Steve Alker finishes 5th when defending Senior PGA title
Alker in action this week – image PGA of America.
New Zealand’s Steve Alker might not have been able to successfully defend his KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship title in Texas this week, but his 5th place finish was yet another fine week against a particularly strong field in which five of the first nine finishers were regular tour major champions.
Alker finished a massive 9 shots behind the winner, Steve Stricker, who won at the first extra hole of a playoff against long-time leader, Padraig Harrington, but he recovered well from a slow start to the event.
Alker retains his 3rd place position in the Schwab Cup standings behind Stricker and David Toms.
Stricker now has three wins, and three runner-up finishes in nine starts this season on the PGA Tour Champions and had the pleasure of having his daughter Izzi, a fine high school golfer in her own right, caddy for him for the first time.
The champion Steve Stricker and daughter / caddie Izzi – image PGA of America