A year ago, Steve Stricker had such a lead in the Charles Schwab Cup standings that he was able to skip all three PGA Tour Champions playoff events and still win the Cup.
This time around, as the tour reaches the season finale at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, there are still 10 golfers with a chance to win it.
Of those 10, four are far from possible, as they would each need to win and advance many other things. Among the top six, if any of them wins the tournament at Phoenix Country Club, they will win the Cup.
And of those six, it’s highly likely that it will come down to just two golfers.
Still, there will definitely be more drama this week than in recent years.
How it works
The tournament is a four-round, 72-hole no-cut tournament.
Unlike the PGA Tour playoffs – where the winner of the Tour Championship is declared the FedEx Cup champion – it is possible for someone to win this event while someone else takes home the Schwab season title.
Format, TV, prize money | Winners in 2024 | Money in 2024
The winner of the tournament wins the Charles Schwab Cup championship. The winner of the season-long race is Cup champion Charles Schwab.
The 10 golfers in the running
If one of these players wins the Charles Schwab Cup championship, they will win the Charles Schwab Cup, regardless of the ranking of the other players:
-
Ernie Els
-
Steven Alker
-
Stephen Ames
-
Padraig Harrington
-
YE Yang
-
Richard Green
Els has led the points standings for the last 12 tournaments. Alker won the tournament last year and the Cup two years ago.
Harrington won the last PGA Tour Champions event two weeks ago to put himself in the conversation. And he knows the scenarios well.
“If me or any of us, six of us, I think, if we win outright, we will win right away, no one can intervene,” he said. “Which is tough for Ernie (Els). Ernie had a great year, he’s No. 1 and he hasn’t really had it. … I won’t say he hasn’t been rewarded, but he must also win this week.
Green is the only golfer among the contenders who has not won a tournament in 2024.
These golfers have a chance to win the Cup, but everyone must win this week and ensure the contenders finish well down the leaderboard:
-
KJ Choi
-
Ricardo Gonzalez
-
Paul Broadhurst
-
Jerry Kelly
The Cup probably comes down to two
The PGA Tour Champions statistics team reports that these are the “two most reasonable results”:
Els, No. 1 in points and tied for the most wins in 2024 with three, can win the Cup by winning, but it’s possible he could also clinch it by finishing second, third or fourth.
Alker can win the Cup with a win and also a second or third place, but he would need Els to finish outside the top 5.
The math doesn’t work here
These golfers cannot mathematically win the Cup:
-
Stewart Cink
-
Doug Barron
-
Tim O’Neal
-
Retief Goosen
-
Thomas Björn
-
Darren Clarke
-
Ken Tanigawa
-
Alex Cejka
-
Rocco mediator
-
Bob Estes
-
Bernhard Langer
-
Miguel Angel Jiménez
-
Ken Duke
-
Joe Durant
-
Tim Petrović
-
Thongchai Jaidee
-
Greg Chalmers
-
Marc Hensby
-
Vijay Singh
-
Shane Bertsch
-
Hiroyuki Fujita
-
Stem pampling
-
Stuart Appleby
-
Jason Caron
-
Cameron Percy
The top 36 qualified for Phoenix but there were only 35 in the field, as Steve Stricker, No. 8 in points heading into the final, skipped the tournament.
As for Harrington, he won the tournament two years ago but this may be his best chance to win the Cup.
“I know with the Charles Schwab Cup, I’m not getting any younger,” Harrington said. “You want to take it when you get the chance. There are more and more good players coming out every year, so whatever advantage you have when you’re young, it’s eroded. Yes, you want to grab it when you get the chance.”
This article was originally published on Golfweek: These 10 golfers still have a chance to win the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup
