Charles Schwab Cup Championship

(Sonoma, CA) - Tom Watson entered the final round of the 2005 Charles Schwab Cup Championship trailing third-round leader Jay Haas by six shots and Charles Schwab Cup points leader Dana Quigley by 686 points.  Thanks in part to a final round eight-under par 64, Watson rallied to win the Championship by one shot and overtook Quigley to win the season-long points race. 

Golf fans in Northern California have been treated to down-to-the-wire finishes in both the Charles Schwab Cup Championship and the season-long Charles Schwab Cup points race since the event came to the Sonoma Golf Club in 2003.  The 2006 edition should provide more of the same with the top-30 money winners from the Champions Tour gathering to decide not only the Championship winner, but the Cup winner as well.

The 2006 Charles Schwab Cup competition has proven to be largely a two-horse race, with Loren Roberts and Jay Haas the only players to have held the lead this season.  Roberts, on the strength of three consecutive victories to open the year, jumped out to a healthy lead through the first two months of the season.  The Memphis, TN native added another victory in July at the Senior British Open and currently holds a slim 58-point lead over Haas.  Roberts has notched top-10 finishes in 15 of the 17 events he has played in 2006.

Haas has also compiled an impressive resume this season and finds himself within striking distance of Roberts with four events remaining on the Champions Tour schedule.  The former Wake Forest Demon Deacon recorded victories in three consecutive starts at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, FedEx Kinko's Classic and Senior PGA Championship and has 11 top-10's in 16 starts.  Haas was able to cut Roberts lead from 183 points to 58 with his T2 at the Constellation Energy Classic last weekend. 

The competition will resume next week with both players in the field at the Greater Hickory (N.C.) Classic at Rock Barn.  Roberts had missed last week's event in Baltimore due to his duties as an assistant to Captain Tom Lehman and the U.S. Ryder Cup Team.  Both players have performed well in their only previous appearance in Hickory.  Roberts is coming off of a third-place finish in 2005 while Haas is the defending champion.

The following is the Charles Schwab Cup Top-10 through the Constellation Energy Classic:

Rank/Player/Events  Points  Points Behind   Wins           Top-10s
1   Loren Roberts (17) 2,478  -   4  15
2   Jay Haas (16) 2,420  58  3  11
3   Brad Bryant (16) 1,592  886  2  8
4   Bobby Wadkins (20) 1,511  967  2  5
5   Gil Morgan (22) 1,433  1,045  1  10
6   Tom Kite (20) 1,402  1,076  2  11
7   Eduardo Romero (5) 1,230  1,248  1  3
8   Allen Doyle (20) 1,125  1,353  1  4
9   David Edwards (15) 978  1,500  1  8 
10 Tom Watson (12) 976  1,502  0  6

Roberts and Haas also find themselves in first and second, respectively, on the Champions Tour official money list, with Haas trailing Roberts by $53,712.  With the $2.5 million purse and double Charles Schwab Cup points up for grabs in Sonoma, expect nothing to be settled until the final putt drops on Sunday.

Four events remain on the Champions Tour schedule before the 17th Charles Schwab Cup Championship returns to the Sonoma Golf Club, October 24-29.  The remaining events are:

Sept.  25- Oct. 1 Greater Hickory (N.C.) Classic at Rock Barn
Oct. 2-8 SAS Championship, Raleigh, N.C.
Oct. 9-15 Administaff Small Business Classic, Houston, TX
Oct. 16-22 AT&T Championship, San Antonio, TX

Ticket Information

Tickets to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship are available by calling
(800) 868-7563.

Ticket prices are:
    Sonoma Golf Course Closed Monday, October 23
$30 for two days  Practice Rounds (Tuesday, Wednesday)
    Any day grounds only.
$30 any one-day ticket Grounds Only
$45 per day   Championship (Thursday-Sunday)
    Grounds & Wine Festival
$100    Weekly Grounds and Wine Festival
$150    Weekly Clubhouse Ticket (includes Wine Festival)