PHOENIX, Ariz, Phil Mickelson won the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship on Sunday with three birdies on the final three holes, while Bernhard Langer won his sixth PGA Tour Champions season points crown.
Mickelson scored a 6-under 65 at Phoenix Country Club, getting up and down for birdie from just short of the par-5 18th for a 19-under total. He is the only golfer to win four of his first six PGA Tour Champions starts, joining Jack Nicklaus.
Langer, who had been suffering from back problems all weekend, failed to make putts fall as he fought his way to a 2-under 69. After finishing at 12 under par, the 64-year-old German had to wait for Jim Furyk to see if he could win the Schwab Cup for the fifth time in seven years.
To earn his first PGA Tour Champions series title, Furyk needed to win the tournament or tie for third and Langer to finish worse than ninth. He holed a long birdie putt on the par-4 17th to close to within two strokes of the lead, but Mickelson made it three shots with a birdie on the 18th.
Furyk had to drop in mulch after hitting his second shot into the grandstand left of the 18th green, needing an eagle to win the Schwab Cup. He got up and down for par after hitting his next shot across the green into the rough. Furyk tied for fifth place at 16 under par with a 71.
Mickelson was three strokes behind Furyk going into the third round, but he raced ahead with birdies on Nos. 14 and 15. Six-time major champion Sergio Garcia shot a bogey-free round.
Steven Alker of New Zealand, who qualified for the PGA Tour Champions just three months ago, scored a 67 to finish second at 18 under. Darren Clarke and David Toms tied for third place at 17 under par with 64s and 65s, respectively.
In the third round, Langer shot under his age for the first time, carding a bogey-free 63 with bookend eagles to close to within 6 strokes of Furyk’s 16-under lead. With birdies on Nos. 1 and 4, he closed to within two strokes, then hammered in a 15-foot eagle putt on the 306-yard par-4 fifth to get to 14 under.
Langer couldn’t keep up the pace.
On the par-5 seventh, he three-putted for bogey, and on the par-4 tenth, he made another bogey. On the par-4 17th, he eventually made a putt and gave a mocking shrug as it dropped.
Despite placing 17th on Sunday, Langer played all 39 PGA Tour Champions events in the 2020-21 season, leaving him in position to win another Schwab Cup.
Alker finished his debut PGA Tour Champions season on a high note.
After turning 50 in July, he had no status and qualified for the Boeing Classic in August. Alker finished in the top ten every week to stay in the game and qualify for the playoffs, including a win last weekend at the TimberTech Championship in Florida.
On Sunday, he continued his hot streak, recovering from a bogey on the par-3 second with five birdies to finish one shot behind Mickelson.
Triplett took the lead at 17 under par with a birdie on the par-4 12th, but he dropped off the pace after putting the par-4 14th onto the roadway and the par-3 15th into the sea.
