TELFER’S TAKE 5.10.26

He might be 55 years old but Kiwi Steve Alker, even by the high standards he’s set for himself on the Champions Tour, is nonetheless enjoying a real purple patch of late as he added yet another victory over the weekend, his fourth this year and third since 23 August. He’s now finished first or second in each of his last four PGA Seniors Tour starts.

His latest triumph came interestingly enough on a public course in Philadelphia. The Jefferson Valley course was designed by Donald Ross, one of the most highly regarded golf course designers.

Steve’s win was a come from behind affair, edging out American Tag Ridings by 1 stroke. Alker started the day 1 shot behind Michael Block, but birdies on holes 4 and 5 pushed him to the top of the leaderboard. The key holes for Steve on the back nine were 16 and 17, both of which he birdied to set up his 1-stroke victory. His 3rd and final round of 66 left him at 14 under for the tournament.

His remarkable Seniors record now reads 14 wins from his 115 starts.

Along with Zach Johnson and Stewart Cink, these three have put a virtual stranglehold on the winners’ cheques from this Tour in 2026. Among them they’ve won 15 of the Senior tournaments played in 2026.

Not such fortunes of late for Lydia Ko who missed the cut in Hawaii at the Lotte Championship, the 3rd cut Lydia has missed this year from 15 starts. Stories around Lydia last week focused on how close she’s getting to Annika Sorenstam’s record total winnings on the LPGA Tour. Annika’s total is just over $40 million with Lydia trailing by $200,000. When questioned about this record last week in Hawaii, Ko made it plain to reporters she really had little or no interest in talking about the money totals for individual players.

Oddly enough, missing the cut meant this was one of the very weeks in her long professional career, which stretches to 278 tournaments on the LPGA Tour, that she went home without a pay cheque.

Daniel Hillier fared a little better in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, finishing in a tie for 30th place with a final round of even par 72, his poorest effort of the tournament. He now stands in 13th place on the DP World Tour rankings. The top 10 at season’s end in November get their playing card for the USPGA Tour next year. However, the top 10 excludes players like Rory McIlroy and Ryan Fox who already have fully exempt status for next year’s Tour. At the moment there is still a month’s worth of tournaments to play. Curiously Hillier has only played four tournaments since the Open Championship ended back in July.