Charles Schwab Cup 2025 Sunday recap: Stewart Cink outlasts Steven Alker to win in Phoenix
Todd Kelly- Steven Alker and Stewart Cink have separated themselves from the field at the 2025 Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
- Rain is in the forecast for the final round, which could change course conditions at Phoenix Country Club.
PHOENIX — The 2025 Charles Schwab Cup Championship was a two-man race and it came down to the last hole.
Steven Alker, sitting in first at 17 under after 54 holes, and Stewart Cink, who started Sunday a shot back at 16 under, separated themselves from the pack with just 18 holes left at Phoenix Country Club.
Get caught up on the final round in Phoenix here.
2025 Charles Schwab Cup Championship leaderboard
Get all the final scores from the final event on the PGA Tour Champions 2025 schedule at the 2025 Charles Schwab Cup Championship. You can also see the final 2025 Charles Schwab Cup points standings.
Golfers who won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship and Charles Schwab Cup in same season
- 2005 - Tom Watson
- 2012 - Tom Lehman
- 2017 - Kevin Sutherland
- 2025 - Stewart Cink
Alker sails second shot into the greenside lake, Cink cruises to the title
Down a shot on the final hole, Alker tried to make something happen on the par-5 18th but his second shot got away from him and went splash down in the greenside lake. He would go on to bogey the hole, shoot a final-round 70 and finish at 18 under.
Cink, meanwhile, laid up with his second after his drive went into the rought, hit onto the green with his third and two-putted for par to shoot 67 and finish at 20 under and win by two. His four-day total was 264 (64-68-65-67).
It's Cink's fourth PGA Tour Champions win and his third this season.
One shot separates Cink, Alker with one hole to go
Cink and Alker each had birdie looks at No. 17 but each missed and settled for par. The table is now set for the par-5 18th hole. Cink is at 20 under, Alker at 19 under.
So far this week on 18, Cink made birdie-birdie-par, while Alker has posted par-par-birdie.
Two holes to go at Phoenix Country Club
Alker birdied the 13th to make it a two-shot deficit. Then he and Cink birdied the 15th, with Cink going to 20 under and Alker getting to 18 under. Then, Alker made another birdie on 16 to get to 19 under and one shot back with two to go.
It's the third time in four rounds that Alker has birdied the 16th.
Stewart Cink takes three-shot lead with seven to go in Phoenix
Steve Alker had back-to-back birdies on Nos. 6 and 7 before making back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 8 and 10. Then, moments after Cink poured in a bending birdie putt on No. 11 to get to 19 under, Alker ran his birdie putt past. He then rammed his comebacker for par about 4 feet by the cup. He ended up making his bogey to fall to 16 under and walked off the green down three shots with seven to go.
Cink had beaten Alker five out of the last six times they were paired together.
There's a tie atop Charles Schwab leaderboard
Through eight holes, Alker is 1 under while Stewart Cink is 2 under. That has officially closed the gap between the top, as they both sit at 18 under. They are also both three shots clear of Freddie Jacobson and five ahead of a big group of Vijay Singh, Alex Cejka, Steve Flesch, Richard Green, Jerry Kelly, Tommy Gainey and defending tournament champion Bernhard Langer.
What Steven Alker said after his third round at Phoenix Country Club
"The way the golf course is, the conditions for tomorrow, but there's birdies out there," he said. Alker has had 18 birdies over 54 holts so far, including three on the 16th hole this week. "You've just got to keep going. Stewart's playing great, he's driving it well and making some putts. I know I've just got to keep the pedal down and keep trying to make birdies."
What Stewart Cink said after his third round at Phoenix Country Club
"I wasn't seeking scoreboards out, but I don't ignore them either," he said. "I kind of knew where he and I stood. I'm not intently focused on that, we've got our hands full out there. Yeah, I was aware to a certain extent at least where we stood all day with each other. It looked like we had a little separation there in the middle of the back nine. This course, the nature of this place, the players can finish pretty fast and so it's going to be a real exciting day, I know that tomorrow."
Rain is in the forecast and Sunday is already a damp morning
The weather at Phoenix Country Club has been superb for three days but some clouds rolled into the area Saturday afternoon and light rain fell overnight and on Sunday morning. The golf course will play a little soggier on this final day.
"We're in the desert for a reason, sometimes it doesn't rain as much as they think. But we've also played in lots of rain here in Arizona.," said Cink. "If it does rain, this course will play awfully different and it will be new for me to see it like that. Even if we get a lot of rain and then it clears out, the course is still going to play quite different with the wet conditions. It will be kind of like, we'll have to kind of feel it out as we go and maybe make a few adjustments here and there off some of the tees, like the lines. But everybody's got to deal with the same stuff."
"It's just go hard as you can," Alker said. "It's like an 18-hole shootout. The whole year has come down to an 18-hole shootout. So yeah, keep making birdies."
How many times has a golfer won the tournament and the season title?
Not many, is the short answer.
Unlike the PGA Tour's postseason – where the Tour Championship winner is declared the FedEx Cup champion – it's possible to have someone win the final PGA Tour Champions tournament while someone else captures the Schwab season title. The winner of the tournament wins the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The winner of the season-long race is the Charles Schwab Cup champion. Who has won both in the same season? It's a short list:
- 2017 Kevin Sutherland
- 2012 Tom Lehman
- 2005 Tom Watson