Stellar field set for this week’s Charles Schwab Cup Championship

PHOENIX – The final field has been set for this week’s Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club, where the top 35 players of the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Champions super-season will compete to win both the 32^nd annual tournament title and the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race.

A familiar face sits atop the Charles Schwab Cup standings heading into the final tournament, as five-time Charles Schwab Cup winner Bernhard Langer enters with a 337,727-point lead, thanks in large part to a historic win last month at the first Playoff event, the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Richmond, Virginia. In addition to extending his lead at the top, the 64-year-old set a new record with his victory, becoming the oldest player to win a PGA TOUR Champions event.  The World Golf Hall of Fame member earned two wins and 24 top-10 finishes in 38 starts during the 2020-21 season and has led the Charles Schwab Cup standings for a total of 21 weeks.

However, there is still work to be done for Langer, as three players still have a mathematical chance of stealing the season-long Charles Schwab Cup title in the final event, including No. 2 Jim Furyk (3,223,272 points), No. 3 Miguel Angel Jimenez (2,901,298) and No. 4 Ernie Els (2,875,445). 

Four players in the field will be making their first start at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, including 45-time PGA TOUR winner Phil Mickelson (No. 29), who made history earlier this year when he became the oldest player (50) to win a major championship at the PGA Championship. The six-time major champion and Arizona State University graduate won three of his first four PGA TOUR Champions starts, most recently at the Constellation FURYK & FRIENDS presented by Circle K in Jacksonville, Florida last month. With a win this week in Phoenix, Mickelson would join Jack Nicklaus as the only players in Tour history to win at least four tournaments in their first six starts.

Other first-timers in the field include three-time winner this season, Darren Clarke (No. 10), two-time major winner this season, Alex Cejka (No. 12), and the last player in the field, Steven Alker (No. 22), who punched a ticket to Phoenix with a win last week at the second Playoff event, the TimberTech Championship.  Alker, a New Zealand native who now lives outside of Phoenix, logged eight top-10s in his first nine starts and is now fully exempt through the end of the 2022 season.

The field includes four past champions of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, including the defending champion, No. 7 Kevin Sutherland (2017, 2020), No. 20 Fred Couples (2013), No. 30 Paul Goydos (2016) and No. 33 Vijay Singh (2018). 2013 Charles Schwab Cup winner Kenny Perry (No. 36) is also in the field, making his ninth start at the season-ending event.

The top 10 also includes two-time winner this season, Jerry Kelly (No. 5), and 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir (No. 6), who earned his first post-50 title in May at the Insperity Invitational. Other players that have qualified for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship include World Golf Hall of Fame members Retief Goosen (No. 6) and Colin Montgomerie (No. 34). Steve Stricker is the only player who has qualified but will not compete in this year’s event.

Tickets are still available to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, to learn more please visit www.schwabcup.com.

2021 Charles Schwab Cup Championship Field: