BENTON HARBOR, Mich. – Steven Alker avoided errors along the stretch and finished Sunday with an 8 under 63 for a three-shot win in the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, his third title this year and first major.
Alker started the final round with four shots from behind and forged a three-pointer with Stephen Ames and Bernhard Langer behind.
Langer lost the green in consecutive holes and caused the bogeys to fall behind. Ames hit his unit in the water at par-4 14 and had to fight bogey.
Alker made birds in holes 15 and 16 playing in front of Ames to take control, and Ames couldn’t catch up.
Alker finished with 16 under 268. Ames finished with a 70 to finish second, while Langer (71) finished third.
Alker, a 50-year-old from New Zealand, spent most of his career on the Korn Ferry Tour and a few seasons on the PGA TOUR and the DP World Tour. He has been in charge of the PGA TOUR Champions since he turned 50 last summer.
He started as a qualifier on Monday and had the top 10 that took him to the next events until he finally won during the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs. This year, he now has a PGA TOUR Champions leading three wins and has two runner-up finals.
The win brings him to the PGA Championship next year in Oak Hill. Alker had such a normal career before the 50 that he never qualified for the PGA Championship.