36 golfers advanced to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Only 5 can win season title
Todd KellyFrom 72 to 54 to 36 to five. The PGA Tour Champions season comes to a close next week at the 2025 Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the finale of the three-tournament postseason on the senior circuit.
The playoffs started with 72 players, then got whittled to 54 and now just the top 36 players advance to Phoenix Country Club. Of those 36, just five have a shot at claiming the season-long points title: The Charles Schwab Cup.
Steven Alker, who won the previous playoff event two weeks ago and has claimed two Schwab Cup titles, is among those five.
"It kinda feels like parts of my game are like A+ and there's other parts are like a C, or B-," Alker said at a media event at Phoenix Country Club previewing the finale, sounding like he still needs to fine tune a few things. "We're golfers, we're crazy, we're always working on something, you know?"
All 36, however, have an equal chance at winning the tournament's trophy and that right there is the key difference between the senior tour's postseason and the PGA Tour's, where the winner of the Tour Championship is the FedEx Cup champion. On the PGA Tour Champions, there is often one winner of the season-long race and a different winner of the final tournament.
Who advanced to the 2025 Charles Schwab Cup Championship?
By virtue of reaching the final tournament, all of these 36 golfers below have also locked in their 2026 PGA Tour Champions tour card. That includes Tommy Gainey, who played just eight tournaments (and earned a win) since turning 50 and joining the tour.
| Pos. | Golfer | Starts | Points/money | Wins |
| 1 | Steven Alker | 22 | 3,246,962 | 2 |
| 2 | Miguel Angel Jimenez | 23 | 3,150,248 | 4 |
| 3 | Stewart Cink | 20 | 2,912,040 | 2 |
| 4 | Ernie Els | 24 | 2,570,987 | 1 |
| 5 | Thomas Bjorn | 22 | 2,326,182 | 2 |
| 6 | Padraig Harrington | 15 | 1,937,136 | 2 |
| 7 | Justin Leonard | 18 | 1,927,368 | 2 |
| 8 | Retief Goosen | 23 | 1,877,362 | 1 |
| 9 | Angel Cabrera | 20 | 1,821,660 | 3 |
| 10 | Cameron Percy | 23 | 1,696,884 | 0 |
| 11 | Steve Allan | 22 | 1,679,760 | 3 |
| 12 | Alex Cejka | 25 | 1,500,492 | 1 |
| 13 | Darren Clarke | 21 | 1,480,659 | 1 |
| 14 | Richard Green | 21 | 1,419,791 | 1 |
| 15 | Freddie Jacobson | 22 | 1,368,507 | 0 |
| 16 | Y.E. Yang | 27 | 1,280,994 | 0 |
| 17 | Steve Flesch | 25 | 1,184,281 | 0 |
| 18 | Jerry Kelly | 21 | 1,165,363 | 1 |
| 19 | Doug Barron | 26 | 1,145,666 | 1 |
| 20 | Jason Caron | 22 | 1,129,948 | 0 |
| 21 | Soren Kjeldsen | 16 | 1,032,125 | 0 |
| 22 | Tag Ridings | 15 | 995,599 | 0 |
| 23 | Mark Hensby | 24 | 943,337 | 0 |
| 24 | Ricardo Gonzalez | 25 | 913,854 | 0 |
| 25 | K.J. Choi | 19 | 901,934 | 0 |
| 26 | Vijay Singh | 19 | 896,788 | 0 |
| 27 | Bernhard Langer | 19 | 869,267 | 0 |
| 28 | Greg Chalmers | 25 | 814,128 | 0 |
| 29 | Michael Wright | 20 | 808,118 | 0 |
| 30 | Charlie Wi | 20 | 762,901 | 0 |
| 31 | Paul Stankowski | 24 | 745,425 | 0 |
| 32 | Tim Petrovic | 26 | 708,026 | 0 |
| 33 | Boo Weekley | 24 | 685,565 | 0 |
| 34 | Matt Gogel | 21 | 682,241 | 0 |
| 35 | Tim O'Neal | 26 | 673,824 | 0 |
| 36 | Tommy Gainey | 8 | 633,126 | 1 |
The 5 golfers who can win the 2025 Charles Schwab Cup
While 36 have qualified for Phoenix, the math says only five have a shot at the big trophy.
| Pos. | Golfer | Starts | Points/money | Wins |
| 1 | Steven Alker | 22 | 3,246,962 | 2 |
| 2 | Miguel Angel Jimenez | 23 | 3,150,248 | 4 |
| 3 | Stewart Cink | 20 | 2,912,040 | 2 |
| 4 | Ernie Els | 24 | 2,570,987 | 1 |
| 5 | Thomas Bjorn | 22 | 2,326,182 | 2 |
When is the 2025 Charles Schwab Cup Championship?
The tournament is a 72-hole, four-day stroke-play affair that starts on Thursday, Nov. 13 and concludes on Sunday, Nov. 16. Outside of the five majors on the circuit, it's the lone 72-hole event.
In four appearances at Phoenix Country Club, Alker, has finished in the top 3 each time. He's won the tournament once (two years ago) and clinched the Cup twice in those four outings.
"The golf course is old school, it's a home game for me," said the Scottsdale resident. "That's a big thing. I'm in Phoenix, I'm familiar and so, yea, just, the golf course fits my eye."