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Alker wins Schwab Cup for the second time

Steven Alker Charles Schwab Cup golf

New Zealand golfer Steven Alker has been denied his second straight Charles Schwab Cup Championship on the 18th green.


However, a runner-up finish at the PGA Tour Champions season finale in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday (Monday NZ Time) saw the 53-year-old claim the season-long Charles Schwab Cup for the second time in three years.


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Alker (2022) joined fellow Kiwi Sir Bob Charles (1988-89) as a two-time Senior PGA/PGA Tour Champions money list winner.


Coming into the season-ender second in the Charles Schwab Cup standings behind four-time major-winning South African Ernie Els, Alker went 13-under over the weekend to surge into contention and almost stole the victory.


Alker closed with a five-under 66 at the Phoenix Country Club to finish in a tie for second with Australian left-hander Richard Green at 17-under, one shot behind German Bernhardt Langer, who extended his tour win streak to 18 years.



Langer, the 1986 and 1993 Masters champion and 11-time Senior/Champions money list winner, led by as many as three strokes in the final round after making five birdies in his first six holes.


However, he stumbled with bogeys at the 10th, 11th and 17th holes to let Alker and Green back into contention.


Alker made three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the back-nine and Green picked up shots at the 17th and 18th, and the trio were tied at 17-under as the final group of Alker and Langer stood on the 18th tee.



The Hamiltonian found the fairway on the par-five, while Langer was in the rough to the right. Alker put his approach shot over the green and chipped to within eight feet, while Langer laid up and pitched to the middle of the green.


However, Langer rolled in a 30-foot bomb for birdie and Alker's putt came up short, giving the 67-year-old German, who tore his Achilles earlier this year, a record-extending 47th victory on the Over-50 tour.


Alker carded rounds of one-under 70 and three-under 68 to easily make the cut, before uncorking a bogey-free eight-under 63, including five straight birdies, on Saturday (Sunday NZT) to surge to within a shot of the lead.



Meanwhile, on the Legends Tour, Europe's senior tour, Michael Campbell has finished on a tear to record a top-20 finish at the European Senior Masters in Murcia, Spain.


Campbell birdied six of his last seven holes as part of a six-under 67 in the final round on Sunday (Monday NZT) to climb into a share of 15th at nine-under, eight strokes behind the champion, Englishman Simon Griffiths.


The 2005 US Open champion was scuffling for the day, at even-par through 11 holes, before rolling in five straight birdie putts, with another at the 18th.


Conversely, compatriot Michael Long bogeyed three of his last four holes in a two-over 75 to drop into a tie for 38th at one-under. He produced a bogey-free four-under 69 in the second round.


With two tournaments remaining on the schedule, Long is 28th in the Road to Mauritius rankings, while Campbell is 30th.

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