2025 Senior PGA Championship Field Discuss their Pairings

Groupings for the Senior PGA Championship were released on Tuesday for this week’s major championship at Congressional Country Club just outside of Washington, D.C.

Past Senior PGA Champions from 2021-2023, Alex Cejka, Steven Alker, and Steve Stricker, headline together as they get their championship started off at 1:26 pm ET off of No. 10.

Another interesting group includes Ernie Els — winner of the 1997 U.S. Open at Congressional — along with two-time U.S. Open champ Lee Janzen, and 2018 Senior PGA Champ Paul Broadhurst. They get their Senior PGA week started on Thursday at 8:17 am ET off the first hole.

The 2014 and 2015 Senior PGA Champion, Colin Montgomerie, is grouped with Tom Lehman and Jeff Maggert at 8:06 am ET off the first tee.

Defending champ Richard Bland is off at 1:48 pm ET off the 10th hole with Miguel Angel Jimenez and Alan Morin.

“I think whoever you play with, you've just got to go out there and play well,” Bland said. “Sometimes there are those moments where you need to kind of switch off and kind of relax in between shots, you've got someone, some people that you're playing with that you can do that with. But when you've got to get your game face back on, then we've all done it plenty of times, and we all switch back into the playing mode.”

2003 PGA Champion Rich Beem tees off at 7:38 am ET off the 10th hole with 2005 U.S. Open winner Michael Campbell and Sean McCarty, and he doesn’t see who he plays with as factoring in too much to his performance.

“It doesn’t matter one way or the other. Obviously, it’s nice to get paired with guys that I’ve played with eons and eons ago, but I’ll take anybody, though,” Beem said. “I don’t really have a favorite one or the other, it makes no difference to my performance.”

Paul Goydos, who goes off at 7:05 am ET off the 10th tee with Heath Slocum and Mike Stone, says that in the end, it’s about you and your game, not who you are with the first two days.

“The key is that you stay in your own game plan. It’s nice to have players that you know well, but in the end it doesn’t really make a difference,” Goydos said. “You have to go out and be you, and play your game.”

Stuart Appleby is off at 1:09 pm ET off the first hole, grouped with Simon Griffiths and Tag Ridings. The Australian has a singular focus, regardless of who he’s playing with. “I think you’ve just got to really keep your blinders on out there and focus on the task at hand. You definitely want to be friendly where you can with your groupings, but you’ve also got to stay focused on you.”

Paul Stankowski, goes off at 7:16 am off No. 10 with Bo Van Pelt and Jim Carter. The 55-year-old PGA Tour Champions veteran likes it if he draws guys he knows well, but he’s also very upbeat with the overall class of people on his Tour and doesn’t see many players as ones you would want to be in the company of.

“It’s more enjoyable when you’re paired with guys that you know really well and enjoy being around versus guys that you don’t know as well, which can be a little bit awkward or guys that you don’t really being around, but there’s not much off that on this Tour,” Stankowski said. “They’re good dudes. In theory, if I’m worried about who’s in my pairing or my group, then I’m not focusing on my job. If I’m worried about that guy in my group, then he’s winning mentally, not me.”

Harrison Frazar agrees that you need to be caring most about what’s within your control. “Your job is to manage that golf course and your adrenaline and get around the course in as few strokes as possible, regardless of what’s going on around you.”