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Race to Phoenix: 2026 Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs schedule, format

  
Published October 17, 2026 04:08 PM
There's no shot too challenging for Harrington
Everything might have been working against Padraig Harrington on the 17th hole at Prestonwood Country Club but he put together a quality third shot that set him up with a birdie look on the green.

Who’s ready for more playoff golf?

With the PGA Tour Champions regular season wrapping up in North Carolina this weekend, the time is right to look ahead to a three-event postseason stretch that whittles the top 72 players all the way down to the final 36 who will compete for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship next month.

Players like Kenny Perry and Heath Slocum await their fate on the projected bubble at the conclusion of the SAS Championship, which will send the top 72 players in the Charles Schwab Cup standing advance to the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs.

The Stifel Charity Classic, which tees off at St. Louis’ Norwood Hills Country Club on October 23, is the first of three playoff tournaments. The top 54 players after the Stifel advance to the Simmons Bank Championship in Little Rock, with the top 36 after Little Rock reach the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix.

Harrison Frazar, Tom Pernice Jr, and Fred Couples are just three players trying to make it to the Stifel Charity Classic next weekend, but will need some help to do as they’re on the wrong side of the projected bubble.

All three postseason tournaments are 54 holes and will air on Golf Channel and Golf Channel mobile.

The Stifel Charity Classic and Simmons Bank Championship will be played for $2.3 million purses, respectively, with the Charles Schwab Cup going for $3 million.

Steven Alker, a four-time winner in 2026 on the PGA Tour Champions, is the defending champ in Little Rock. Alker won the season-long award in 2022 and 2024, as well as the playoff finale in 2023.

He sits No. 3 on the Charles Schwab money list entering the postseason.

Top-ranked Stewart Cink won the championship tournament in Phoenix last year, as well as being named Charles Schwab Cup Season Champion for 2025.

Cink has won five times this year, including a pair of majors.

Newcomer Zach Johnson has the most titles of any player on tour this season with six and ranks second in the Schwab Cup. The 50-year-old Johnson most recently won the Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach in September.

Padraig Harrington and Retief Goosen round out the top five.

Image for SAS Championship - Final Rd
SAS Championship - Final Rd
Tune in for the final round of the SAS Championship at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, N.C.