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.
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.
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.”