who made a double bogey for the second straight day, made six birdies over his final 11 holes despite the deteriorating conditions.

“It’s not my cup of tea,” Ames said. “I’m not a fan of the cold weather even though I lived in Canada. But I never went out and played golf in this.”

McCarron is coming off major reconstructive surgery of his left ankle last August and has just one Top 25 finish this season in nine events, a tie for 16th at the Regions Tradition major on May 15 that was won by Steve Stricker, who is not playing this week after testing positive for COVID.

“It’s been a slow process,” McCarron said about his surgery. “I knew it would be. It’s been a struggle, but the last couple of weeks it’s gotten better.”

Ames, meanwhile, is 11th on the money list with $406,237 in earnings thanks to four Top 10 finishes.

“Putting has been a bit of an issue the last six weeks I’ve played,” Ames said after making a 25-foot birdie for his final birdie at the 16th. “I’ve had opportunities, but I couldn’t make putts to close things out.”

McCarron and Ames were two strokes ahead of four golfers – 64-year-old World Golf Hall of Fame member Bernhard Langer of Germany, who shot a second straight 68, Florida’s Brian Gay (68), Canada’s Mike Weir (71) and PGA Tour Champions rookie sensation Steven Alker (72) of New Zealand.

Senior PGA Championship: Germany’s Bernhard Langer has priorities in order for Senior PGA event in Michigan

By the numbers: A fun peek at notable numbers associated with the Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores

Langer, a two-time Masters champion who has won the most senior majors (11) since turning 50, made four birdies, three of them on Harbor Shores’ par-5 holes at 9, 10 and 15, to offset a bogey at the 436-yard seventh hole where the windswept small green overlooks Lake Michigan.

“It was cold today, much colder, and the ball just went nowhere at times,” Langer said. “It’s nice to go below 70 on a day like this because it’s not easy. The course played a lot longer.”

Alker, who eagled his first hole of the tournament (the par-5 10th) Thursday by draining a 25-foot downhill putt, bogeyed the first hole and the last Friday with just birdie in between. “It was a grinding day,” said Alker, who has two victories and almost $1.2 million this season. “Obviously I didn’t hit it as close as yesterday … couldn’t reach the par-5s.”

After surrendering 56 sub-par rounds to the 156-player field in Thursday’s opening round, Harbor Shores fought back Friday with plenty of help from Mother Nature. Only 17 golfers shot under-par Friday.

The best round of the afternoon, a 2-under 69, belonged to defending champion Alex Cejka, who was in a group at 5-under 137 with morning golfers multi-major champion Ernie Els (70) of South Africa, Rod Pampling (68) of Australia and Americans Paul Goydos (68) and Tracy Phillips (68), one of 39 club professionals playing this week.

Cejka started his Friday afternoon round at the par-5 10th hole, made birdie at the par-3 11th and then finished the nine with back-to-back bogeys at 17 and 18. But he made four birdies on Harbor Shores’ front side.

“I grinded on (his) back nine,” Cejka said. “It was really, really tough, but I hit some good shots, made some good putts, made some clutch up-and-downs.”

A total of 71 golfers made the 36-hole cut which came at three-over 145.

He just grinds

Langer, who has 43 PGA Tour Champions victories and won 11 major championships since turning 50, has himself again in the hunt for a victory at Harbor Shores after a second-straight, three-under 68 in different scoring conditions. Friday’s rain and winds from the northwest across Lake Michigan mystified many in the field, but the 64-year-old Langer was not among them. He had four birdies, three on par-5 holes.

“The conditions were pretty rough,” Langer said. “It was cold today, much colder, and the ball just went nowhere at times.”

The two-time Masters champion (1985 and 1993) also said the weather forecasts he has received the first two days have not been correct. “Yesterday (Thursday) they were wrong, and today they were wrong again,” he laughed. “It was nice to go below 70 on a day like this because it was not easy.”

In his previous three visits here – Langer did not play in the event in 2018 because of his son’s graduation from high school – he’s finished tied for fourth in 2012 (to champion Roger Chapman of England), tied for third in 2014 (to champion Colin Montgomerie) and tied for third in 2016 (to champ Rocco Mediate).

Past champions

Montgomerie followed his opening two-under 69 with a 71 and was at two-under 140, one stroke ahead of a group at 141 that included 2018 champion Paul Broadhurst, who managed a two-under 69 in Friday’s crazy conditions.

When he won in 2014, Montgomerie shot 13-under 271 to win. Broadhurst shot 19-under 265 to win in 2018, matching 2016 champion Rocco Mediate’s winning score.

Chapman, who opened with a one-under 70 Thursday was two-over for the day midway through Friday’s round and was at one-over. The projected 36-hole cut was expected to be three-over.

Down the road

Mediate, who opened with a three-over 74 Thursday, won’t be among those who make the cut as he was one of four golfers who no-carded Friday. A wrist injury caused his withdraw. John Daly, the 1991 PGA champion at Crooked Stick who shot 72 Thursday, withdrew with knee problems. Rich Beem, the 2002 PGA champ who opened with a 75, and Jonathan Kaye (78) also started Friday’s play but withdrew.

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How a ride in a Cadillac on an open Michigan highway opened Rocco Mediate’s eyes to playing pro

“I never thought I’d be out here 37 years. I never learned more about playing golf than I did at the Western.”

BENTON HARBOR, Michigan — Rocco Mediate still remembers fondly the drive in his father Tony’s Cadillac down Pokagon Highway — a stretch in northwest Michigan near the Indiana border — away from Hampshire Country Club as if it was yesterday.

Nearly 39 years ago – Aug. 1, 1983, to be exact – then 20-year-old Rocco and his dad, a barber in Greensburg, Pa., were trying to get to Point O’Woods Golf & Country Club where Rocco, who had shot 74 in the morning at Hampshire, could present his invitation card for a late-afternoon practice round before the 81st Western Amateur golf championship.

Pokagon Highway, a two-lane country road, went past pig farms immediately across the street from Hampshire, and the Mediates eventually made their way to M-140 which took them north to Territorial Road where they went west through the little village of Millburg to Roslin Road and Point O’Woods, designed by the renowned late golf architect Robert Trent Jones Sr.

Mediate, who played college golf at Florida Southern, had a tight grip on the invitation card that day, and his dad’s Cadillac couldn’t get them to the Point quick enough.

“The ride was unreal,” Mediate said Monday afternoon at the Jack Nicklaus-design, Harbor Shores, where he, the 2016 champion, and 155 other senior professionals will tee off Thursday in the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

The 6-foot-1 Mediate made the 36-hole cut, assuring himself a spot in the 1984 Western Amateur during which he shot 279 for three days of stroke play to qualify for the Sweet Sixteen and match play. Mediate then knocked off Niles 31-year-old Doug Fischesser, a former U.S. Amateur runner-up, 1 up in Saturday’s first round and stroke-play medalist Scott Verplank (270) on the 19th hole in the afternoon quarterfinals. On Sunday, Mediate beat Fred Wadsworth 1 up in the morning semifinals to set up an afternoon championship showdown with North Carolina Tar Heel John Inman.

The two golfers, dressed in plus fours (knickers), played an entertaining match before more than 6,000 Michiana golf fans (“a zillion fans,” he remembers) before Inman prevailed 3-and-2. Mediate, with oodles of confidence, returned to Florida Southern where he and teammate Lee Janzen, later a two-time U.S. Open champion, led the school to the NCAA Division II championship before Mediate turned pro and earned his card.

“Playing in the Western Amateur gave me hope of possibly becoming a professional,” Mediate said. “I never thought I’d be out here 37 years. I never learned more about playing tournament golf than I did at the Western.”

The popular Mediate has earned more than $22.5 million dollars as a professional and won six events on the regular Tour – the first in 1991 at Doral and the last the Frys.com Open in 2010 – before joining in 2013 the 50-and-older crowd, the PGA Tour Champions on which he has won four times, including the 2016 Senior PGA at Harbor Shores where he opened with a nine-under 62 and led from start to finish for a 19-under 265 total which was three strokes ahead of his good friend, Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie.

“It (the victory) was unexpected probably from everybody including myself,” Mediate chuckled. “It meant a lot before it is a major championship, and it felt like one. I had the lead pretty much every day, and I’m playing with Colin, who is so good and you know he’s coming at you.

“And then there were a lot of runs on Sunday,” Mediate continued. “Bernhard (Langer) made a run, everyone made a run, and I was hanging in there and made a few good putts and hit a bunch of good shots.”

Mediate likes the Nicklaus design and is surprised that his 19-under score was so low (it was matched two years later by Paul Broadhurst when the Senior PGA returned).

“This golf course is not easy,” Mediate said. “If you put it in the right spots, you can shoot scores here. This is a very quadrant, second-shot golf course. If you’re in the wrong place, ooh, boy. My short game that week was ridiculous, and I putted great. Holing that bunker shot at (the par-3) 17 iced it for me. It put me up three shots. I tried to hit it into the water (at 18), but I put it in the bunker (and won).”

The victory is easily the biggest moment of Mediate’s professional career, which has survived severe back injuries that caused him to use a long putter early (he won Doral in 1991 with one) before surgery finally allowed Mediate to putt conventionally. The highlight of Mediate’s PGA Tour career may not have been any of his victories – he battled Tiger Woods for the 2008 U.S. Open championship into a playoff that ended with Woods winning on the 19th hole in sudden death at Torrey Pines, one of the courses Woods played as a youngster.

But Rocco Mediate will tell you that his career really started almost four decades ago after he qualified at Hampshire and he and his father took a long and winding road to Point O’Woods for his first Western Amateur.

“I remember driving through Niles, all the signs,” he said. “I remember going to the Point a few years ago. It’s still awesome.”

As is Rocco Mediate.

82nd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship

When: Thursday, May 26 through Sunday, May 29 (practice round Wednesday, May 25)

Where: Harbor Shores Golf Club, Benton Harbor (Par 71, 6,734 yards designed by Jack Nicklaus)

Defending champion: Alex Cejka, Germany

Past champions at Harbor Shores: Roger Chapman, 2012; Colin Montgomerie, 2014; Rocco Mediate, 2016; Paul Broadhurst, 2018

Information and tickets: srpgachampionship.com

TV: Golf Channel, Thursday and Friday; NBC Sports, Saturday; Golf Channel and NBC Sports Sunday.

Steve Stricker a WD from second major of PGA Tour Champions season after contracting COVID-19

The KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship is at Harbor Shores Resort in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

Steve Stricker is sidelined again.

The victorious 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup captain tested positive for COVID-19 and withdrew Tuesday night from the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores Resort in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the second major on the PGA Tour Champions.

“Super bummed that I tested positive for Covid on Friday and have to withdraw from (the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship) this week!” Stricker posted on Twitter. “Just a small setback and will look forward to getting back after it when I feel strong again!”

Last fall, Stricker, 55, became ill and eventually was admitted to a hospital on two separate occasions. Stricker, who lost between 25-35 pounds, said doctors could not identify the cause of his illness that threatened his life. Stricker missed six months of action as he slowly built up his strength and golf game.

Two weeks ago, Stricker won the Regions Tradition, the first of five majors on the PGA Tour Champions. It was his eighth title on the PGA Tour Champions; he won 12 titles on the PGA Tour. He also finished in a tie for second in the Insperity Invitational and tied for 10^th in the Mitsubishi Electric Classic in his three starts since returning to the course.

Stricker would have been playing in his fourth tournament in five weeks.

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Alex Cejka wins second straight major, claims KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship

Alex Cejka had gone 2,254 days between professional victories. His next win came just 21 days later.

Alex Cejka is putting everyone on Grand Slam watch.

Cejka won the second PGA Tour Champions major of 2021 at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. Three weeks ago, in just his third Champions circuit start, he outlasted Steve Stricker in a playoff at the Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Alabama.

That win was Cejka’s first win in 2,254 days. His next win came just 21 days later, as he shot a final-round 67 Sunday to beat Tim Petrovic by four shots shots.

“This trophy is really big,” he quipped in a post-round interview with Golf Channel’s Jimmy Roberts.

Cejka started the final round at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, one shot behind Stricker but Cejka would build a lead as big as five on the back nine. That was in part to Stricker backsliding. He opened bogey-double bogey, missed a lot of putts and ended up shooting a 7-over 77.

Cejka’s only hiccup came on the 13th hole, when he yanked his second shot in the water. He was up four on Petrovic at the time and took a bogey but he later birdied the 17th and cruised to the finish line.

Cejka is the first Champions rookie to win two majors since Jack Nicklaus did it 1990. He’s the first Champions player ever to win his first two majors on the circuit.

“I’m the same guy, I’m trying to play the same golf. I just seem to get luckier breaks, make more putts, drive it better since I turned 50,” he said to Roberts. “It’s a blast. The last couple of weeks have been incredible. I can’t even describe it in words how that feels.”

Retief Goosen and K.J. Choi tied for third at 3 under. Mike Weir, who had a four-shot lead after the second round, finished in a tie for fifth with John Riegger and Bob Sowards.

Bernhard Langer finished 10 over, his worst finish in 60 Champions majors.

Alex Cejka hits his tee shot on the fifth hole during the second round of the Senior PGA Championship golf tournament Friday, May 28, 2021, at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. Photo by Ian Maule/Tulsa World

Five Champions majors in 2021

Two down, these three still to come:

Bridgestone Senior Players Championship
June 24-27, Firestone CC, Akron, Ohio

U.S. Senior Open Championship
July 8-11, Omaha Country Club, Omaha, Nebraska

The Senior Open Championship
July 22-25, Sunningdale GC (Old Course), Berkshire, England

Steve Stricker leads by one entering final round of KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship

Steve Stricker, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, has the lead at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

This will be a big year for Steve Stricker regardless, what with the Ryder Cup approaching this fall. But Captain Stricker could make 2021 more memorable this week if he can hold on at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Sunday to win the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

The 54-year-old Stricker will take a one-shot lead into the final round.

“I struck it nicely today. I putted it nicely,” Stricker said. “Couple bogeys I made just kind of some wrong clubs. I hit a 4-iron at the 6th hole and kind of just flagged it, penetrated right through the wind, went over the back, didn’t get that up-and-down. And another one too, I hit it in the middle of the green and 3-putted. But, yeah, it’s a tough place and it’s, it gets your attention on a lot of shots. So it’s a great test and I feel good about what I did today.”

Stricker’s score has dropped with each round, with a Saturday 67 being his lowest yet. He made three consecutive birdies from Nos. 3-5 on Saturday but gave one back with a bogey on No. 6. He played the back nine in 1 under and after 54 holes is 6 under.

That’s one better than Alex Cejka in second and three better than Mike Weir in third. Weir lost ground on Saturday with a 4-over 74.

“I mean, sure, I’m not happy with the way things turned out today, but, yeah, I have a good chance tomorrow and it was one of those days,” Weir said. “It was a little bit of bad golf, a little bit of misfortune, the wind was difficult and I seemed to – there’s a little bit of guessing out there and I seemed to guess wrong quite a bit. But all in all I feel good about my game, I was a little bit off, missed a few short putts and just got to do a little better job tomorrow to have a chance and Strick’s playing great so I’m going to have to play well to catch him and so is Alex, he’s playing well too.”

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