Steve Stricker is the top PGA Tour Champions player to watch in 2024, with an impressive record of 64 tournaments played and 55 top-10 finishes.
Stricker’s worst finish last year was a tie for 15th, and he is the in-form player. Keep reading to discover 24 more PGA Tour Champions players to watch in 2024. Bettors and die-hard fans will want to keep reading to discover the past form of the best players to look out for on the senior’s tour.
I combined in-form players with outsiders like Jim Furyk, who has the talent to trouble the leaderboard.
PGA Tour Champions Fun Facts
Who Are The Top PGA Tour Champions Players to Watch in 2024?
25. Justin Leonard
Justin Leonard was always poised to be a star. He was a US Amateur Champion and became only the fourth player to skip Q School and proceed to the PGA Tour. Despite his talents, the Texan was part of the odd controversy during his PGA Tour days, especially the 1999 Ryder Cup.
Leonard drained a 45-footer, causing his teammates to run onto the green celebrating, with Olazabal still to putt. The Spaniard missed his putt, and Team USA won the cup. That is behind Justin now, and he is focusing his efforts on picking up his maiden PGA Tour Champions win.
24. Thongchai Jaidee
Thongchai Jaidee was a budding soccer star in his teenage years until a freak foot injury took away those dreams. He started playing golf at 16 when he discovered a broken 5-iron head at the army base golf course next to his humble abode.
Unlike many of his colleagues, Jaidee only turned pro when he was 30. Now, he is among the twenty best senior golfers on earth.
23. Rod Pampling
The 1999 Open Championship is one that Rod Pampling and Jean Van de Velde will want to forget. The tournament was clearly cursed as Pampling surged into the lead on day 1 before carding 85 in the second round to miss the cut. Then, Van de Velde blew a three-shot lead on the 72nd hole of that event to go into a playoff and lose to Paul Lawrie.
Bad luck continued in the years that followed for Pamps, as he lost and regained his PGA Tour card, but in 2016, he won the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He only got into the open through an administrative error, which exempted eight extra players instead of the customary 124-player field.
Pampling is getting better with age after joining the tour full-time in 2020. The man from Queensland has already registered two wins.
22. Fred Couples
Fred Couples endured a raft of bad luck in his love life, but karma made it up to him on the golf course. He might be on his third marriage, but it has had no bearing on his ability to swing a golf club, notching up 14 PGA Tour Champions wins since joining the tour in 2010.
Couples is pals with the great Michael Jordan and even asked MJ to be an assistant captain for the 2011 President’s Cup. However, an NBA labor dispute forced Jordan to withdraw to focus on his responsibilities with the Bobcats.
21. Harrison Frazar
Rewind to 2015 and you never would have seen Harrison Frazar competing and winning on the PGA Tour Champions. That is because he suffered terrible injuries throughout his career, including his wrist, hip, and back. At this stage, I am surprised Frazar is not a qualified orthopedic surgeon.
Frazar hung up the clubs in 2015 and went to find a regular job. His strength and conditioning improved drastically during his sabbatical, and he returned to golf in 2020. Since joining the PGA Tour, Frazar has recorded six top-ten finishes, including a win, highlighting his peak conditioning in his early fifties.
20. Jim Furyk
The Team USA Captain for the 2024 President’s Cup is among my favorite golfers in this century. In 2001, I watched Jim Furyk get disqualified at the Nedbank Million Dollar in South Africa. The event was an invitational, and with only twelve golfers paired into six 2-balls, Furyk decided to play the final two rounds as an unofficial scorer.
His sportsmanship was rewarded in 2005 and 2006 as he won back-to-back titles at the Gary Player Country Club. He has struggled for form on the PGA Tour Champions in recent years. However, the veteran has the skill and determination to come right imminently.
19. Y.E. Yang
Yang Yong-eun, or Y.E. Yang, as he is known, is best remembered for his epic final round at the 2009 PGA Championship. He was the world number 110 going into the event and trailed Tiger Woods by two shots at the start of the day. While Tiger struggled, the Korean kept calm, carding two under par, enough for a three-shot victory.
Yang started out picking up balls as a part-time job, encouraging him to pick up his first club at nineteen. Five years later, he turned pro, proving you are never too old to pick up the game. Yong-eun is still searching for his first Champions Tour win but has never missed a cut since joining his senior colleagues.
If you missed the epic battle between Y.E. Yang and Tiger Woods at the 2009 PGA Championship, here are some highlights.
18. Mike Weir
Like any Canadian man I know, hockey was their first love, and Mike Weir was no different. He generated a solid left-hand shot but gave up his hockey dreams as a teenager when he realized he would not grow to the size of a professional player, so he turned to his second love, golf.
Weir became the first left-hander to win a major in the 21st century when he defeated Len Mattice in a playoff at the Masters. It was the first time a leftie had won a major since Bob Charles at the 1963 Open Championship. The Ontarian has one win on tour since joining in 2020, but he is always a threat to the leaderboard.
17. Darren Clarke
Darren Clarke is a spirited individual despite having his fair share of tragedy, as he lost his first wife to cancer when he was 38. Despite the loss, Clarke reported for Ryder Cup duty six weeks later, bagging three points as Team Europe thrashed their American counterparts.
The Northern Irishman can be excused for celebrating harder than any golfer I know after winning the 2011 Open Championship. Darren barely slept for two days and enjoyed multiple pints and bottles of red wine. The lively character is still thriving in his senior years, with four wins since joining the tour full-time in 2019.
16. Brett Quigley
From an early age, those around Brett Quigley knew he would be a professional golfer. His uncle Dana played on the PGA and Seniors Tour, and Brett won the 1987 U.S. Junior Amateur. However, his career did not turn out as planned, as he battled to keep his PGA Tour card, relegating him to the Korn Ferry Tour.
Quigley has found his form on the Champions Tour, boasting 22 top-ten finishes, including a win. The man is aging like a fine cabernet sauvignon and keeps returning better results every season.
15. Ken Duke
Ken Duke was confined to a back brace from the seventh grade as he suffered from severe scoliosis, with his spine curving to 72 degrees at its worst. Adversity was no match for a young Ken who won medalist honors at a high school tournament months after undergoing surgery. Even more impressive, he did it wearing a back brace.
Although he showed promise as a youngster, Ken had to earn his keep to make it onto the PGA Tour, qualifying ten years after turning pro. He did multiple stints on the Korn Ferry and PGA Tour as he struggled to keep his card for the latter. However, he is consistently moving up the world rankings and challenging the leaders on tour.
14. Richard Green
Richard Green is the most adventurous golfer on the Champions Tour. Off the course, the Melbournian doubles as a race car driver, competing in events like the 2009 Australian Grand Prix. If you love cars and golf, you will appreciate ‘Greenie’s’ Instagram profile.
It is hard to ignore his off-course antics, but Green caught my attention in 2015 when he carded a hole-in-one on a par 4. The Aussie played his first full season on tour in 2023 and returned six top tens, making him one to watch this year.
13. Jerry Kelly
Jerry Kelly is another hockey lover turned golfer. He and Mike Weir likely reminisce in the locker room about their days on the ice. The Wisconsinite knew his way around the ice and became an all-city ice hockey selection as a junior. Kelly feels his hockey days hampered his golf as a youngster because it made him too aggressive.
It took him time to adapt to professional golf, and after six years of grinding, he earned his PGA Tour card. Jerry has won eleven times on tour and never missed a cut in 154 events, and he has finished in the top ten 48% of the time.
12. Stewart Cink
Stewart Cink is technically the rookie on tour in 2024, bringing an exciting energy to the tour. Cink is best remembered for his 2009 Open Championship win, where he defeated 59-year-old Tom Watson in a playoff.
Stewart does not have the adventurous spirit of Richard Green, as his fuel is his wife, Lisa, and their two sons. Cink should do well on the PGA Tour Champions and is yet to finish outside the top ten in only a handful of starts.
11. Robert Karlsson
Robert Karlsson was born into the golf industry through his father, Björn, a mechanic turned greenkeeper. Young Robert spent so many hours on the practice green growing up that the course eventually renamed the green to honor the 6’5” Swede.
Segments of the Swedish media tried to portray Karlsson as a pagan-loving cult member when footage emerged of him celebrating his hometown’s 6000th anniversary. The Swede is known as an introvert who prefers to keep to himself, and I say do what works for you. His best season on the Tour Champions was in 2020, but he continues to threaten the leaderboard.
10. Retief Goosen
My fellow countryman, Retief Goosen, needed to overcome a raft of adversity to win two majors and make a successful career on the golf course. The same sport that gave him a career almost took his life when he was 15. Retief was struck by lightning and knocked unconscious while his clothes and shoes completely melted.
Five years later, ‘The Goose’ would win the coveted South African Amateur Championship and send him on the path to professional golf. His negativity on the course often got to him in his younger years, leading to undesirable results. Thanks to the work of sports psychologist Jos Vanstiphout, Goosen improved his confidence and went on to win two majors.
9. Bernhard Langer
Bernhard Langer is the most successful PGA Tour Champions golfer in history, with over 35 million dollars earned and 46 tournaments won. The Bavarian comes from humble beginnings in the small town of Anhausen. His father was a bricklayer, and the family just made ends meet, so Bernard started caddying at eight to make pocket money.
The man from a small town achieved great results around the world, becoming one of only five players to win a tournament on six continents. The other golfers to achieve this feat are Gary Player, Hale Irwin, David Graham, and Justin Rose. His lifelong contribution to the game has even earned him an OBE (Office of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, despite being German.
8. Alex Čejka
The other German on tour is Alex Čejka, a man who fled his home of Czechoslovakia under communist rule at the time. He and his father rode trains, hired cars, and eventually swam across the Rhine to enter West Germany. Čejka was inspired by the skills of his colleague and compatriot Bernard Langer, who he watched live as a kid.
Čejka played in Europe for his first fourteen years as a professional before relocating to the PGA Tour in 2003. Since joining the Champions Tour, the German has won titles in the Regions, Senior PGA Championship, and the Senior Open Championship. All these tournaments are major senior events.
7. Miguel Angel Jimenez
He is called “the most interesting golfer in the world,” and Miguel Angel Jimenez is exactly that. He is a renaissance man who is stylish and loves fine wine and food, Cuban cigars, and he is an excellent dancer. I love everything Jimenez stands for, especially his carefree attitude and laid-back approach to life.
When he is not relaxing, he is on the golf course, working to pay for his lifestyle, which has worked out so far. He has placed in the top ten in over half of his Tour Champions events, including 13 wins to date.
6. Ernie Els
Ernie Els is a laid-back but stern chap. I worked for him in my early twenties as a cellar hand at his wine estate in Stellenbosch. He was my idol growing up and it was an honor to be associated with him. He is still a legend in South Africa,
The ‘Big Easy’ has made his feelings clear on the LIV Golf matter, and he is not a fan. Els has a sensitive side and is displeased that his academy graduates Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, and Branden Grace never talked to him before making the jump. The off-course drama is not impacting his golf as he boasts a 56% top ten return in his time on the seniors tour.
5. David Toms
David Toms is more than a successful professional golfer. He is also a philanthropist and a golf course designer. His foundation, named after him, raised $1.5 million for the relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina. As a kid, he played Little League baseball with eventual Major Leaguers Albert Belle and Ben McDonald.
He showed promise on the baseball field, but golf is where his true talents lay. When he was 17, Toms won the Junior World Golf Championship in the boys 15 to 17 category. Toms claimed twelve wins on the PGA Tour, including the 2001 PGA Championship. David has won four times on the Champions Tour, with the 2018 U.S. Senior Open being his biggest win to date.
4. Padraig Harrington
Padraig was born into a sporting family and grew up in South Dublin, where he later attended the Colaiste Eanna Christian Brothers School. Another famed Irish golfer, Paul Mcginley, attended the same school a few years ahead of Harrington. The two players give the school the rare honor of educating two Ryder Cup captains.
His father, ‘Paddy,’ was a 5 handicap and instilled a passion for golf in his son. Unlike many European pros at that time, Padraig opted to go to university and get an accounting degree before turning professional. The wait was worth it because he enjoyed a successful career on the PGA Tour.
Harrington graduated to the PGA Tour Champions in 2022 and has already won six times in his first couple of seasons, including the 2022 U.S. Senior Open.
3. Stephen Ames
Stephen Ames flies the flag of Canada next to his name, but his journey began down in Trinidad and Tobago. He started playing golf at the Petrotrin Staff Club in Pointe-à-Pierre and after high school, made his way to the College of Boca Raton to hone his skills.
It took Stephen eleven years to reach the PGA Tour after turning pro in 1987. He stopped at the Ben Hogan, European Tour, and PGA Tour Q-school along the way. He earned his tour card in 1998, but visa issues and bureaucracy kept him out of action for half of the 1999 season.
Despite his arduous journey, Ames is getting better with age, evidenced by his best-ever season on tour in 2023.
Ames is another player getting better with age, producing his best season on the tour last year at 59. The Trinadadian-Canadian won four tournaments in 2023, appearing relaxed and enjoying himself on the course. If he keeps that up, his trophy cabinet will keep filling up in 2024.
2. Steven Alker
Little was known about Steven Alker before he announced himself on the Champions Tour in the 2020-21 season. The New Zealander bounced around the world looking for any tour where he could ply his trade. He tested his skills in Australasia, Europe, the States and Canada. He spent 2003 on the PGA Tour but lost his card and went back to the Korn Ferry tour.
Alker has finally found his place in his senior years, performing consistently since joining the Tour Champions. He has finished inside the top 10 in 74% of the tournaments played on the tour, which is impressive but not as good as ‘sizzling Steve Stricker’.
1. Steve Stricker
Steve Stricker is as good at trolling people as he is at playing golf. The Wisconsite rowed up the crowd at Whistling Straits at the opening ceremony of the 2021 Ryder Cup when he revealed he supports the rival Chicago Bears. The wind-up clearly worked because his team dominated the Europeans 19-9.
His wife Nicki comes from a family of professional golfers, with her dad (Dennis) and brother (Mario) Tizani both PGA Tour veterans. Nicki caddies for Stricker on occasion and is well-versed in the game. On the course, Stricker is tearing up the PGA Tour Champions with an 86% top-ten finish record.
