Steven Alker

Steven Craig Alker (born 28 July 1971) is a New Zealand professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions, where he has won nine times. He won the season-long 2022 Charles Schwab Cup on the PGA Tour Champions.

Steven Alker
Alker at the 2023 U.S. Senior Open
Personal information
Full name	Steven Craig Alker
Born	(1971-07-28) 28 July 1971 (age 54) Hamilton, New Zealand
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	65 kg (143 lb; 10.2 st)
Sporting nationality	New Zealand
Residence	Hamilton, New Zealand; Fountain Hills, Arizona, U.S.
Spouse	Tanya ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	2
Career
Turned professional	1995
Current tour(s)	PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour European Tour PGA Tour of Australasia Korn Ferry Tour
Professional wins	21
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour of Australasia	3
Korn Ferry Tour	4
PGA Tour Champions	9
European Senior Tour	2
Other	5
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	DNP
PGA Championship	CUT: 2023
U.S. Open	T45: 2013
The Open Championship	T19: 2012
Achievements and awards
Canadian Tour Order of Merit winner 2000 PGA Tour Champions Charles Schwab Cup winner 2022, 2024 PGA Tour Champions money list winner 2022, 2024 PGA Tour Champions Player of the Year 2022, 2024 PGA Tour Champions Byron Nelson Award 2022, 2024

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.^[1] 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.^[2][3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5][6]

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.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9]

In March 2025, Alker won the Cologuard Classic.^[10]

Professional wins (21)

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	20 Oct 1996	Foodlink Queensland Open	−13 (67-69-67-72=275)	1 stroke	Greg Chalmers
2	9 Feb 1997	Ford South Australian Open	−15 (71-67-70-65=273)	1 stroke	Wayne Grady
3	8 Mar 2009	HSBC 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.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1997	Canon Challenge	Peter Senior	Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole

Web.com Tour wins (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	14 Apr 2002	Louisiana Open	−24 (65-66-69-64=264)	Playoff	Mike Heinen
2	8 Mar 2009	HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship1	−15 (69-70-67-67=273)	2 strokes	Josh Geary, David Smail
3	14 Jul 2013	Utah Championship	−22 (71-64-61-66=262)	Playoff	Ashley Hall
4	8 Jun 2014	Cleveland 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.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2002	Louisiana Open	Mike Heinen	Won with par on second extra hole
2	2013	Utah Championship	Ashley Hall	Won with par on first extra hole
3	2014	Cleveland Open	Dawie van der Walt	Won with birdie on eleventh extra hole
4	2014	Albertsons Boise Open	Steve Wheatcroft	Lost to birdie on second extra hole

Australasian Development Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	21 Oct 2001	Toyota Southern Classic	−12 (66-70-66-66=268)	Playoff	Gavin Coles

Canadian Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	27 Aug 2000	McDonald's PEI Challenge	−10 (71-70-66-71=278)	3 strokes	Ken Duke, Brian Unk
2	17 Sep 2000	Bayer Championship	−22 (65-69-62-66=262)	5 strokes	Arron Oberholser

Other wins (2)

• 1995 Fiji Open
• 1996 Tahiti Open

PGA Tour Champions wins (9)

Legend
Senior major championships (1)
Charles Schwab Cup playoff events (3)
Other PGA Tour Champions (5)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	7 Nov 2021	TimberTech Championship	−17 (68-63-68=199)	2 strokes	Jim Furyk, Miguel Ángel Jiménez
2	3 Apr 2022	Rapiscan Systems Classic	−18 (71-62-65=198)	6 strokes	Alex Čejka, Pádraig Harrington
3	1 May 2022	Insperity Invitational	−18 (67-65-66=198)	4 strokes	Brandt Jobe, Steve Stricker
4	29 May 2022	KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship	−16 (64-72-69-63=268)	3 strokes	Stephen Ames
5	23 Oct 2022	Dominion Energy Charity Classic	−14 (69-65-68=202)	1 stroke	K. J. Choi
6	30 Apr 2023	Insperity Invitational (2)	−15 (66-69-66=201)	4 strokes	Steve Stricker
7	12 Nov 2023	Charles Schwab Cup Championship	−18 (67-64-65-70=266)	1 stroke	Stephen Ames, Ernie Els
8	20 Jan 2024	Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai	−25 (65-63-63=191)	4 strokes	Harrison Frazar
9	9 Mar 2025	Cologuard Classic	−12 (69-66-66=201)	Playoff	Jason Caron

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–3)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2022	Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai	Miguel Ángel Jiménez	Lost to par on second extra hole
2	2022	ClubCorp Classic	Scott Parel, Gene Sauers	Parel won with par on first extra hole
3	2025	Cologuard Classic	Jason Caron	Won with birdie on first extra hole
4	2025	Kaulig Companies Championship	Miguel Ángel Jiménez	Lost to birdie on second extra hole

European Senior Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	29 May 2022	KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship	−16 (64-72-69-63=268)	3 strokes	Stephen Ames
2	17 Nov 2024	WCM Legends Mexico Open	−17 (66-67-66=199)	1 stroke	James Kingston

Results in major championships

Tournament	1998	1999
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship	CUT
PGA Championship

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship								CUT
PGA Championship

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open				T45	CUT
The Open Championship			T19				CUT
PGA Championship

Tournament	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship					CUT
U.S. Open
The Open Championship		NT

  Did not play

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

Tournament	2022	2023	2024	2025
The Tradition	T3	T28	2	4
Senior PGA Championship	1	T5		T14
Senior Players Championship	T3	T16	T7	2
U.S. Senior Open	T11	T6	T12	7
Senior British Open Championship	T3	T11	T5	7

  Win

  Top 10

  Did not play

"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