Padraig Harrington – Syndication Server

PGA Tour Champions Q-School to hand out five cards for 2025 this week to the circuit Padraig Harrington calls ‘really cut-throat’

The Champions tour may be the most difficult pro golf circuit to gain entry into and to stay on.

The PGA Tour Champions may be the most difficult professional golf circuit to gain entry into and one of the more difficult to stay on.

Featuring fields of 78 for most weeks, the tour only brings back the top 36 golfers from the previous season. The season finale every year is the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the final leg of a three-tournament postseason. Only the top 36 advance to that but the side benefit of reaching Phoenix Country Club is regaining status for the next season.

“This has gotta be the hardest, tightest tour to keep your card on in the world. Thirty-six guys keep their card and even if you win, you only get a one-year exemption,” Padraig Harrington, in his third year on the tour, said about six weeks ago.

The PGA Tour, by comparison, is returning the top 125 from its 2024 points race. The DP World Tour will retain 110 from this season. The Korn Ferry Tour had 75 guys returning in 2025.

Even victory brings a different level of perks. A win on the PGA Tour is a two-year exemption. On the PGA Tour Champions, a winner is exempt for the rest of the current season and all of the next. Clearly, a win early in the season is much more valuable.

In addition, just five golfers from Q School in 2024 will earn a card for 2025.

Last year’s Q school winner, Cameron Percy, finished in the 36th and final spot in the Schwab standings and will return with a card next season. Jason Caron played in just 10 events in 2024 but he also reached the final 36 to also earn a tour card.

“I’m seeing my friends, at the start I didn’t know but now I know and I’m seeing people I’m playing with and they’ve had a good year and then the following year they’ve just played average, average. And they’re gone,” Harrington said. “And some of them will never get a second chance. It’s really cut-throat. Thirty-six to keep your card is very, very tight.”

“This has to be the hardest tour to keep your card in the world.”@Padraig_H explains his hot take @DECCGolf. pic.twitter.com/toWERhRDzc

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) October 17, 2024

The three First Stage events at Champions Q school are in the books. Now it’s on to the final stage, Dec. 3-6 at TPC Scottsdale’s Champions Course, where there are 78 hopefuls in the field.

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

Alker joined a select group Sunday.

PHOENIX — Steven Alker joined a select group Sunday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alker picked up $276,000 for the week.

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

The breakdown:

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

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

How it works

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

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

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

Only three golfers have won both in the same season.

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

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

Charles Schwab Cup Championship winners

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

Charles Schwab Cup champions

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

This story has been updated to correct an error.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The tee box for the 14th hole at Phoenix Country Club during the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship. (Golfweek)

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

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

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

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

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

How it works

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

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

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

These 10 golfers still have a shot to win the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup

As the circuit reaches the season finale, there are 10 golfers who have a chance to win the Cup.

PHOENIX — A year ago, Steve Stricker had such a commanding lead in the Charles Schwab Cup standings that he was able to skip all three of the playoff events on the PGA Tour Champions and still claim the Cup.

This time around, as the circuit reaches the season finale at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship there are still 10 golfers who have a chance to win it.

Of those 10, four are a long shot, as they each would need to win and have a lot of other things go their way. Of the top six, if any of them win the tournament at Phoenix Country Club, they’d claim the Cup.

And of those six, it’s most likely that it’ll come down to just two golfers.

Nonetheless, there’s certainly more drama heading into the week than in recent years.

How it works

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

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

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

The 10 golfers in contention

If any of these players win the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, they will win the Charles Schwab Cup, regardless of where anyone else finishes:

Ernie Els
Steven Alker
Stephen Ames
Padraig Harrington
Y.E. Yang
Richard Green

Els has been atop the points standings for the last 12 tournaments.

Cup most likely comes down to two

The PGA Tour Champions stats crew reports that these are the “two most reasonable outcomes”:

Els, No. 1 in points and tied for most wins in 2024 with three, can claim the Cup by winning but it’s possible he could also clinch it by finishing second, third or fourth.

Alker can win the Cup with a win but also a second- or third-place finish but he would need Els to finish outside the top 5.

What some top contenders are saying

“For me to have led the money list for a long time is something, but it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t win the Charles Schwab Cup,” Els said. “So hey, if I end up not winning it, it will sting a little bit obviously because of my consistent play throughout the year but not winning it, you know.”

Alker won the tournament last year and the Cup two years ago.

“Defending a tournament is always great, too. You come here and, as I said, you just bring those vibes forward, bring them into the week. But that’s a good feeling to come here as defending champ,” he said.

Harrington won the last PGA Tour Champions event two weeks ago to put himself in the conversation. And he knows the scenarios well.

“If I or any, I think six of us, if we win outright, we win it outright, nobody can interfere,” he said. “Which is tough for Ernie [Els]. Ernie’s had a great year, he’s No. 1 and he hasn’t really got. … I won’t say he wasn’t got rewarded, but he needs to win as well this week. He’s not going to get away with not winning.”

Don’t count these guys out

Green is the lone golfer among the contenders without a tournament win in 2024.

These golfers have a chance at the Cup but each needs to win this week and have the contenders finish well down the leaderboard:

K.J. Choi
Ricardo Gonzalez
Paul Broadhurst
Jerry Kelly

The math is not working here

These golfers cannot mathematically win the Cup:

Stewart Cink
Doug Barron
Tim O’Neal
Retief Goosen
Thomas Bjorn
Darren Clarke
Ken Tanigawa
Alex Cejka
Rocco Mediate
Bob Estes
Bernhard Langer
Miguel Angel Jimenez
Ken Duke
Joe Durant
Tim Petrovic
Thongchai Jaidee
Greg Chalmers
Mark Hensby
Vijay Singh
Shane Bertsch
Hiroyuki Fujita
Rod Pampling
Stuart Appleby
Jason Caron
Cameron Percy

The top 36 qualified for Phoenix but there’s only 35 in the field, as Steve Stricker, No. 8 in the points ahead of the finale, is skipping the tournament.

As for Harrington, he won the tournament two years ago but this may be his best chance to claim the Cup.

“I know with the Charles Schwab Cup, I’m not getting any younger,” Harrington said. “You want to take it when you get a chance. There’s more good players coming out every year, so whatever advantage you have when you’re young, that’s being eroded. Yeah, you want to take it when you get the chance.”

All the winners during the 2024 season on the PGA Tour Champions

Ernie Els, Stephen Ames and Padraig Harrington each tied for most wins with three.

There have been 19 different winners on the PGA Tour Champions in 2024.

The season drew to a close at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, a four-day, 72-hole, no-cut, 36-man field at Phoenix Country Club.

Ernie Els, Stephen Ames and Padraig Harrington each tied for most wins with three. Paul Broadhurst won twice, but no one else won more than once in 2024. In all, 16 of the 18 winners finished in the top 20. All 18 made the 36-man finale.

Here’s the list of each tournament’s winner in 2024.

Name	Tournament	Golf course
Steven Alker	Mitsubishi Electric Championship	Hualalai Resort Golf Club
Stephen Ames	Chubb Classic	Tiburon Golf Club
Ricardo Gonzalez	Trophy Hassan II	Royal Golf Dar Es Salam
Joe Durant	Cologuard Classic	La Paloma Country Club
Padraig Harrington	Hoag Classic	Newport Beach Country Club
Retief Goosen	The Galleri Classic	Mission Hills Country Club
Paul Broadhurst	Invited Celebrity Classic	Las Colinas Country Club
Stephen Ames	Mitsubishi Electric Classic	TPC Sugarloaf
Scott Dunlap	Insperity Invitational	The Woodlands Country Club
Doug Barron	Regions Tradition	Greystone Golf & Country Club
Richard Bland	KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship	Harbor Shores Resort
Ernie Els	Principal Charity Classic	Wakonda Club
Ernie Els	American Family Insurance Championship	University Ridge Golf Course
Padraig Harrington	Dick’s Sporting Goods Open	En-Joie Golf Club
Richard Bland	U.S. Senior Open	Newport Country Club
Ernie Els	Kaulig Companies Championship	Firestone Country Club
K.J. Choi	The Senior Open Championship	Carnoustie Golf Links
Stephen Ames	Boeing Classic	The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge
Ken Tanigawa	Rogers Charity Classic	Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club
Stewart Cink	The Ally Challenge	Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club
Y.E. Yang	Ascension Charity Classic	Norwood Hills Country Club
Steve Stricker	Sanford International	Minnehaha Country Club
Paul Broadhurst	Pure Insurance Championship	Spyglass Hill Golf Course
Rocco Mediate	Constellation Furyk & Friends	Timuquana Country Club
Jerry Kelly	SAS Championship	Prestonwood Country Club
Tim O’Neal	Dominion Energy Charity Classic	The Country Club of Virginia
Padraig Harrington	Simmons Bank Championship	Pleasant Valley Country Club
Bernhard Langer	Charles Schwab Cup Championship	Phoenix Country Club

Charles Schwab Cup Championship field, format, how to watch, prize money

Ernie Els heads to Phoenix Country Club at No. 1 in the points.

This story has been updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.

The field for the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship was made official Friday afternoon. There were 36 who qualified but there will only be 35 heading to Phoenix Country Club, as Steve Stricker did not commit to the event.

Ernie Els, who tied for the most wins on the circuit this season with three, comes into the PGA Tour Champions season finale No. 1 in the points. He’s been No. 1 for the last three months.

Steven Alker is second. Stephen Ames and Padraig Harrington, each with three wins, are third and fourth, with Y.E. Yang checking in at No. 5. Alker and Yang each have one win.

Charles Schwab Cup rankings

Rank	Golfer	Events	Wins
1	Ernie Els	22	3
2	Steven Alker	21	1
3	Stephen Ames	23	3
4	Padraig Harrington	14	3
5	Y.E. Yang	26	1
6	Richard Green	25	0
7	K.J. Choi	24	1
9	Ricardo Gonzalez	24	1
10	Paul Broadhurst	23	2
11	Jerry Kelly	19	1
12	Stewart Cink	10	1
13	Doug Barron	18	1
14	Tim O’Neal	25	1
15	Retief Goosen	20	1
16	Thomas Bjorn	19	0
17	Darren Clarke	23	0
18	Ken Tanigawa	27	1
19	Alex Cejka	19	0
20	Rocco Mediate	18	1
21	Bob Estes	23	0
22	Bernhard Langer	15	0
23	Miguel Angel Jimenez	23	0
24	Ken Duke	26	0
25	Joe Durant	25	1
26	Tim Petrovic	25	0
27	Thongchai Jaidee	21	0
28	Greg Chalmers	19	0
29	Mark Hensby	23	0
30	Vijay Singh	21	0
31	Shane Bertsch	25	0
32	Hiroyuki Fujita	5	0
33	Rod Pampling	26	0
34	Stuart Appleby	24	0
35	Jason Caron	9	0
36	Cameron Percy	15	0

Richard Green is sixth, the highest ranking for anyone who has yet to win in 2024.

Other notables in the field include Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jerry Kelly, Bernhard Langer, Retief Goosen and Darren Clarke as well as three first-time winners making their Charles Schwab Cup Championship debut: Ricardo Gonzalez, Stewart Cink and Tim O’Neal.

Jason Caron, No. 35th in the points, is a full-time club pro in New York who has earned his card for the 2025 PGA Tour Champions season. He last had status on the PGA Tour in 2009.

How it works

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

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

Only three golfers have won both in the same season:

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

Charles Schwab Cup Championship winners

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

Charles Schwab Cup champions

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

Because of his regular-season dominance a year ago, Stricker won the season-long title without having to enter any of the three postseason events.

How to watch

The Charles Schwab Cup Championship will have four days of live coverage, with two hours each day on Golf Channel, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET.

Prize money payouts

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

Padraig Harrington says winning on PGA Tour Champions makes you think ‘Oh, maybe I can do it on the regular tour’

Harrington still likes to measure his game against the best.

Padraig Harrington is in a kind of middle ground in his career. Now 53, the Irishman is one of the best players on the PGA Tour Champions. In three years on the circuit, he has nine wins in 48 starts and nearly $7 million in earnings. This season, he has three wins, including a Charles Schwab Cup playoff event, the third year in a row he’s won a playoff tournament.

But he still likes to measure his game against the best and in 2024 he played seven PGA Tour events. But “these guys are good,” as the saying goes, and Harrington found some tough sledding.

“At the Scottish Open this year on the regular tour I was definitely leaning towards playing more on the Champions tour. I felt a little bit out of my depth,” he admitted on a Zoom call during a media day at Phoenix Country Club ahead of the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Harrington played seven PGA Tour events in 2024, missed the cut in five of them and was a combined 13 over but he also just missed a top 20 at the Open Championship, shooting even par at Royal Troon Golf Club.

Tournament	Finish	Scores
Mexico Open at Vidanta	T-52	72-66-72-70
Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches	Missed cut	71-73
Texas Children’s Houston Open	Missed cut	70-74
Valero Texas Open	Missed cut	75-75
PGA Championship	Missed cut	77-75
Genesis Scottish Open	Missed cut	70-71
The Open Championship	T-22	72-73-71-72

“I played nicely at the Open and I played nicely at a few European Tour events and so I will probably go into next year the same way I went into this year, playing my favorite events on the regular tour, the PGA Tour, and on the Champions tour,” he said. “I’ve not quite given up on the old guys as of yet but certainly there was moments this year where I was thinking ‘What am I doing?'”

On the PGA Tour Champions, Harrington played 14 events, earned 13 top 25s, seven top 10s and three wins.

Tournament	Finish	Scores
Chubb Classic	T-15	69-70
Cologuard Classic	T-14	70-70-65
Hoag Classic Newport Beach	1	63-67-69
Insperity Invitational	T-19	70-72
Regions Tradition	T-8	65-70-69-74
KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship	T-17	74-68-70-67
Dick’s Open	1	68-65-68
U.S. Senior Open Championship	T-16	66-71-69-71
The Senior Open Championship	T-5	71-70-73-72
Rogers Charity Classic	T-7	65-64-70
The Ally Challenge	T-63	73-74-72
SAS Championship	2	66-67-71
Dominion Energy Charity Classic	T-11	72-66-72
Simmons Bank Championship	1	67-65-67

Harrington is in the field of 36 for the Schwab, Nov. 7-10. He won the tournament two years ago and he’s currently fourth in the points. He’ll be among the favorites to win the tournament again but he’s also put himself in position to claim the season-long championship.

“When I’m out here on the Champions tour, and you play well, you think ‘This is brilliant,’ but the better you play on the Champions tour, the more you think you can beat the young guys so it’s kind of a Catch 22 in that sense that if you start winning on the Champions tour you think, ‘Oh maybe I can do it on the regular tour.'”

The last of Harrington’s PGA Tour wins came in the 2015 Honda Classic. His last top-10 was at the 2023 Valero Texas Open. He also has 15 international wins on his resume.

Charles Schwab Cup Championship: Field, format, more at Phoenix Country Club

There’s just 36 golfers left for the season finale.

PHOENIX — After 28 tournaments over the last 10 months, the PGA Tour Champions 2024 season reaches the end of the road at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Phoenix Country Club is the host venue for the season finale, the final leg of a three-tournament postseason. Outside of the five majors on the senior circuit, this is the only 72-hole event on the schedule.

The regular season consisted of 25 tournaments and then only the top 72 golfers advanced to the first event of the postseason. Those 72 golfers became 54 for last week’s event, won by Padraig Harrington. Now there are just 36 remaining.

Top 36 in Charles Schwab field

1	Ernie Els
2	Steven Alker
3	Stephen Ames
4	Padraig Harrington
5	Y.E. Yang
6	Richard Green
7	K.J. Choi
8	Steve Stricker
9	Ricardo Gonzalez
10	Paul Broadhurst
11	Jerry Kelly
12	Stewart Cink
13	Doug Barron
14	Tim O’Neal
15	Retief Goosen
16	Thomas Bjorn
17	Darren Clarke
18	Ken Tanigawa
19	Alex Cejka
20	Rocco Mediate
21	Bob Estes
22	Bernhard Langer
23	Miguel Angel Jimenez
24	Ken Duke
25	Joe Durant
26	Tim Petrovic
27	Thongchai Jaidee
28	Greg Chalmers
29	Mark Hensby
30	Vijay Singh
31	Shane Bertsch
32	Hiroyuki Fujita
33	Rod Pampling
34	Stuart Appleby
35	Jason Caron
36	Cameron Percy

The first five out

37	Mike Weir
38	David Bransdon
39	Steve Allan
40	Scott Dunlap
41	Charlie Wi

Who moved in, who moved out

The Simmons Bank Championship proved to have some volatility, as three golfers played their way into the finale, which meant three golfers have to drop out.

Hiroyuki Fujita	51 to 32
Jason Caron	53 to 35
Cameron Percy	40 to 36
Mike Weir	30 to 37
David Bransdon	35 to 38
Scott Dunlap	36 to 40

Who’s leading the Charles Schwab Cup points race?

Ernie Els, who has three wins in 2024, sits atop the points. Steven Alker, who won the season-long title in 2022, is second. He has one win this season. In third is Stephen Ames, who has three wins this season. Harrington, No. 4 in the points, also now has three wins. Y.E. Yang is fifth. He has one win in 2024.

Other notables in the standings

Steve Stricker, who had such a dominant regular season in 2023 that he won the Schwab Cup title without playing in any of the three postseason events, is No. 8.

Bernhard Langer, who leads the PGA Tour Champions with 45 wins and who has won the Schwab six times, is No. 22.

Jason Caron, a PGA club professional in from Oyster Bay, New York. He last played on the PGA Tour in 2011 but has been a full-time club pro since. This year, however, he’s played really well in the nine starts he’s made on the senior circuit, post four top-10s, including a tie for fourth at the KitchenAid PGA Senior Championship in May. He earned the 35th spot in the field after a tie for third in Little Rock, Arkansas.

About Phoenix Country Club

The golf course in central Phoenix was home to the PGA Tour’s Phoenix Open from 1932 to 1986. It has hosted the PGA Tour Champions since 2017 and has a deal in place to continue to do so through 2032. This year’s Schwab tournament is Nov. 7-10.

Padraig Harrington wins 2024 Simmons Bank Championship, moves to 4th in Schwab Cup standings

The win is his third of the season on the PGA Tour Champions and the ninth of his career.

Padraig Harrington moved himself into position to contend for the Charles Schwab Cup for the second time in three years.

The 53-year-old from Ireland was stellar at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock, Arkansas, shooting three rounds of 67 or better to win the Simmons Bank Championship. The win is his third of the season on the PGA Tour Champions and the ninth of his career.

More importantly, Harrington moves to fourth in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, which is set for Nov. 7-10 at Phoenix Country Club in Arizona. He won the season-long championship in 2022, and now, he has a chance to do it again in 2024.

Ernie Els, Steven Alker and Stephen Ames are in the top spots come the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Harrington finished at 17-under 199, claiming the title at the inaugural Simmons Bank Championship by two shots over Y.E. Yang.

International Presidents Cup captain Mike Weir is the first person out, sitting at 37th in the standings. Only the top 36 players make the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.