2025 Senior PGA Championship Set Up for an Exciting Close on Sunday

So, let’s say you had been given the trappings of this week’s 85th Senior PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club ahead of time:

Demanding golf course with heralded pedigree, one that is guarded by healthy rough and lots of movement on the greens and is engulfed in cool and blustery conditions from the first tee shot Thursday.

Oh, and let’s say you were also provided a list of competitors, many of whom had rich histories that you were aware of.

Now, with all that in the bank, who might you have circled to be in the thick of things headed into Sunday’s final round?

Likely you’d have nodded to players who have combined for four PGA Championships, nine other major titles, and a 25-win career on the DP World Tour. Oh, and maybe you’d have tossed in the guy who turned his life around with a feel-good performance a year ago in this championship, with perhaps a dash of an unheralded international name who pursues his passion because he still has dreams.

Well, guess what? That’s the delectable recipe that has unfolded in this senior major, which is why Sunday’s final round has such rich potential. That fact was not lost on those who are in the hunt.

“There’s quite a few major guys up there, definitely,” said Retief Goosen.

Added Stewart Cink: “The players up there have won a lot on hard golf courses. This course is really demanding, with the wind especially. It feels like a major out there.”
Indeed, it is a major. It’s of the senior variety, yes, but to the players involved the competitiveness and the passion hasn’t waned an inch since passing through their 50th year. They remain as driven as ever so it’s remarkable to see the leaderboard they’ve given us through three rounds.

With Goosen having shot one of the two sub-70 scores, a 4-under 68, to get to 5-under 211, he is tied for the lead with Angel Cabrera (70), Jason Caron (71), and Phillip Archer (71).

Two players are tied for fifth at 4-under 212: Lee Westwood (who shot the other 68) and Cink (71).

What follows closely is a five-way tie for seventh at 3-under 213: Padraig Harrington (73), Vijay Singh (75), Y.E. Yang (75), Robert Karlsson (73), and Thomas Bjorn (73).

One by one, these contenders nodded and offered confirmation that it is a formidable parade of talented golfers. Combined, they have won four PGA Championships (Singh, two; Harrington and Yang); eight other majors (Goosen, two; Harrington, two; Cabrera, two; Cink, one; Singh, one); and 24 DP World Tour tournaments (Westwood).

In other words, they cast long shadows. For their part, Caron and Archer concede that; it’s just that they’re determined to continue their remarkable stories.

“A year ago I definitely would have said, ‘Whoa, this can’t happen,’ ” said Caron, the PGA Head Golf Professional at The Mill River Club on Long Island who a year ago finished T4 in this championship which got him a spot on the PGA TOUR Champions.

“Now that I’ve played in, let’s just say, maybe 20 (PGA TOUR Champions) events, I feel much more comfortable.”

He showed it, too, at the par-4 17th. Paired with Harrington, the two of them were both dealing with very thick rough to the side of the green, but Caron watched the Irishman go first. He completely swept under the ball and barely moved it, a mishap that led to a double-bogey.

Calmly and deftly, Caron chunked his ball to tap-in range, a splendid par.

“For the ball to come out the way it did, was awesome,” said Caron.

He then got another dose of awesome, because following his double-bogey, Harrington drove into a hazard down the left of the 18th fairway. He brilliantly hit an escape shot to the front of the green and watched his ball bounce up to 8 feet. He made the birdie to make his day feel better.

“Paddy doesn’t say a lot,” said Caron, who soaked in the experience. “But just watching him, it’s like, how they can hit a bad shot and nothing changes.”

Archer, who will be sharing Cinderella honors with Caron in Sunday’s final round, understands very well the emotions expressed by a guy who is still very much a PGA of America Golf Professional, given that he still works when he’s not out here on tour.

“You’ve grown up watching these guys win tournaments, majors,” said Archer, pointing to the names atop the leaderboard. “Yeah, you’re in their company and you’ve got to tell yourself you belong there.”

The guys Caron and Archer are tied with for the lead – Goosen and Cabrera – have felt they “belong there” for decades. But as much as they may have expected to be in this sort of position at Congressional, they still rely on their experience to know the job is not over.

“A tough golf course,” The Goose said of Congressional after playing the last 10 holes in a bogey-free 10-under. “(But) all these guys have really done it on hard golf courses.”

In other words, que sera, sera, Goosen seemed to be saying.

Heck, a short time later, Archer agreed, though he translated it into English. “What will be, will be,” he said.

Through 54 holes, the low score of the eight members of Corebridge Financial Team who made the cut belongs to Jeffrey Schmid of Iowa City, Iowa. But he conceded that shooting 77 – 221 made it a bit disappointing. “It’s really a mental battle of sustaining focus,” he said . . . How tough has Congressional played? Through 54 holes the low score remains a 5-under, by Cameron Percy on Thursday.