Alker wins 6th PGA Tour Champions title
Steve Alker – image Getty Images
New Zealand’s Steve Alker today converted his three-shot 36 hole lead into a 6th PGA Tour Champions victory with a final round of 66 and a four shot victory over Steve Stricker at the Insperity Invitational at The Woodlands north of Houston in Texas.
It was Alker’s third finish inside the top 2 in five starts this season and adds another US$405,000 to his 2023 earnings, taking them to US$827,000 for the year and into 3rd place in the Schwab Cup behind Stricker and David Toms who tied for 3rd this week.
Alker’s bogey free round included a final nine of 31 but he was never in any real threat of being caught although Stricker did close within one through nine holes before Alker’s five birdies in his final seven holes well and truly sealed the deal.
Understandably, Alker was delighted with the way the day worked out. “You couldn’t write it up any better,” said the 51-year-old. “Really pleased the way I played, and just coming down the stretch, I know Strick — Matt Gogel was chasing, as well, so I had to be careful of what he was doing. I just kind of had to keep the pedal down. To shoot what I did last year, kind of finish the way I did last year, that was really pleasing.
“I think the conditions today, slightly different wind and still soft greens, you knew someone was going to come out pretty strong. I knew I had to keep the pedal down and keep trying to make birdies.”
With his son Ben on the bag, Alker would win for the first time without his long time caddy Sam Workman who passed away from cancer earlier this year.
“Yeah, well, I got pretty emotional about it. I had to work really hard to stay focused and not get too emotional. I didn’t actually know how much lead I had coming down 18. I thought, well, Steve can’t be probably more than 12, so I had three up my sleeve maybe, and I wasn’t going in that water. That was my plan all along, just to hit it out here and hopefully get up-and-down.
“It’s huge. Obviously you see the emotion at 18 there. But I just saw a sea of orange today, and just reminded me of Sam. I had my son on the bag. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Mark Hensby finished 52nd this week and drops a place to 4th on the Charl Schwab Cup list.
