SAS Championship: How to watch, pre-tournament notes, storylines, more

PGA Tour Champions concludes its regular season this week at the SAS Championship, the 26th playing of the event at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, North Carolina. The tournament has been held at Prestonwood every year since its debut in 2001.

Seven World Golf Hall of Fame members are in the field, including 2020 champion Ernie Els, 2017 champion Colin Montgomerie and two-time winner Bernhard Langer (2012, 2018). Nine past champions will tee it up, led by defending champion Alex Cejka, who won by three strokes at 9 under a year ago and lost a playoff to Vaughn Taylor on Sunday at the Constellation FURYK & FRIENDS, and two-time winner Jerry Kelly (2019, 2024). Taylor, a PGA Tour Champions rookie, earned his first victory on the Tour in Palm Coast.

The SAS Championship is also the final event of the Sprint to St. Louis presented by Compliance Solutions, a five-tournament race that began at the Sanford International. The three players who earn the most Charles Schwab Cup points across those five events become finalists at next week's Stifel Charity Classic, where the finalist with the best finish wins a $200,000 bonus. Zach Johnson (708,755 points) and Steven Alker (539,755) lead the standings but are not in the field this week, leaving the third spot up for grabs in Cary. Taylor (422,245) holds the position entering the week, with Ryan Armour (367,040), Ben Crane (345,160), Tag Ridings (297,660) and Cejka (278,329) among those chasing.

At the conclusion of the SAS Championship, the top 72 players in the Charles Schwab Cup standings will advance to the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, which begin next week at the Stifel Charity Classic in St. Louis. The top 54 after St. Louis advance to the Simmons Bank Championship in Little Rock, and the top 36 after Little Rock reach the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix.

How to follow (all times ET)

Television:

• Friday-Sunday: 2-5 p.m. (Golf Channel)

Tournament facts

• Course: Prestonwood Country Club; par 72, 7,237 yards
• Defending champion: Alex Cejka
• Purse: $2.3 million
• Winner's share: $345,000
• Scoring records:
  • Low 18-hole score: 60, Fred Couples (2022, Round 4)
  • Low 36-hole score: 129, Bernhard Langer, Gene Sauers (2018)
  • Low 54-hole score: 194, Bernhard Langer (2018)

Note: Using player performance data from ShotLink powered by CDW, the PGA Tour has created this story using AWS Gen AI technology. While we strive for accuracy and quality, please note that the information provided may not be entirely error-free.