There’s dominating your tour and then there’s what Steve Stricker is doing in 2023.
Stricker has such a massive lead in the season-long points race on the PGA Tour Champions that it’s possible he could skip all three playoff events and still win the title.
Since 2001, the winner of the season-long race has won the Charles Schwab Cup. The Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs are a three-tournament series used to determine the winner of the 2023 Charles Schwab Cup.
Stricker has been the hands-down best player on the circuit in 2023, winning the most events and earning the most money. The money earned through last week’s SAS Championship has since been converted into a points list for the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs and Stricker’s lead will be difficult to overcome.
Here’s what else you need to know about the 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs.
Stricker enjoying historic season
Steve Stricker has been the hands-down best player on the circuit in 2023, winning six times, most on the tour, with three of those wins coming in the senior majors. He has five runner-up finishes in 16 events and his tie for 15th two weeks ago, on the heels of a returning from the Ryder Cup in Rome where he was a vice captain, was his lone finish outside the top 10 all season.
Oh, and he’s banked $3,986,063, the most in a single season, a total that is nearly double of the guy who’s No. 2 on the money list. Another $14,000 in earnings this season and he’ll be the Champions tour’s first $4 million man.
He’s been so good, he’s openly talked about returning to the PGA Tour.
“If it takes a couple of tournaments and I play horribly, that may be it,” Stricker said. “But if I play a couple of tournaments and play decent, or play well in one or two of them? I had a chance to win Phoenix two or three years ago.”
He knows for sure he’ll enter the Players Championship and the PGA Championship in 2024, having earned a spot in those after winning the senior versions of those majors.
What about Steven, Stephen and Steve?
Steve [Stricker], Steven [Alker], Stephen [Ames] and Steve [Flesh] have won 12 of the circuit’s 26 events in 2023.
But it’s Stricker with six of those wins and a lead so large that only five other golfers have a mathematical chance at catching him for the season title:
- Steven Alker
- Bernhard Langer
- Stephen Ames
- David Toms
- Ernie Els
Stricker’s lead is big enough he could skip all three of the playoff events and still possibly win it all. He’s not playing this week’s Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Richmond, Virginia, but doesn’t plan to skip all three postseason events.
“This has been a goal of mine,” he said of winning the Charles Schwab Cup. “I’ve wanted to win this and I’ve put every effort into trying to play well.”
So who's not playing this week?
Participation in the postseason is not mandatory and there are five players who finished in the top 72 who decided not to play this week:
- Steve Stricker
- Kevin Sutherland
- Stewart Cink
- Doug Barron
- Fred Couples
Stricker, Cink and Couples were all vice captains for the U.S. side at the recent Ryder Cup.
What are the playoff events?
A total of 72 golfers qualified for the 2023 postseason but only 68 will tee it up this week at the Country Club of Virginia. From there, the top 54 advance to Round 2 with the top 36 then reaching the finale.
The three playoff events are:
| Tournament | Dates | Location | Holes |
| Dominion Energy Charity Classic | Oct. 20-22 | Richmond, Virginia | 54 |
| TimberTech Championship | Nov. 3-5 | Boca Raton, Florida | 54 |
| Charles Schwab Cup Championship | Nov. 9-12 | Phoenix | 72 |
Two trophies, one winner?
Unlike the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, where the winner of the Tour Championship is the FedEx Cup champion, the PGA Tour Champions season finale could very well produce a tournament champion separate from the season-long champ.
A year ago, Padraig Harrington won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship but it was Steven Alker walking away with the season crown.
Stricker could be the first since Kevin Sutherland in 2017 to pull off the double dip.
