Five players vying for Schwab Cup.
Ernie Els is one of only five golfers still in contention to win the Charles Schwab Cup, the season order-of-merit trophy for the US PGA Tour Champions.
The Big Easy could clinch the title at the tour finale this weekend, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship that starts at Phoenix Country Club in Arizona on Thursday.
The other four players still alive in the Cup race are Steven Alker, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Stewart Cink and Thomas Bjørn – all of whom are in the Phoenix field and will have precisely the same goal.
Favourite for the Championship – a 72-hole tournament that finishes on Sunday night SA time – is in-form Alker at 7.20.
Next in the odds are Cink (8.30), Justin Leonard (11.00), Els (11.40), Cameron Percy (15.90) and Padraig Harrington (16.50).
Els himself has been is good form, despite not managing a win since the season opener in Hawaii in January. After four second places and a clutch of thirds during the year, he is overdue victory – or so his fans reckon.
Importantly, he has run into form at the right time, with six top five finishes in his last nine starts.
Els is going for his first Charles Schwab Cup, while Alker is aiming for his third after triumphs in 2022 and 2024.
While the field is packed with golfing legends, the leading contenders do not have to worry about a left-field contender swooping in to beat them. The Championship is restricted to the 36 top-ranked players on the seniors’ tour and there is no halfway cut.
Another South African, Retief Goosen, is among the 36 – quoted at 19.30.
Phoenix Country Club, a par-71, 6,860-yard layout, is described as being in “a desert-adjacent setting”, which often means firm fairways and receptive greens with shot-making ruling over pure power.
All Betway odds correct at time of writing and subject to change.
