Steven Craig Alker (born 28 July 1971) is a New Zealand professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions, where he has won 13 times. He won the season-long 2022 Charles Schwab Cup on the PGA Tour Champions.
Early life Alker was born in Hamilton, New Zealand.
Professional career In 1995, Alker turned professional. He has competed on several tours around the world. He has been a member of the PGA Tour of Australasia since 1995. He played on the European Tour in 1998 and 1999, also competing on Europe's developmental Challenge Tour in 1999. In 2000, he won the Canadian Tour Order of Merit.
Shortly thereafter, Alker moved to the United States. He competed on the Buy.com Tour, the PGA Tour's developmental tour, in 2002. He was successful enough to graduate to the full PGA Tour in 2003 but was unable to retain his card and returned to the development tour from 2004 to 2006. In 2007 and 2008, he went back to Europe to play on the European and Challenge tours. He returned to the PGA Tour's developmental tour in 2009. At the 2014 Cleveland Open on the Web.com Tour, Alker beat Dawie van der Walt on the 11th playoff hole, a tour record for longest playoff. He finished 20th in the Web.com Tour Finals to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2014–15 season. In 2016, Alker played in The Open Championship after tying for second place in the Final Qualifying event held at the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club.
Senior career In November 2021, Alker won the TimberTech Championship on the PGA Tour Champions in Boca Raton, Florida. With the win, Alker had earned $896,207 in nine senior tournaments after turning 50 years of age in July 2021. This amount was more than he made in his PGA Tour career. Alker continued this form into the 2022 season, recording wins at the Rapiscan Systems Classic and the Insperity Invitational. He also finished runner-up at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai and the ClubCorp Classic; losing in a playoff on both occasions.
In May 2022, Alker won his first senior major championship at the 2022 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at The Golf Club at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Alker shot a final round 63 to win the championship by three strokes. This was his third win in five starts and fourth in 19 as a senior.
In November 2022, Alker finished third at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship which secured him first place in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup and the $1,000,000 first prize. He also won the Arnold Palmer Award for the season-long money title and the Byron Nelson Award for the lowest scoring average for the 2022 season.
In November 2023, Alker won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club, defeating Ernie Els and Stephen Ames by a single stroke. This victory secured second place for Alker in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup and a $500,000 annuity.
In March 2025, Alker won the Cologuard Classic.
Professional wins (27) PGA Tour of Australasia wins (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up120 Oct 1996Foodlink Queensland Open−13 (67-69-67-72=275)1 stroke Greg Chalmers29 Feb 1997Ford South Australian Open−15 (71-67-70-65=273)1 stroke Wayne Grady38 Mar 2009HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship1−15 (69-70-67-67=273)2 strokes Josh Geary, David Smail 1Co-sanctioned by the Nationwide Tour
PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult11997Canon Challenge Peter SeniorLost to birdie on fourth extra hole
Web.com Tour wins (4) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up114 Apr 2002Louisiana Open−24 (65-66-69-64=264)Playoff Mike Heinen28 Mar 2009HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship1−15 (69-70-67-67=273)2 strokes Josh Geary, David Smail314 Jul 2013Utah Championship−22 (71-64-61-66=262)Playoff Ashley Hall48 Jun 2014Cleveland Open−14 (70-70-65-65=270)Playoff Dawie van der Walt 1Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia
Web.com Tour playoff record (3–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12002Louisiana Open Mike HeinenWon with par on second extra hole22013Utah Championship Ashley HallWon with par on first extra hole32014Cleveland Open Dawie van der WaltWon with birdie on eleventh extra hole42014Albertsons Boise Open Steve WheatcroftLost to birdie on second extra hole
Australasian Development Tour wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up121 Oct 2001Toyota Southern Classic−12 (66-70-66-66=268)Playoff Gavin Coles
Canadian Tour wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up127 Aug 2000McDonald's PEI Challenge−10 (71-70-66-71=278)3 strokes Ken Duke, Brian Unk217 Sep 2000Bayer Championship−22 (65-69-62-66=262)5 strokes Arron Oberholser
Other wins (2) 1995 Fiji Open 1996 Tahiti Open
PGA Tour Champions wins (14) Legend Senior major championships (1) Charles Schwab Cup playoff events (4) Other PGA Tour Champions (9) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up17 Nov 2021TimberTech Championship−17 (68-63-68=199)2 strokes Jim Furyk, Miguel Ángel Jiménez23 Apr 2022Rapiscan Systems Classic−18 (71-62-65=198)6 strokes Alex Čejka, Pádraig Harrington31 May 2022Insperity Invitational−18 (67-65-66=198)4 strokes Brandt Jobe, Steve Stricker429 May 2022KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship−16 (64-72-69-63=268)3 strokes Stephen Ames523 Oct 2022Dominion Energy Charity Classic−14 (69-65-68=202)1 stroke K. J. Choi630 Apr 2023Insperity Invitational (2)−15 (66-69-66=201)4 strokes Steve Stricker712 Nov 2023Charles Schwab Cup Championship−18 (67-64-65-70=266)1 stroke Stephen Ames, Ernie Els820 Jan 2024Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai−25 (65-63-63=191)4 strokes Harrison Frazar99 Mar 2025Cologuard Classic−12 (69-66-66=201)Playoff Jason Caron1026 Oct 2025Simmons Bank Championship−20 (61-66-69=196)7 strokes Richard Green, Tag Ridings1122 Mar 2026Cologuard Classic (2)−15 (71-62-65=198)Playoff Pádraig Harrington1223 Aug 2026Rogers Charity Classic−16 (68-61-65=194)Playoff Yang Yong-eun1330 Aug 2026The Ally Challenge−15 (68-65-68=201)3 strokes Retief Goosen144 Oct 2026Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic−14 (65-65-66=196)1 stroke Tag Ridings
PGA Tour Champions playoff record (3–3) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12022Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai Miguel Ángel JiménezLost to par on second extra hole22022ClubCorp Classic Scott Parel, Gene SauersParel won with par on first extra hole32025Cologuard Classic Jason CaronWon with birdie on first extra hole42025Kaulig Companies Championship Miguel Ángel JiménezLost to birdie on second extra hole52026Cologuard Classic Pádraig HarringtonWon with birdie on first extra hole62026Rogers Charity Classic Yang Yong-eunWon with birdie on first extra hole
European Senior Tour wins (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up129 May 2022KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship−16 (64-72-69-63=268)3 strokes Stephen Ames217 Nov 2024WCM Legends Mexico Open−17 (66-67-66=199)1 stroke James Kingston36 Sep 2026NI Legends−15 (67-67-67=201)2 strokes Hennie Otto
Results in major championships Tournament 1998 1999Masters TournamentU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipCUTPGA Championship Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Masters TournamentU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipCUTPGA Championship Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018Masters TournamentU.S. OpenT45CUTThe Open ChampionshipT19CUTPGA Championship Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023Masters TournamentPGA ChampionshipCUTU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipNT
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied NT = no tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Results in senior major championships Results not in chronological order Tournament20222023202420252026Senior PGA Championship1T5T14T5The TraditionT3T2824T11U.S. Senior OpenT11T6T127CUTSenior Players ChampionshipT3T16T72T36Senior British Open ChampionshipT3T11T57T14
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Team appearances Amateur Eisenhower Trophy (representing New Zealand): 1990, 1994 Nomura Cup (representing New Zealand): 1991, 1993 Sloan Morpeth Trophy (representing New Zealand): 1990, 1991, 1992 (winners)
Professional Dunhill Cup (representing New Zealand): 1997
See also 2002 Buy.com Tour graduates 2006 European Tour Qualifying School graduates 2014 Web.com Tour Finals graduates 2016 Web.com Tour Finals graduates List of golfers with most Web.com Tour wins List of golfers with most PGA Tour Champions wins
References
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