Numbers add up nicely for Alker
New Zealand golfer Steven Alker is top of the lucrative PGA Tour Champions division and has the numbers to prove his ‘‘mind-boggling’’ form.
The 50-year-old from Hamilton has stormed the seniors scene in the United States, winning three tournaments in his 17 starts since qualifying last year. His latest victory at the Insperity Invitational was his second in his last three tournaments.
Victory took his 2022 earnings to a staggering $1,634,701 and No 1 on the money list in the race for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at the end of the season.
The tour statistics show how he has made such a rapid impact in an environment full of huge names. A journeyman for much of his career, Alker has earned quick admiration since stepping up to the over-50 level.
‘‘Spectacular, mindboggling – he doesn’t display any weaknesses in his game’’ was how commentator and golfing great Lanny Wadkins described Alker’s play.
‘‘Don’t forget, he’s seeing a lot of these courses for the first time. When you watch him swing and play, what is there not to like?’’
There’s plenty to like about so much of Alker’s game right now. He is No 1 in 16 categories for the current season.
Alker tops the following categories: scoring average (67.86), lowest round (62), greens in regulation (78.31%), birdie average (he has 108 in 21 rounds this year), eagles (7), ball striking, round two scoring average (66.86), round three scoring average (67.71), par four scoring average (3.91), par five scoring average (4.28), consecutive greens in regulation (24), par or better streak (39), lowest 36-hole score (127 -17), lowest 54-hold score (198 -18), prize money, and multiple winners (2).
He is also top 10 in the following categories: total driving stats (2nd in combined distance and accuracy), early scoring average (2nd at 67.88), scrambling (2nd with 56 pars or better from 82 greens missed in regulation), par three scoring average (2nd at 2.94), sand save percentage (5th at 66.67%), and putting average (8th at 1.726).
The challenge for Alker is to keep those numbers steady as the five senior majors approach over the next three months when prizemoney lifts considerably.