The Champions Tour heads to Thousand Oaks, California this week for the Powershares QQQ Championship – the second leg of the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs.
Bernhard Langer, the season-long points leader, and last week’s winner in Virginia, has clinched the No. 1 seed for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Defending champion Tom Pernice Jr. will enter the tournament in the 48th position, 154,329 points behind the 36th-ranked player.
THE SKINNY
NAME: Powershares QQQ Championship
DATES: Oct. 27-29, 2017
COURSE: Sherwood Country Club
WHERE: Thousand Oaks, California
DISTANCE: Par 72 / 7,059 yards
ARCHITECT: Jack Nicklaus (1989)
PURSE: $2,000,000
WINNER: $305,000
POINTS: 610,000
2016 WINNER: Tom Pernice Jr.
TV & ONLINE COVERAGE
All times EST
ROUND 1 FRI: 5:30 – 8:00 PM (GOLF CHANNEL)
ROUND 2 SAT: 5:30 – 8:00 PM (GOLF CHANNEL)
ROUND 3 SUN: 5:30 – 8:00 PM (GOLF CHANNEL)
ONLINE: Twitter | Facebook
DEFENDING CHAMPION: TOM PERNICE JR.
Tom Pernice Jr. started his opening round at Sherwood Country Club with a bogey-double bogey but then played his next 38 holes at 15 under, highlighted by a 8-under 64 in the second round, to claim his first senior title since winning the 2014 Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Pernice fired a final-round 70 to edge Colin Montgomerie by one stroke and secure his fifth career victory on the Champions Tour.
FINAL RESULTS 2016
1 Tom Pernice Jr. 69-64-70 (-13)
2 Colin Montgomerie 65-69-70 (-12)
3 Scott Dunlap 72-67-67 (-10)
4 Olin Browne 68-66-73 (-9)
5 Ian Woosnam 74-66-68 (-8)
THE FIELD
Langer, the four-time Schwab Cup winner once again headlines. The 60-year old German star enters the second round of the playoffs fresh off an epic win at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic, and leads Scott McCarron by more than one-million points – guaranteeing his No. 1 seed heading into the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
McCarron, who has four wins on the season, is firmly in second place, but has no chance of catching Langer prior to the senior tour’s finale.
Kenny Perry, Kevin Sutherland and Jerry Kelly are currently in the top 5, respectively, and in position to control their own destinies in Phoenix.
Colin Montgomerie, a runner-up to Langer for three consecutive seasons, is playing his best golf of the season, with two wins in his last four regular season starts. At No. 7, her the 54-year old Scot is only 37,000 points behind Jerry Kelly for the coveted fifth spot.
TOP 5 PLAYERS
During the first two playoff events, each dollar earned is worth two points, and those points will be added to a player’s regular-season point total.
Points will be reset for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Any of the top-five players will win the Charles Schwab Cup with a victory in the season finale.
1. Bernhard Langer (3,622,358 points)
2. Scott McCarron (2,540,495 points)
3. Kenny Perry (1,747,670 points)
4. Kevin Sutherland (1,510,332 points)
5. Jerry Kelly (1,381,577 points)
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6. Miguel Angel Jiménez (1,350,078 points) -31,499
7. Colin Montgomerie (1,344,884 points) -36,693
BUBBLE PLAYERS
After Sunday’s final round, the top-36 players in the standings will qualify for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. David Frost currently holds on to the 36th spot by just 602 points ($301) over Carlos Franco.
33 Paul Broadhurst (574,059 points) +10,710
34 Jerry Smith (573,298 points) +9,994
35 Steve Stricker (569,250 points) +5,901
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36 David Frost (563,349 points)
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37 Carlos Franco (562,747 points) -602
38 Woody Austin (557,810 points) -5,539
39 Jay Haas (550,085 points) -13,264
Credit: Getty Images, PGA Tour Media
