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.
Here are some fast facts for the playoffs.
Who's in: Steven Alker
Steven Alker played 20 events in 2022, had 15 top-10s, won three times and finished the regular season atop the money list with $2,915,415. He’ll start the playoffs in the No. 1 spot.
The Dominion Energy Classic boasts a field of golfers who have combined to win 484 times on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions.
Who's in: Padraig Harrington
In his first full season on the PGA Tour Champions, Padraig Harrington played 16 times and won three times, including a major at the U.S. Senior Open Championship. He finished less than $350,000 behind Alker in the money race.
Who's out (for now): Steve Stricker
Steve Stricker led the circuit with four wins in 2022, including a major at the Regions Tradition in May. Playing in 12 events, Stricker finished less than $100,000 behind Padraig Harrington in the standings.
Stricker, 55, has accomplished a lot in his career and can admit he does have other interests.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to play a long time, but I still feel like that’s my passion, that’s what I love to do. So I wait for this time period all year long. It’s really only about a month of good hunting and then it goes away, so it’s like, I hate to miss that month,” he said after winning his fourth title, the Furyk & Friends. “Unfortunately, the Schwab Cup Playoffs are right in that month time frame.”
According to Golf Channel, Stricker plans to skip the first two Schwab playoff tournaments. At third in the standings, his spot among the top 36 for the finale in Phoenix is virtually assured.
Who's in: Bernhard Langer
It wouldn’t be the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs without Bernhard Langer, the defending and six-time champion.
Langer has 43 PGA Tour Champions victories. Hale Irwin with 45 remains the circuit’s leader. Langer is in the No. 7 spot in the standings.
Who's out: Fred Couples
Fred Couples, playing in just his eighth event in 2022, shot a final-round 60, closing with seven birdies, to win the SAS Championship, his first win in five years.
That vaulted him up from No. 60 to No. 34, and the top 36 get into the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, but Couples said “I’m done for the year” after the win.
“I’ll probably take the rest of this month off and then I’ll gradually start hitting a few in November, December. That’s normally when I do well because I live in California, the weather’s perfect. Once the season starts, I like to get off to a good start,” he continued. “This year my back was so bad, I really couldn’t even play until Augusta and I probably shouldn’t have played there, but I enjoyed playing there. This is my eighth tournament that I’ve played in, so that’s not very many.”
Three others qualified for the Playoffs but will not be at the Dominion. In addition to Couples, Steve Stricker (3), Brandt Jobe (No. 17), and Mike Weir (32) will all not be there.
What's the format?
The Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs is a three-tournament postseason. Unlike the PGA Tour, where the winner of the Tour Championship is the FedEx Cup champion, it’s possible one golfer will win Charles Schwab Cup Championship and someone else will claim the season-long title.
That happened a year ago when Phil Mickelson won at Phoenix Country Club but Bernhard Langer claimed his sixth series title.
The three events:
- Dominion Energy Charity Classic, The Country Club of Virginia Richmond, Virginia, Oct. 21-23. Defending champion: Bernhard Langer.
- TimberTech Championship, Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club Boca Raton, Florida, Nov. 4-6. Defending champion: Steven Alker.
- Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Phoenix Country Club Phoenix, Nov. 10-13. Defending champion: Phil Mickelson.
The points double in the playoffs — golfers get two points for every dollar earned — so those just inside the bubble (top 54 advance) aren’t assured they’ll maintain their spot. There could be plenty of movement on either side of the line at the Dominion.
