PHOENIX Three of the five guys in contention to win the 2025 Charles Schwab Cup are in the top four on the leaderboard after 36 holes. And then there’s Tommy Two Gloves.
Tommy Gainey, who’s only been on the PGA Tour Champions for three months, already has one win and he’s looking to crash the party at Phoenix Country Club and claim a second.
Gainey shot a Thursday 66 and followed that up with a 4-under 67 on Friday to get to 9 under. He was ticked after making par on all three of the golf course’s par 5s in his first round, but he got birdies on two of them Friday and now he’ll be in the second-to-last group in the third round.
“Man, the par-5 play today was exceptional, except for the first hole, but the rest, I mean, the other two par 5s I feel like I did pretty well. I made birdies,” he said. Those helped offset a double bogey on the par-4 16th, one in which he pinballed his golf ball around a bit.
“So my second shot, I hit a really good shot out of the rough, played it short like I wanted to, hit it the yardage I wanted to and just happened to go over the green,” Gainey said, going into some detail. “Then I had to get relief from the stands. So when I got relief, the ball was sitting up nicely, but the problem is if I would have set the clubface down back there, I was afraid the ball was going to roll back. Then that led to me chunking it, then that led to the next chip shot, me skulling it. But I’ve just got to get better chipping. My chipping’s not very good, but as far as the rest of my game, it’s first class right now.”
This is the only non-major on the PGA Tour Champions that goes 72 holes, so they’re only halfway done in Phoenix. At that halfway mark, it’s Steven Alker leading by a shot. Alker, who has won two of the last three Schwab Cups and who won this tournament two years ago, shot 6-under 65, one stroke better than his Thursday round. He was the first to double digits under par this week and holds a one-shot lead over his Saturday playing partner, Stewart Cink, heading into the third round.
After his round, Alker mentioned a few strokes that got away from him.
“The par 5, I didn’t get the first hole today and 18 I had to lay up and didn’t make 4,” he said. “There’s a couple of holes, I bogeyed the short 12, hit it in the left rough there and had a nasty lie, one of the worst I’ve seen all week. So yeah, you just take those and walk on, keep going. Nice putt at 14 and nice putt at 16 so made up for it.”
Cink was the first-round leader and after making birdie at the last, he got it to 10 under to make it into the final pairing Saturday.
“I’ve probably played with him a half dozen times at least this year,” Cink said of Alker, who’s No. 1 in the points race. “He’s great to play with. He’s a local guy and he’s obviously the guy with the number on his back.
“It’s exciting to be in the group with the guy that you need to hunt down and a lot of other mathematical things.”
More: Rest or keep playing? PGA Tour Champions golfers have differing opinions on extra time off
On the PGA Tour Champions, the Charles Schwab Cup is the season-long points race and often, the winner of the Cup is not the same golfer who wins the season-ending tournament; thus, we typically see two guys hoist trophies on Sunday.
But there might be an exception this week. If either Alker or Cink wins the tournament, they hoist that trophy and they’ll also lift the Schwab Cup after clinching the season title. Miguel Angel Jimenez can also do that, as he’s sitting in a tie for fourth at 8 under, three shots back.
The other two golfers who entered the week with a mathematical shot to win, Ernie Els and Thomas Bjorn, need to win and get some help. But so far, Bjorn is tied for seventh, five shots back, while Els is tied for 20th, eight shots back.
Only three other times in 24 years has someone won both trophies in the same season:
Bernhard Langer, 68, has been on the PGA Tour Champions since 2007. He’s won at least one tournament every year he’s been on the circuit. A year ago, he didn’t win until he arrived at Phoenix Country Club, but he kept that streak alive by doing so. Here in 2025, he’s going to need to win again or his 18-year streak will end. Through two rounds, Langer has scores of 69 and 67 and is 6 under and tied for seventh.
Among the 36-man field, 30 are even par or better after two days.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Steven Alker leads Stewart Cink at 2025 Charles Schwab Cup Championship