{"id":10858,"date":"2026-03-23T10:25:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T03:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=10858"},"modified":"2026-03-23T10:25:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T03:25:29","slug":"alker-defends-senior-tour-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/alker-defends-senior-tour-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Alker defends senior Tour title"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Defending champion Steven Alker captured the Cologuard Classic for his 11th<\/sup>\u00a0PGA Tour Champions title after defeating World Golf Hall of Fame member P\u00e1draig Harrington with a birdie on the first playoff hole at La Paloma Country Club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alker won it on the first playoff hole last year and repeated the feat to defend the title by making a four feet birdie to beat Harrington’s par. Both players had ended the three rounds on 15-under 198.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 54-year-old Kiwi moves from tied-62 to fourth in the 2026 Charles Schwab Cup standings with his first win of the season. It was all the more remarkable as he was nine strokes back after opening with an even-par 71, then shot a 62 on Saturday to pull within two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harrington finished runner-up with a final-round 4-under 67 to tie Alker with 15-under 198, forcing the playoff. Finishing second was also his best at the championships in three appearances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zach Johnson and Tommy Gainey were tied-third posting 13-under totals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson closed with a 67 round in his second start on the 50-and-over tour. He won two weeks ago in Florida in his senior debut at the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gainey, the 2025 PGA Tour Champions Rookie of the Year <\/strong>closed with a 68.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thongchai Jaidee (70) was 12 under. Sixty-eight-year-old Bernhard Langer (70) was another shot back with K.J. Choi (67), Thomas Bjorn (67) and Stewart Cink (67).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cink, the reigning Charles Schwab Cup champion remains atop the 2026 standings.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final-Round Leaderboard<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/td>Player<\/strong><\/td>To Par<\/strong><\/td>Scores<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
1<\/td>Steven Alker<\/td>-15<\/td>71-62-65 \u2013 198<\/td><\/tr>
P2<\/td>Padraig Harrington<\/td>-15<\/td>66-65-67 \u2013 198<\/td><\/tr>
T3<\/td>Zach Johnson<\/td>-13<\/td>68-65-67 \u2013 200<\/td><\/tr>
T3<\/td>Tommy Gainey<\/td>-13<\/td>65-67-68 \u2013 200<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Defending champion Steven Alker captured the Cologuard Classic for his 11th\u00a0PGA Tour Champions title after defeating World Golf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-10858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-golf"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t