This year, like every year, a large crowd was on hand at the PGA TOUR Champions Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai and they packed around the 18th green for the last few groups to finish. Steve Stricker, who was the 36-hole leader was in the final group and closed with a bogey-free 7-under 65 to post a six-stroke victory with rounds of 68-60-65 in the PGA TOUR Champions season-opening event. He played the final 49 holes without a bogey, only making one during the week at No. 5 in the first round.
Dating back to August 2022, Sticker has won four of his last five starts on PGA TOUR Champions. He becomes the first player to win three consecutive starts on PGA TOUR Champions since 2010 when Fred Couples won in 2010 the Chubb Classic, Hoag Classic, Cap Cana Championship.
This 12th win on the PGA TOUR Champions moves the 55 year old into T24 on the PGA TOUR Champions all-time wins list. The win marks his fifth consecutive season with a win and improves his winning percentage on the PGA TOUR Champions to 25.0% (12 of 48), the highest of any player in Champions Tour history with 10 or more wins. His 193 total score this week is his low total score in a 54-hole event on PGA TOUR Champions.
When asked how great a start to the year is this win Stricker answered: “Yeah, you can’t beat this, right? We’re over in Hawaii just playing a great tournament, a wonderful venue. The course is in great shape. Mitsubishi puts on a tremendous tournament for us and to start the year off with a win is special and kind of hopefully sets up a good year and keep ‘er going. Played solidly and did a lot of good things this week and controlled my ball really well. Just happy the way things turned out. Wasn’t too stressful coming down the last few holes, which is always nice.”
Four players tied for second. Reigning PGA TOUR Champions Player of the Year Steven Alker (tied second) finished runner-up for the second consecutive year. This is Alker’s 11th top-2 finish on PGA TOUR Champions with 34 starts. Ken Tanigawa and Mike Weir also finished tied second at 17 under along with first-round co-leader and 2021 champion Darren Clarke.
World Golf Hall of Fame member Ernie Els finished T6 along with Kevin Sutherland and Alex Cejka. Defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez, a three-time winner at this event finished ninth at 13-under.
Three-time Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai winner Bernhard Langer finished tied for 10th at 12-under for his 211th top-10 on PGA TOUR Champions, tying Hale Irwin for most top-10s by a player in Champions Tour history. First-timer at Hualalai Justin Leonard finished tied for 10th for his best result on PGA TOUR Champions after five starts.
Ken Tanigawa tied for second had this to say about the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.
“Oh, wow, what a week. It could arguably be the best event of the year between being here at Hualalai and Mitsubishi with their support of the Champions Tour and just being — the vibe, it’s just an incredible spot and just really fortunate that we could be here and play. I played great overall. I just wanted to have fun. It’s hard not to have fun here, it’s such a good environment and it’s so beautiful,” said Tanigawa. The 42 players had to earn their way into the Mitsubishi Electric Championship. It’s a highlight of their year.
NOTES: This tournament has been at Four Seasons Resort Hualalai for 27 years. Over $1.65 million has been raised for Big Island non profits. Every year the trophy presentation and closing ceremonies for the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai reflect the community spirit and aloha. Starts with a lovely hula presentation on the 18th green. Master of Ceremonies David Marr welcomed Halau Manaola who were so well received from everyone watching. Miller Brady, President of the PGA Tour Champions shared his gratitude for how the community has supported the Mitsubishi Electric Championship and Mike Corbo, President & CEO Mitsubishi Electric US praised the effort of the several hundred volunteers organized by the Rotary Club of Kona and Steve Stricker had plenty of nice things to say about the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.