The PGA Tour Champions season finale is here with the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. It's the culmination of not just the 28-event 2026 season but also the league's three-tournament playoff.
There are subplots galore heading into the final at Phoenix Country Club in Arizona. Who's in the field? Who has a shot to win? Will there be one winner of the tournament and another winner of the season-long points race? All that and more can be answered here
What is the Charles Schwab Cup Championship?
The tournament, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, is the final event of the season. Charles Schwab took over title sponsorship in 2003. It has been played at Phoenix Country Club since 2017 after previously being held at Desert Mountain Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, from 2012 to 2016. The field is also
just 36, though it will be 35 this time around (details below).
The Charles Schwab Cup, however, despite its similar name, is the prize for the winner of the season-long points winner. There are usually two different golfers celebrating these accomplishments. Last year was one of the exceptions as Stewart Cink claimed both titles, something that's only happened three times since 2001.
- 2005: Tom Watson
- 2012: Tom Lehman
- 2025: Stewart Cink
Who qualified for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship 2026?
The PGA Tour Champions postseason started with 72 players, got trimmed to 54 for the middle of three events and will have 36 in the final. Here's the list of 36 qualifiers:
- Stewart Cink
- Zach Johnson
- Steven Alker
- Padraig Harrington
- Retief Goosen
- George McNeill
- Boo Weekley
- Ernie Els
- Rory Sabbatini
- Darren Clarke
- Ben Crane
- Alex Cejka
- Jerry Kelly
- Soren Kjeldsen
- Y.E. Yang
- Scott Hend
- Darren Fichardt
- Miguel Angel Jimenez
- Tag Ridings
- Richard Green
- Tommy Gainey
- Freddie Jacobson
- Vaughn Taylor
- Michael Wright
- Cameron Percy
- Tim O'Neal
- Dicky Pride
- Charlie Wi
- Stephen Ames
- Steve Allan
- Ricardo Gonzalez
- Vijay Singh
- Matt Gogel
- Bo Van Pelt
- Thongchai Jaidee
- David Toms
First-time winners making Charles Schwab Cup Championship debut
- Zach Johnson
- Scott Hend
- Ben Crane
- Vaughn Taylor
- Rory Sabbatini
- Darren Fichardt
Who has a chance to win the season-long points title?
They've crunched all the numbers and the season-long Charles Schwab Cup points title will go to one of two players: Stewart Cink or rookie Zach Johnson. Cink comes into the event in the No. 1 spot in points with Johnson No. 2. Johnson, however, leads the circuit with six wins, while Cink has five. Two-time Cup winner Steven Alker has four wins and made a hard charge down the stretch but he's stuck in third and the math didn't work in his favor to get him close enough to compete for another Cup title.
Who made the final 36 but is ineligible for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship?
That would be Matt Gogel, who was suspended by the PGA Tour Champions after he got popped for gambling in August. He missed the first two playoff events and managed to finish 33rd in the standings but his suspension started Aug. 23 and runs through Feb. 22, 2027.
Why is Bernhard Langer not in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship?
This year marks the first time since 2007 that Langer, a six-time Schwab Cup season-long points winner, won't be playing in the final event of the Champions season, ending a string of 18 straight years. He made the final every year since his first full-time senior season in 2008. The finale has been at Phoenix Country Club since 2017, and Langer has always been on the tee sheet. He finished 45th after a season where he didn't win for the second year in row. Langer, 69, holds the Champions record with 47 wins.
Where is the Charles Schwab Cup Championship played?
Phoenix Country Club was established in 1899 with 75 members and was home to a log-cabin clubhouse, a nine-hole layout and tennis courts. The club moved to a second location a few miles north for a few years and then in 1919, the club upgraded to its permanent home in central Phoenix. The golf course was designed by Harry Collis and featured oiled sand greens, once a staple of golf courses in certain areas of the country including Texas and Oklahoma.
Phoenix Country Club hosted the Phoenix Open 40 times starting in 1932. In 1975, Johnny Miller set the course record with a 61 in the second round en route to his second consecutive tournament win. In 1986, Hal Sutton won the final Phoenix Open at Phoenix Country Club. The next year, the tournament moved to TPC Scottsdale, where much larger crowds could be accommodated.
For the tournament, the golf course will play as a par-71 measuring 6,860 yards.
Format, schedule for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship
The PGA Tour Champions has five majors on its calendar. The Schwab is the only other tournament that spans four days and covers 72 holes. Round 1 is Thursday, Nov. 12, and the final round will be Sunday, Nov. 15.
Prize money for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship
There is a $3 million prize fund in Phoenix with $528,000 set aside for the winner of the tournament. All 36 players in the field get paid since there is no cut.
There was also money paid out in the Charles Schwab Cup season-long points race to the top-five finishers. What they get is a lump-sum deposit into a Schwab brokerage account to be invested into a Schwab-managed portfolio.
- $1 million
- $500,000
- $300,000
- $200,000
- $100,000
Charles Schwab Cup Championship charity giving
In its 10 years at Phoenix Country Club, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship has raised about $2.67 million for Arizona charities, including First Tee-Phoenix, Folds of Honor and Junior Golf Association of Arizona.
Todd Kelly is Golfweek's assistant managing editor.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Field, format, more: What fans need to know about the 2026 Charles Schwab Cup Championship
