Tag: Phoenix Country Club

Steven Alker wins 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Championship for seventh PGA Tour Champions win

Alker’s win vaulted him into second place in the season-long points race.

PHOENIX — Steven Alker tore up the first nine holes at Phoenix Country Club during the first three rounds of the 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Championship. He was 14 under on the front over 54 holes, compared to 3 under on the back. That was a big reason why at 17 under, he held a four-shot lead heading into the final round.

Sunday, though, was a different story. Alker, who birdied Nos. 1, 4 and 5 in each of the first three rounds, parred the first and fourth and bogeyed the fifth in the final round. He was even through eight holes before finally getting a second Sunday birdie on the ninth to make the turn at 1 under on the day, and that allowed a few others to make up ground.

Ernie Els, who opened his week with a 63, the low round of the tournament this year, was 5 under through eight holes Sunday and at one point trimmed Alker’s lead to just a shot.

Els’ round then cooled off as he parred eight straight holes but on 17, Els got to 17 under with a long birdie putt, and was once again a shot back of the lead. But on the par-5 18th, Els found trouble, hitting into the greenside lake after bouncing his second shot off the slope near the green. He would go on to make par to shoot 65 and finish 17 under. Stephen Ames also shot a 65 and tied Els at 17 under.

Photos: See the action from Phoenix Country Club

That left Alker needing just to par out on the last three holes to clinch the tournament. On 16, he powered his birdie putt three feet past the hole but he made his par, his lead still one. On 17, he missed the green with a wedge but putted onto the green and then tapped in for a par. On 18, his drive skirted but missed a fairway bunker. He was 201 yards out and chose to lay up. As he was lining up his third, Lanny Wadkins on the Golf Channel telecast said Alker needed to be short and left with his approach but he just about flew green, his ball trundling down the backside into the second cut of rough.

Needing to get up and down for par to win by a shot, Alker, who was 13 for 16 scrambling up to that point this week, chipped on to about two feet. With Ernies Els on the practice green and Stephen Ames sitting in the clubhouse waiting, Alker drained the putt to finish it off.

“It’s another win, that’s the first thing and that’s huge,” he said. “To beat these guys, it’s hard to win out here. To get another one, stuck on six for a while, but to get another one is great. It means a lot obviously with family and friends here.”

Alker won the season-long title a year ago and he now leaves Phoenix Country Club two years in a row with some hardware in his adopted home state. The New Zealander has lived in Scottsdale for the last 21 years.

He also choked up a bit when he spoke of his former caddie Sam Workman, who died in February.

“Troy [Martin], after Sam passed, he’s been a stud, he’s been a stud. I’m glad I got a flag for him today, it was huge.

“You see the signs around and people talking Go Sam and Go Astros,” Alker said of Workman’s favorite baseball team. “We heard a lot of that this week. Yeah, he was here somewhere.”

As for Els, he spoke of his putting, which faltered a little after Thursday.

“The first day I putted so beautifully and then I missed a couple and it put a little doubt in me, to be honest, for the rest of the week,” he said. “I kind of fought it well. When you’re a little unsure, you’re unsure about the line and I was kind of hoping for that putt [on 9] to turn left which it didn’t. That slowed me down, slowed the momentum down. I can look back at those.”

As Alker, who earned $528,000 for the win, collected his tournament trophy on the 18th green, there was another one there for Steve Stricker, who clinched the series title after the first of three playoff events. He was an 11th-hour WD for Phoenix, pulling out the night before the first round after announcing that his dad was admitted into the hospital.

Bonus money

The top five finishers in the Charles Schwab Cup season-long race earned even more money Sunday.

  1. Steve Stricker, $1 million
  2. Steven Alker, $500,000
  3. Ernie Els, $300,000
  4. Padraig Harrington, $200,000
  5. Bernhard Langer, $100,000

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Steven Alker takes commanding lead at 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Championship

Alker had seven birdies and just one bogey Saturday and will sleep on a four-shot 54-hole lead.

Steven Alker won the Charles Schwab Cup in 2022, his first season-long title on the PGA Tour Champions.

This year, with Steve Stricker having already locked up the series title, Alker will have to settle for winning the season’s final tournament, the 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Alker shot a 6-under 65 on the 6,860-yard Phoenix Country Club in the third round on another gorgeous November day in the Valley of the Sun. He had seven birdies and just one bogey Saturday and will sleep on a four-shot 54-hole lead.

Alker seems to be comfortable at this central city, parkland-style layout. He is 17 under thanks for 20 birdies and three bogeys over the three days so far. He’s birdied Nos. 1, 4 and 5 all three days. He is 14 under on the front side and 3 under on the back.

For the New Zealander who now calls Scottsdale home, Alker says he’d like to finish this one off.

“Well, it’s a home game, I’ve got family and friends here, it would be huge,” he said. “I can’t win the Schwab Cup again, but hey, No. 2’s better than No. 3, right?”

Alex Cejka is Alker’s closest pursuer at 13 under. Thongchai Jaidee and last year’s tournament winner Padraig Harrington are tied for third at 12 under. Second-round co-leader Marco Dawson slipped back into a tie for 13th after a 74 on Saturday. First-round leader Ernie Els is among five golfers tied for fifth at 11 under.

Nine golfers have shot in the 60s in all three rounds so far.

The 72-hole, no-cut season-ender concludes Sunday. First place is worth $528,000.

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Perfect weather, low scores galore at Phoenix Country Club for 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Championship

A pair of golfers co-lead at 11 under, and there are 13 within four shots of the lead after 36 holes.

Padraig Harrington finished 27 under to win the 2022 Charles Schwab Cup Championship by a whopping seven strokes.

Ahead of the 2023 rendition of the PGA Tour Champions finale, he noted the layout probably won’t play as it did a year ago

“The course is in fantastic condition,” he said after the pro-am Wednesday. “Certainly seem to have tried to toughen it up a little bit this year. They don’t want to see 27 under par again.”

Halfway through this year, the leaders are on pace to get to 22 under, well shy of what Harrington got to a year ago but nonetheless, low scores were to be had Friday at Phoenix Country Club, where the temperature peaked at 77 under clear, sunny skies.

Harrington had the best round Friday with an 8-under 63, his scorecard featuring eight birdies and no bogeys. He was the first to get to double digits under par, and he’s at 10 under after 36 holes.

The co-leaders are Steven Alker and Marco Dawson, who each shot 64 to get to 11 under. Both golfers birdied Nos. 13, 16 and 18 coming down the stretch. Alker won the 2022 Schwab Cup series title.

“The greens seemed faster today. Ball was flying further for some reason, maybe I was hitting it better, I don’t know,” said Alker. “But it seemed to be going a long way.”

For Dawson, it’s been a while since he contended, he admitted in the media scrum after his round.

Q: When was the last time that you shared the lead, do you remember?

MARCO DAWSON: No, I don’t remember. Maybe at home with my buddies. (Laughs.)

Q: Did you win?

MARCO DAWSON: You know, I think I did.

Tied for third with Harrington is Harrison Frazar, who won the first of the 2023 Schwab Cup Playoff events three weeks ago; Alex Cejka, who posted a scorching back-nine 29. He had six birdies on the second nine, including four straight on Nos. 15, 16, 17 and 18; and Thongchai Jaidee, who closed with back-to-back birdies to shoot a 67.

Ernie Els, whose first-round 63 is tied for low round of the week so far, shot a 70 and sits tied for sixth at 9 under along with Richard Green and Stephen Ames.

There are 13 players within four shots of the lead.

The 72-hole, no-cut season-ender concludes Sunday. Steve Stricker, who won the season-long points race before the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs started, will not be there to collect his series trophy. He withdrew late in the day Wednesday after announcing his father was admitted into the hospital.

While the PGA Tour Champions season will come to an end Sunday, Harrington is moving on. He’s on the entry list for next week’s RSM Classic on the PGA Tour, the final event of the 2023 FedEx Cup Fall series.

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Photos: Merchandise in the Phoenix Country Club golf shop at the 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Championship

The golf shop is just a few steps away from where the pros practice on the putting green.

PHOENIX — The golf shop at Phoenix Country Club has quite a collection of not just Charles Schwab Cup Championship gear but also cool club merchandise as well.

The central city club, first established in 1899, celebrates the year of its founding with 1899 on some hats. There’s retro-looking Phoenix Country Club hats and shirts. The Schwab logo is also prominent throughout the pro shop, just feet away from where the pros practice on the putting green.

First played at Phoenix Country Club in 2017, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship has extended its deal to play at the venue through 2032.

Check out some of the merch, which also includes ball makers, engraved glassware and golf bags.

After switching driver head and shaft, Ernie Els shoots 63 to open Charles Schwab Cup Championship

The Big Easy has turned it on down the stretch of the season. Now let’s see if he can close.

PHOENIX — Ernie Els has turned it on down the stretch of this season. Now let’s see if he can close.

Els has gone T-4, T-3, T-7 and T-4 in the last four tournaments on the PGA Tour Champions. A bogey-free, 8-under 63 has staked him to a two-shot lead after 18 holes at Phoenix Country Club at the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

“Hopefully, I have this feeling again tomorrow and days to come,” he said after his round. “I’ve been playing half-decent the last three, four weeks so I know I’m coming in with a little bit of game. Hey, we’ve all got to tick away until Sunday and hopefully I’m in contention Sunday and hopefully we can have something good happen.”

There are 35 golfers in this 72-hole, no-cut event after 2023’s best player, Steve Stricker, withdrew before the tournament started. He already locked up the season-long championship so Els is looking to make the most of a week in which everyone is fighting for second.

He told Golf Channel’s Phil Blackmar some equipment changes are panning out so far.

“I thought the last week of the year I’m going to try something new, so I put a little lighter shaft in my driver and I actually went with a different driver head from XXIO,” Els said.

The other pre-tournament favorites this week have some ground to make up already. Defending Schwab Cup champion Steven Alker shot 67 and is four back, Bernhard Langer posted a 68, five back, and defending tournament champion Padraig Harrington shot 69, six back.

“We’ve got a long way to go, I don’t think I’m going to think about it maybe until Sunday afternoon if I’m in contention, but just to play good this week and try to finish off a pretty steady year would be great.”

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Photos: 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club

It’s the season finale on the PGA Tour Champions.

PHOENIX — Phoenix Country Club is hosting the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the season-ending event for the PGA Tour Champions, for the seventh time.

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

The golf course was designed by Harry Collis and originally featured oiled sand greens, once a staple of golf courses in certain areas of the country like Texas and Oklahoma.

In 1932 the venue hosted the inaugural Phoenix Open, which was won by Ralph Guldahl, who captured two U.S Opens and the 1939 Masters.

It was redesigned in 2002 Tom Lehman and John Fought. It now plays as a par 71 measuring 6,860 yards.

Check out some photos of the 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Dream deferred: Rob Labritz spent 18 years ‘manifesting’ goal of reaching PGA Tour Champions

A club pro for 32 years in all, Labritz is finally a full-time professional golfer.

PHOENIX — Rob Labritz zipped around Phoenix Country Club in two hours, 45 minutes on Thursday, signing for a 2-under 69 to open the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

But while he played fast in the opening round of the PGA Tour Champions season finale, his journey getting to the senior circuit was nearly two decades in the making.

As the 36th and last man to make the field, Labritz played solo (markers aren’t allowed anymore) after Steve Stricker’s withdrawal the day before led to an odd number of players. But Labritz didn’t seem to mind.

“I used to get 18 holes in with a cart in under an hour at GlenArbor, at my home course,” he said of the private course in Westchester, New York, where he was the long-time director of golf.

A club pro for 32 years in all, Labritz is finally a full-time professional golfer. There were attempts made at a PGA Tour career but that wasn’t meant to be.

“I went to Q school three or four times, I played in eight PGA Championships, won tons of state opens, everything up in the Met section,” he said after his round Thursday. “As a director of golf, I was pretty bored, to be honest. We built a high-end private club, which is phenomenal, but after 32 years I started getting a little…” and before he finished that thought, he revealed a long-held goal.

“Eighteen years ago I made a decision to try to get to the Champions tour. I started manifesting it,” he said. “Every night I would go into my room, right before I went to bed and sit there for five minutes and just envision it happening. I did that for 18 years. And here we are.”

2023 Charles Schwab Cup Championship
Rob Labritz stands with his caddie on the first hole during the first round of the 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club in Phoenix. (Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Without a trace of remorse for decisions that he made, Labritz explained that life just happened.

“I felt like I was close but I always knew I was a part-time player because I had a full-time job. As a director of golf, I coached more than a thousand, 1,400 hours a year for 23 years, so think about how many hours I was putting into the job, 60-80 hours a week,” he said.

“When you have a wife and three kids and a mortgage, it’s hard to just say ‘OK, I’m going to go practice. You figure out the money.'”

Playing in his 52nd event this week in his second year on the Champions tour, Labtriz has figured out the money, having earned more than $1.1 million. But more than that, what he’s doing validates all those nights he envisioned such a future.

“I’m in dream heaven right now.”

No more worrying about those long work weeks. No more trying to figure out how to find time to practice. It’s full speed ahead as a player.

“It’s all about getting the ball in the hole right now,” he said.

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Steve Stricker withdraws from season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship

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

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

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

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

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

Statement on Behalf of Steve Stricker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now it’s time to celebrate, but how?

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

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

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

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

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