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The Charles Schwab Cup Championship concludes the Senior Tour’s 2024 season. Yesteryear’s stars will vie for the Charles Schwab Cup this week in Phoenix. The tournament carries a special status and follows a different format. Firstly, it’s a four-day battle, unlike the regular season tournaments, which are 54 holes. 

In the PGA Tour Champions, only majors follow a 72-hole format. There is also a 36-hole cut. The Charles Schwab Cup Championship doesn’t have a Friday cutline. The tournament, though, has gone through multiple overhauls in the past couple of years. The first four iterations were played through 54 holes. That changed in 1994, but once again made a return in 2016. Since 2018, however, it has adopted a 72-hole format. 

The senior tour playoffs follow a similar route as the PGA Tour playoffs. The cut line for three playoff events is at the end of four rounds. From 72 players at the Dominion Energy Classic, the field was trimmed to the top 54 at the next tournament, the Simmons Bank Championship. Then, only top-36 players advanced to the final $3M-purse Charles Schwab Cup Championship. 

But that’s also where the similarity ends with the PGA Tour. There can be two winners by the end of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. One who wins the final tournament and takes home the paycheck. The other is the season champion, aka the Schwab Cup winner. 

A Golfweek report noted that in its decades-long history, only seven times a player won both the trophies simultaneously. Bernhard Langer alone did that five times in his career (2010, 14, 15, 16, 18). Whereas Tom Lehman and Kevin Sutherland both pulled off that rare feat once each (2012 and 2017, respectively). 

Last year, Steve Stricker took home the Schwab Cup as the season champion. Whereas Steven Alker emerged triumphant at the Phoenix Country Club. Strangely enough, Stricker wasn’t part of the 36-man field as he stayed back in Wisconsin to care for his ailing father, Bob Stricker. This time, however, no such thing will happen.

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The Charles Schwab Cup Championship race is not a foregone conclusion

The Phoenix Country Club field lacks big names. Ernie Els has landed in Phoenix as the Charles Schwab Cup leader. Deafening champions Steven Alker, Stephen Ames, and Padraig Harrington are snapping at his toes. The race to the top is tighter than any of the past ten iterations. Hypothetically, ten players have a shot at the title. 

Alker obviously has the most realistic chance to defend his title. He can win the Schwab Cup even with a second-place finish, provided Els finishes outside the top five and none from the current top six wins it. Harrington’s odds are also about the same, where a victory might guarantee him both the Charles Schwab Cup and the $528,000 paycheck. But that equation has other variables, namely Els and Alker finishing outside the top three.

The Charles Schwab Cup Championship will kick off on Thursday, November 7 at the Phoenix Country Club. The par-71 layout has been hosting the final event since 2017. You can catch the action live on the Golf Channel and NBC Sports app.