Winning the 2022 Insperity Invitational was special, but a repeat might hold even more sentimental value.
Pardon Steven Alker if his emotions get a hold of him at some point this week. It’s only natural.
With his son, Ben, making his debut on his bag and family members of fallen caddie Sam Workman in attendance at The Woodlands Country Club, Alker fired a 66 during Friday’s first round of the Insperity Invitational, moving to the top of a packed leaderboard alongside Justin Leonard and Colin Montgomerie.
Winning the 2022 title on this golf course was special, but considering the circumstances, a repeat might hold even more sentimental value for the native of New Zealand.
Together, they experienced Alker’s dramatic rise from grinding on the Korn Ferry Tour in his late 40s (Alker’s last event on the PGA Tour was 2017) to dominating the PGA Tour Champions in 2022 and winning the season-long Charles Schwab Cup. Alker, 51, won four events, was second in four others and had 18 top 10s in 23 starts last season, a meteoric rise in which Workman played a big part.
But earlier this year, Alker announced that Workman had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
“He was complaining about some pain and having a few problems,” Alker said in February at the Chubb Classic. Workman had liver cancer that spread to his stomach. A week later, Alker was mourning the loss of his closest mate on the course after spending most of that time by Workman’s side at his home in Beeville, Texas. Workman was 55.
Alker is especially grateful Workman was able to experience his resurgence that started with his first win on the Champions Tour, the 2021 TimberTech Championship at Broken Sound in Boca Raton.
It was the first time Workman was on the bag of a winner and Alker presented him the flag from the 18th green.
In honor of the caddie, who was a huge Houston Astros fan, each of the PGA Tour Champions players is wearing an Astros ribbon in his honor.
The first tee shots are in the air. @ChampionsTour players will be paying tribute to Sam Workman the late caddie for defending champ Steven Alker this week by wearing @astros ribbons ❤️ pic.twitter.com/1dLKdJR9Zo
— Insperity Invitational (@InsperityInvtnl) April 28, 2023
And on Friday, a number of Workman’s friends and family members made the three-hour trek from Beeville, a small town that sits less than an hour from Corpus Christi and the Gulf of Mexico.
When asked what it meant to see Workman’s crew on hand, Alker admitted it was significant.
“(It means) a whole lot. We’ve got a bunch today. We’re going to have even more tomorrow, some of the Beeville crowd,” Alker said. “The ribbons are a nice touch, and great to have some of the family out, so good support today.”
Alker, who started on the back nine, rolled in birdies on four of the first six holes to get out to a hot start. And he did so with his son making his debut, something that allowed for some quality bonding time.
“It is special. Obviously, just the time, spending the time together,” Alker said prior to Friday’s round.
And how did he fare?
“He did fantastic. This really is his first competitive round. We’ve done some fun rounds, but he was great.” Alker said. “The ball was always clean. We had some spot-on yardages. He actually did some yardages today. It was great. Yeah, he did very, very well.”
Reporter and columnist Tom D’Angelo of the Palm Beach Post contributed to this post.
Workman’s passing came just three weeks after caddying a second-place finish in Hawaii.
Sam Workman, caddie for PGA Tour Champions golfer Steven Alker, died Monday less than three weeks removed from caddying a second-place finish in Hawaii to open the 2023 season.
Workman passed away Monday at his home in Beeville, Texas, about 100 miles south of San Antonio, from cancer, a “sudden passing” according to Alker in a post on Instagram.
The following is a submission from John Rathouz, a fellow caddie and good friend of Workman:
Somewhere in heaven, Sam Workman is grilling barbeque pork tenderloin on the tailgate of his pickup truck. At least that’s what I like to think our friend is up to now.
It was one of his favorite things to do, something he’d done hundreds of times in his life, and I was fortunate enough to experience it, in all its glory, one spring evening in the parking lot of a Best Western in Greenville, South Carolina.
Sam Workman, far right, works the grill on the back of his truck.
It was truly one of the most fun, best-tasting meals I’ve had in all of my years caddying. It was simple. It was life on the road. As Sam and I reminisced on a podcast last October, he said he enjoyed it because it was a chance to “hang out with your friends… cook it slow and have a couple of dirty waters and raise hell with your partnas.”
He’ll always remain as “Sam BBQ Workman” in my phone contacts.
Perhaps Sam is grilling for fellow Texans, fellow caddies, fellow professionals Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan. Always humble, maybe he’ll sprinkle in a story here or there about the spectacular run he’d just been on over the last 18 months as the looper for Steven Alker on the PGA Tour Champions: five tournament wins and the 2022 Charles Schwab Cup Champion and Player of the Year.
It’s likely my favorite streak of “flag collecting” by a caddie friend ever. A little over two weeks ago, Steven and Sam picked right up where they left off, finishing second to start the season in Hawaii.
However, as I came to find out since then, Sam wasn’t feeling well in Hawaii and hadn’t been, on and off, since the holiday season, when caddies finally get out from under the strap. So it was that he returned home from paradise to find out that he had cancer. Devastating.
When I spoke with Sam that Friday, Jan. 27, he sounded weak, nearly out of breath, but his unique South Texas drawl was still punching through the phone. Our conversation was only five minutes, and I briefly tried to chip away at his disappointment that he wouldn’t be able to caddie again this year. I made a note to check on him again the next Friday, Feb. 3.
But as his friend and pro, Alker, so eloquently wrote to the golf world last Friday, Sam had received an even-worse “terminal” diagnosis in the meantime. Heartbreaking. This past Sunday, I walked to our neighborhood church and lit a few candles for Sam. Barely knowing what to do, I reached for a random prayer card nearby and proceeded to read the “Daily Prayer to St. Joseph, the Worker.” Damn, this is fitting I thought. Sam WORK-MAN.
It read, in part, “…to work with thankfulness and joy, deeming it an honor to employ and to develop, by my labor, the gifts I have received…” Religious or not, I think Sam’s friends and family would all agree, that passage described Sam the man, and the caddie.
An hour earlier, I had been added to a text chain from Sam’s sister, Michele. I recognized most of the names, some were “blasts from the past” and some of the numbers I didn’t have. I assumed they were mostly caddies, and the outpouring of support to Sam and Michele was palpable, full of love and respect.
At one point, Michele posted a picture of a Houston Astros jersey that Ken Duke, ever the gentleman, had sent to Sam’s house. “Workman”, with the number “1”, it read. Sam was a huge Astros fan and so it seems fitting that they won the World Series in the same year that Team Alker did, too. In fact, earlier last year, Sam also unscrewed the flag in Houston. That was Alker’s third victory on Tour and the middle of a five tournament stretch that went win, second, win, third, win, culminating with the Senior PGA Championship. Of the PGA, Sam told me it was the best golf he’d ever seen Alker play, but the win in Houston was his favorite moment of the year.
There were only two hats I remember seeing Sam wear in all the years I knew him, going back to when he left his job as a club pro at some friends’ course in his hometown of Beeville after receiving a call from Brad Elder to caddie in a Monday qualifier in San Antonio. Sam was on Elder’s bag for many years after that and Elder recalled that those were some of his favorite years a professional, driving around the Tour in Sam’s truck. It’s likely Sam was wearing his Astros hat. Now, for more on his “other” hat.
Steven Alker and caddie Sam Workman on the ninth hole during the first round of the 2022 Charles Schwab Cup at Phoenix Country Club. (Photo: Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic)
On last Monday morning, just in case Sam was up for it, I texted Michele to let her know that the final round of the weather-delayed PGA Tour tournament would be on live from Pebble Beach. As I watched the coverage, I thought of him from time to time, mostly as the broadcast showcased the trademark powerful white waves crashing the jagged shoreline. It was a picturesque winter morning at one of the most spiritual golf courses Mother Nature has created. An hour before the final putt dropped, Michele texted back “I so wish he could,” but that Sam hadn’t been very responsive or even able to open his eyes. I sent back one more text of support and reminded her that I’d always picture Sam in his huge cowboy hat that was 49 percent Mexican sombrero.
She immediately texted back, “The dreaded hat is next to the bed!” That hat was so good. “Over 30 years old,” Sam proudly noted. When he and Steven first made it out on their new Tour, I had heard a story that Ernie Els took a liking to his hat. Sam recalled that Els told him, “That is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen out on the Tour. Man, I like it.” If the “Big Easy” says your hat is cool, it’s certain. Recently, Sam had mentioned that the middle of his hat was beginning to cave in and both he and Steven were thinking it might be time for a new one.
Later that evening, Michele relayed the message that we all knew was coming. Sam had peacefully passed away that afternoon. She said, “Mom and I were holding his hand to the end. He loved all of you.” On numerous occasions over the years, I recall Sam talking about how he was “going to visit my mom in Beeville.” And while a mother should never have to be in that position with her child, I took comfort in Michele’s message and was glad they were all together.
It all happened so fast. I’ve learned that there’s more to life than caddying, but the caddie in me is glad that Sam will always be partly remembered as Alker’s trusty sidekick as he motored his way to the top of the sport. When I had Steven on the podcast in October of 2021 after a hot start, and two weeks before his first win out there, he said, “Sammy’s been great. He’s been a trooper. … he’s a good guy. He’s so even-keeled on the golf course. He does good work.”
That’s the exact praise any caddie would hope to hear from their pro and I’m certain their trust in each other and confidence together only grew stronger in the following year.
The last time I saw Sam was in Omaha, Nebraska, my hometown, in August of 2021. We crossed paths at the end of that week, on a familiar road, heading in opposite directions like often happens on Tour. It was the final regular season tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour and Alker had just missed the cut, signifying the end of his season – of his career – out there. I asked Sam what his plans were, knowing full well that he had been looking forward to Alker turning 50 and being eligible for the PGA Tour Champions, after competing with Sam by his side, against younger competition for the previous three years. He told me that Steven was entered in the following week’s qualifier in Seattle. They were going to do some qualifiers that fall and get ready for Tour School at the end of the year. After practicing over the weekend, Alker told Sam not to bother flying out and that he’d let him know if he got in. Unbeknownst to Steven, and as Sam relayed to me on the podcast, he booked a ticket to Seattle for the following week ahead of time. On Tuesday, when Alker called to tell Sam that he got in, Sam said, “I’ve already got a ticket. I’ll see you tonight.” And off they went, finishing seventh together in his first event. It was the only time Alker ever had to qualify on the Champions tour.
Those of us who were lucky enough to know Sam were better for it. He was “salt of the earth”, as people like to say. I want to give a shoutout to my friend and fellow caddie, Kelly Miller, who does an admirable job of staying in touch with all his friends from the Tour from his home in San Diego. He and Sam stayed in close contact over the years, even before Alker started his spectacular run, so it was fun for us to all text back and forth as we witnessed their history and I became closer to Sam because of him. My heart goes out to his family and all of his friends, particular my caddie brethren. While his funeral is set for next Monday, February 13th, his life will be recognized and celebrated on Tours everywhere in the coming weeks and months.
At the end of our podcast, I asked Sam what was the best city to visit in Texas. He said New Braunfels, which I had never heard of before, but he described as a hidden gem of relaxed, hill-country nightlife. So next month, the PGA Tour will be in San Antonio, where Sam’s sister recently built a house in nearby… New Braunfels. And in late April, the PGA Tour Champions will roll into Houston where Alker will be the defending champion and I’m sure if will be a moment of pause for reflection, camaraderie, and toasts in his honor.
But rest assured, Sam will have the barbeque waiting for all of us one day.
There will be new champions crowned in 2022, as neither Phil Mickelson nor Bernhard Langer can repeat.
PHOENIX — The 28-event PGA Tour Champions schedule crosses the finish line this week.
But there will be no repeat champions at Phoenix Country Club in 2022.
Just like the PGA Tour, the Champions circuit has a three-event playoff to determine its season champion.
Unlike the PGA Tour, where the winner of the finale at the Tour Championship also stakes claim to the season title, the PGA Tour Champions finale generally produces two winners. In 2021, Phil Mickelson won the 72-hole tournament, while Bernhard Langer earned his sixth Charles Schwab Cup series title.
In 2022, there will be no title defenses. Fan favorite Mickelson won’t be back to the tournament and Langer is too far back in the points to win the series title.
Nonetheless, the stage is set for an exciting week at Phoenix Country Club. Here are five things to watch for this week.
Twenty-four tournaments down. Three to go to determine a champion.
Twenty-four tournaments down. Three to go to determine a champion.
The PGA Tour Champions head to the three-event Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs this week at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic.
A total of 72 golfers qualified for the postseason but only 68 will tee it up this week at The Country Club of Virginia’s James River Course in Richmond, Virginia.
From there, the field will be reduced to 54 and then only the top 36 in the standings will advance to the finale at Phoenix Country Club for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
“It’s like you envision people winning at Augusta, you envision people winning at Pebble Beach.”
Steve Flesch birdied his first four holes Sunday but got his biggest birdie of the week on the famous closing hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Flesch bogeyed the 12th and 13th holes but made a 4 on the par-5 18th to win the PGA Tour Champions Pure Insurance Championship Impacting First Tee by a shot over Ernie Els, Steven Alker and Paul Stankowski.
His 11 under total earned him his third win on the senior circuit and second this season. The left-hander won four times on the PGA Tour.
Alker bogeyed the 17th and parred the 18th and Flesch made the most of the situation.
“You don’t get many opportunities to win, but I got an open door when Steven gave me a chance on 18 and hit a great wedge shot in there,” Flesch said. “It ran the putt in, but it meant so much more to me because every pro wants to win at Pebble Beach and it was just a lot of fun. I hung in there all day, I got off to a great start, but winning at Pebble Beach I think is every professional golfer’s dream.”
Steve Flesch reacts after making a birdie on the 18th hole to win the 2022 Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo: Brandon Vallance/Getty Images)
“It’s just one of those things, it’s like you envision people winning at Augusta, you envision people winning at Pebble Beach. There’s been so much history around this great golf course that winning at Pebble Beach is just one of those places you always want to be a champion. To have an opportunity to do it today means so much. You know, even though we are over 50 and we’re still playing good golf, these guys are good and it’s hard to win. To win at Pebble Beach just makes it all the more special.”
Alker shot 68-69-69 to tie for second and bounce back from his tie for 58th a week ago at the Sanford International, his lowest finish in 28 outings on the Champions tour. His final-round 76 at the Sanford is his worst score on the tour.
“I struggled last week with my game a little bit, especially down the stretch, then just kind of got it together this week,” he said. “I enjoy playing here anyway. So I got it together, gave myself a chance, hung in today and got super start.”
Meng, Hughes wins First Tee portion
There were 78 First Tee members from 54 chapters at the event.
Megan Meng won the girls division at 22 under, also sinking a birdie putt on No. 18 to win by a stroke.
Bryson Hughes won the boys division at 18 under.
There were three aces made by junior golfers during their practice rounds.
Stricker led wire-to-wire in winning the 2021 tournament and endured a life-threatening illness in the months that followed.
Who will win the final Bridgestone Senior Players Championship? It’s up for grabs, but players appear to be enjoying themselves at the fourth and penultimate senior major of the season.
Alker has four PGA Tour Champions victories, including the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in 2022.
New Zealander Steven Alker is enjoying playing golf at Firestone Country Club for the first time.
Alker spoke Friday about the first time he visited Akron and walked the famed South Course — as a spectator in the late 1990s.
“Funny enough, a buddy of mine, Phil Tataurangi, who used to play the [PGA] Tour, I think he played here a couple times in the World event,” Alker said Friday after posting a 4-under 66 in the second round of the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship.
“So, followed him around a couple days and I knew the layout and I’ve seen the golf course, but in terms of playing it, no. I’m loving it. You’ve just got to golf your ball.”
Alker was playing the Canadian Tour at the time and said he drove down to Akron and spent a couple of days walking the grounds of Firestone.
Alker, 50, left Firestone on Friday in a tie for first with Tim Petrovic, Alex Cejka and Joe Durant at 6-under through the first two days of the Bridgestone Senior Players.
“It’s nice to have a bogey-free round at Firestone,” Alker said. “It’s that type of golf course, you’ve just got to keep going. But kind of everything, drove it in the fairway for the most part and hit a lot of greens except for the last few. I scrambled nicely the last couple holes. Overall, just a solid day. Kind of kept my nose clean and haven’t done too much wrong. A few more putts would be nice, but yeah, at Firestone, just fairways and greens around here.”
Alker has won four PGA Tour Champions victories — the TimberTech Championship during the 2020-21 season, and the Rapiscan Systems Classic, the Insperity Invitational the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in 2022.
He also has seven international wins — the Fiji Open in 1995, the Tahiti Open and the Queensland Open (Australia) in 1996, the South Australian Open (Australia) in 1997 and the McDonald’s PEI Challenge (Canada), the Bayer Championship (Canada) and the PEI Challenge (Canada) in 2000.
Alker is also enjoying playing in a field of Hall of Fame golfers on the Champions Tour.
“Just getting comfortable in this company, I think that’s the biggest thing,” Alker said. “Just like learning to play my game. It’s been hard to watch these guys but just stay in my skin and play my game. And then learning the courses, these are all new. I like playing new courses, it kind of gets me up and going. So just everything, to travel to different places, just the whole package. It’s been fun.
“… I hadn’t played with a lot of these guys when I was on Tour or Europe or anything. So [Steve] Stricker, Vijay [Singh], Ernie [Els] and all those guys, I hadn’t played with them before. Just getting comfortable playing with them. And they’re super guys. Maybe get a little bit older and soften up, loosen up a little bit, I don’t know, but they’re very approachable and it’s a lot of fun.”
Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Beaven on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.
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.
Alker has two wins and a tie for second in his last three starts on the Champions tour.
Steve Stricker, in his first competitive round of golf in almost six months after being struck with an illness that remains a mystery, was trying to write a storybook ending to his week at The Woodlands outside Houston.
Stricker opened with a 67 to tie for the 2022 Insperity Invitational lead after 18 holes. He then backed that up with a 65 on Saturday to remain tied atop the leaderboard. He was tied for the lead halfway through Sunday’s round but couldn’t maintain the pace.
There was simply no stopping Steven Alker.
Alker birdied the second hole but otherwise had all pars on his front nine. After a nearly two-hour weather delay because of lightning, Alker came back charged up. He posted three straight birdies on Nos. 11, 12 and 13 and then eagled the 15th for the second day in a row.
He tacked on another birdie at No. 16 and that put him four ahead with three to go. He cruised home from there to shoot a final-round 66 to finish 18 under to earn his third PGA Tour Champions victory. Alker now has two wins and a tie for second in his last three starts. Since joining the senior circuit in August of 2021, Alker has 13 top-10s and nine top-5s in just 16 starts. He has also pushed his career earnings above the $2 million mark on the senior circuit.
Brandt Jobe closed with 70 to finish 14 under. Stricker, a 12-time PGA Tour winner and seven-time PGA Tour Champions winner, also shot a 70 to finish at 14 under. Alex Cejka nabbed solo fourth at 11 under. Retief Goosen and Ken Duke tied for fifth at 10 under. Bernhard Langer finished tied for eighth at 8 under. Defending Insperity champ Mike Weir tied for 17th at 5 under.
Next up is the Mitsubishi Electric Classic at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia.
“No. Still don’t know to this day,” he said Friday after his first round at the Insperity Invitational. “There’s a couple theories out there that it was a virus of some sort that they weren’t able to put a name to it.”
On Saturday, during Stricker’s second round, he kept the good time rolling.
After opening birdie-birdie, the 55-year-old would add three more circles to his card after nine holes to go out with a 5-under 31.
He added three more birdies on the back before bogeying his final hole to shoot a 7-under 65.
“It was a good day. Played really solid, a lot better today than I did yesterday except for a couple shots coming in,” Stricker said Saturday afternoon, “but overall it was much better. Hit it a little bit better and made some good putts.”
Despite his good effort, he admittedly didn’t feel 100 percent.
“There’s times where I just don’t feel like I’m — no one’s going to feel sorry for me, Al, let me put it that way, but yeah, like I told Nicki today, when I woke up today, if this is the way I’m going to feel, I won’t play next week kind of thing just because I don’t feel like my energy is there,” he said.
Stricker’s last PGA Tour Champions win came at the 2021 Bridgestone Senior Players Championship.
Brandt Jobe, one of the co-leaders, has been impressed with Stricker so far this week.
“He’s just got his game in a spot where he can turn it on and turn it off and not many people have been able to do that,” he said after his round Saturday. “Obviously we’re very envious of that because I can’t do that, but he’s got his swing and everything just in a spot where he goes out, he puts the work in, he comes back and it’s like he hasn’t missed a beat.”
Jobe made five straight birdies on Nos. 12-16 on his back nine to get into contention, then added one more at the last to sign for an 8-under 64. Jobe hasn’t won on the PGA Tour Champions since the 2019 Boeing Classic.
Steven Alker, the third and final co-leader, has been on quite the run since the start of the season. His six starts so far in 2022: 2, T-5, T-20, T-15, 1, T-2.
“I was just trying to keep up with Steve Stricker. That’s basically it,” Alker said. ”
After making birdies on 8 and 9, Alker went full psycho-scorecard mode on the back. Birdies on 11 and 12, an eagle on 13, a bogey on 14, an eagle on 15, a birdie on 16, and a bogey on 17 for a grand total 7-under 65. It’s the first time he’s had two eagles in one round on the Champions tour.
“I was just staying aggressive and Steve was playing great. You know he’s not going to make mistakes. Just kept at it and yeah, just pleased to make those couple eagles.”
Alker said he and Stricker found plenty to talk about throughout the day.
“Just about kids really, college, his girls, college and golf. And yeah, it was cool. I haven’t played with Ernie or Steve since I’ve been out here, so it was fun. A little bit kind of nervous, but it was fun, I enjoyed it.”
