Steven Alker cards a second consecutive bogey-free round to total 17-under 127, his lowest opening 36-hole score on PGA TOUR Champions, and will carry a five-stroke lead into the final round of the Simmons Bank Championship presented by Stephens.

Steven Alker, 61-66 – 127 (-17)

Charles Schwab Cup standings – Start: Fourth / Projected: First

• The 54-year-old seeks his 10th win on PGA TOUR Champions (97th start).
  • Last win: 2025 Cologuard Classic
• Seeks his second win of the 2025 season (22nd start)
  • Previous win: Cologuard Classic
• Has 16 top-10 finishes, most among all players this season on PGA TOUR Champions
  • This is his low opening 36-hole score on PGA TOUR Champions (127)
• Previous low: 128 (2025 Rogers Charity Classic, 2024 Rogers Charity Classic, 2024 Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai)
  • This ties the second-lowest 36-hole score in any consecutive rounds of the 2025 season on PGA TOUR Champions (126, Miguel Angel Jiménez, 2025 Rogers Charity Classic/R1-R2; 127, Richard Green, 2025 Rogers Charity Classic/R1-R2, R2-R3)
• Breaks the Simmons Bank Championship 36-hole scoring record previously established by Rocco Mediate (2013/128/R1-R2 in Boca Raton, Florida)
  • Only player in the field without a bogey through 36 holes (last to play a 54-hole tournament with a bogey or worse: Ricardo Gonzalez, 2025 Principal Charity Classic)
• His five-stroke lead marks the largest 36-hole lead on PGA TOUR Champions since the 2024 PURE Insurance Championship (Paul Broadhurst, converted five-stroke 36-hole lead into three-stroke win)
• This is his 16th time leading/co-leading after the second round on PGA TOUR Champions (5-for-15)
  • Is 0-for-3 in 2025
  • Co-led at the 2025 PURE Insurance Championship (finished T3)
  • Co-led at the 2025 Kaulig Companies Championship (finished T3) – 72-hole event
  • Co-led at the 2025 Trophy Hassan II (finished 2nd)
• Marks his seventh time leading/co-leading after the first and second rounds on PGA TOUR Champions (3-for-6), and the second consecutive year accomplishing the feat at the Simmons Bank Championship (2024/finished T12)
• Held a five-stroke lead after the first round, tying the largest 18-hole lead in PGA TOUR Champions history (seventh occurrence, four of previous six went on to win)
• Carded 11-under 61 in the first round, marking the lowest 18-hole score by any PGA TOUR Champions player this season, his career-low 18-hole score on PGA TOUR Champions, and the course record at Pleasant Valley Country Club (61), which usurped his own record-setting mark of 62 from the 2024 Simmons Bank Championship
• Is projected to move to No. 1 in the Charles Schwab Cup standings after starting the week No. 4
• Has won the Charles Schwab Cup in two of the last three seasons (2022, 2024)
• Making his fifth appearance at the Simmons Bank Championship, he won in 2021 in Boca Raton, Florida
• Finished T12 in the tournament’s debut in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2024
• Note: Alker was the solo 18-hole leader and 36-hole co-leader (with eventual winner Padraig Harrington) last year at 12-under 132

Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs implications

After Sunday’s final round, the top 36 players in the standings will qualify for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

After the second round of the Simmons Bank Championship, no players outside of the top 36 are projected to move inside that number.

Other notes

• Former University of Arkansas golfer Tag Ridings (second) cards a second consecutive 6-under 66. The 51-year-old seeks his first win on PGA TOUR Champions (15th start).
  • Best finish: Second (The Galleri Classic)
• Justin Leonard, who won last week’s Dominion Energy Charity Classic, sits solo third after second-round 68. He looks to become the first player to win back-to-back weeks since Ángel Cabrera (2025 Regions Tradition, 2025 Senior PGA Championship).
  • Charles Schwab Cup leader Miguel Angel Jiménez (T30) posted 70 and enters the final round at 1-under. He is projected to move to No. 2 in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.
• Two-time defending champion Padraig Harrington (T38) followed a 2-under 70 with a 2-over 74.