Steven Alker of New Zealand turned the Simmons Bank Championship into more of a coronation than competition.
Alker completed his obliteration of Little Rock’s Pleasant Valley County Club with a final-round, 3-under-par 69 on an overcast Sunday afternoon, coasting to a wire-to-wire, seven-shot victory in the $2.3 million PGA Tour Champions event.
Alker finished the three-day, 54-hole tournament at 20-under 196. Tag Ridings, a former University of Arkansas golfer, and Richard Green of Australia tied for second at 13 under.
“This is special,” Alker said. “Any time you go wire to wire, it’s great. Like those seven-shot leads coming down the last. That’s a nice feeling to have. To sum up the week, I think just that start and knowing that I played well here last year in the first round, knowing that there’s a score out there. I’m familiar with the golf course and I feel comfortable. That’s huge when you’re trying to win a golf tournament.”
Alker had a headlock on the Simmons Bank Championship — the second of three events in the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs — from the start. He broke his own course record with an 11-under 61 in Friday’s first round. Alker’s five-shot lead matched the largest after the first round in PGA Tour Champions history.
Alker entered Sunday with a five-stroke lead over Ridings after each shot 6-under 66 on Saturday, the low scores of the second round.
Alker birdied Nos. 3 and 8 on Sunday and made the turn 18 under. Alker’s lead ballooned to nine shots after going 4 under in a three-hole stretch to begin the back nine.
The flurry began with an eagle on No. 10, a 520-yard par 5, and continued with a tap-in birdie on No. 11 and concluded with another birdie on No. 12.
Alker’s eagle came on the heels of his first bogey of the tournament — a span of 44 holes — when he was unable to get up and down from a greenside bunker on No. 9.
Alker got that shot back and then some on No. 10, when he holed his third shot from approximately 78 yards with a 60-degree wedge.
“It felt good off the face,” Alker said. “I knew after the bogey at 9 — I don’t know if my lead was five or six (shots) — I knew some birdie holes were coming up. I’m just trying to make some birdies.”
Alker moved to 22 under with a downhill birdie putt from about 13 feet on No. 12. Ridings, at that point, was 13 under. Ridings finished with a 1-under 71 en route to his best PGA Tour Champions finish. Green shot a final-round 66.
Ridings said he began playing for second after Alker “hooped it from the fairway” on No. 10.
“I hit it close on 10, but he makes it,” Ridings said. “Then he birdies 11. It was over at that point. He’s not the kind of guy that hits loose shots and hasn’t been for five years out here. You know at that point, it was me versus the field and trying to maintain second place, for sure.”
The Simmons Bank Championship marked the 10th victory on the PGA Tour Champions (players 50 and over) for Alker, 54, the defending Charles Schwab Cup champion. He’s projected to move from fourth to first in the latest standings. The top 36 players after the Simmons Bank Championship advance to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on Nov. 13-16 in Phoenix.
Alker tied for 12th in last year’s Simmons Bank Championship after a course-record 62 in the first round. He finished 11 under.
Alker birdied 15 of his first 26 holes this year to lap the 52-man field.
“A lot of tee shots actually kind of fit my eye,” Alker said of Pleasant Valley. “You don’t have to hit driver everywhere, so there’s a lot of 3-woods, even 5-woods. Just placement golf. I’m kind of pretty efficient hitting the ball in the fairway and going from there. Obviously, my iron game was great. Sets up well for good iron play and the greens are so good here that it’s easier if you get the putter going.”
The start of the final round was delayed one hour because of dense fog. Players teed off on holes 1 and 10 Sunday because of the threat of rain, which fell intermittently in the afternoon. They were allowed to lift, clean and place from out of the fairways.
The Simmons Bank Championship debuted in 2024 at Pleasant Valley after previously being played as the TimberTech Championship in Florida.