Bernhard Langer leads notable numbers from 2023 PGA TOUR Champions season

Statistics in golf help provide context, shedding light on what happened during a round, tournament or an entire year. We also use numbers also measure milestones, achievements and trends. With another season completed for PGA TOUR Champions, here are some of the numbers that stood out in 2023.

Age-related accomplishments

55.61: The average age of winners during the 2023 season was 55.61, the oldest in the 43-season history of PGA TOUR Champions. The previous record was 55.07, set in 2019.

65: With his two victories in 2023, Bernhard Langer extended his record as the oldest winner in PGA TOUR Champions history. His most recent win (U.S. Senior Open) came at the age of 65 years, 10 months, 5 days. Langer owns the top five spots on the oldest winners list and is the only player to ever win after turning 64 years old.

10: There were 10 times during the 2023 season when a player shot his age or better in a round. Langer accomplished the feat on seven occasions, including the first and third rounds of his victory at the Chubb Classic (Feb. 17-19). Seventy-two-year-old Dick Mast shot his age or better for all three rounds of the Sanford International (Sept. 15-17), carding scores of 70-72-71.

63: In April, Fred Couples became the oldest player to make the cut in Masters Tournament history at 63 years, 6 months, 5 days.

56: In March, Jerry Kelly became the oldest player to make the cut in THE PLAYERS Championship history at 56 years, 3 months, 16 days.

Stricker’s record-breaking year

During Steve Stricker’s historic season, which included winning the Charles Schwab Cup, he set or tied the following PGA TOUR Champions records:

67.54: Stricker set the single-season scoring average record (67.54), bettering the previous mark of 67.96 set by Fred Couples in 2010.

$3,986,063: Stricker set the record for single-season money earned, bettering the previous mark of $3,677,359, set by Bernhard Langer in 2017.

3: Stricker won three majors in 2023 to match the most single-season major victories in PGA TOUR Champions history. It had previously been accomplished by World Golf Hall of Fame members Gary Player (1988), Jack Nicklaus (1991) and Langer (2017).

55: From June 2022 to June 2023, Stricker played 55 consecutive rounds of par or better on PGA TOUR Champions, setting the record across all PGA TOUR-sanctioned Tours.

Strong finishes

28: 2024 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Padraig Harrington successfully defended his title at the DICK’S Sporting Goods Open (June 23-25), closing with 7-under 28 on the back nine on Sunday. It was the lowest nine-hole score recorded by any player during the 2023 season and matched the lowest since 2002. He played hole Nos. 12-17 in 7-under with five birdies and an eagle.

62: At the Ascension Charity Classic (Sept. 8-10), Steve Flesch closed with 9-under 62, the lowest final-round score by a winner in 2023. He opened birdie-eagle-birdie on Sunday, playing the first six holes in 6-under.

30: At the Boeing Classic (Aug. 11-13), Stephen Ames played the final five holes in 6-under par, birdying Nos. 14-17 before closing with an eagle, on his way to a back-nine 30 and final-round 63. His seven-stroke triumph matched the largest margin of victory by any player during the 2023 season.

18 pars: During the final round of the Trophy Hassan II (Feb. 9-11), Ames, the 18- and 36-hole leader, made 18 pars on his way to a five-stroke triumph in Morocco. He accomplished the feat on a day when the scoring average was 75.020 and had the highest score-to-par (+2.020) among all non-majors in 2023.

Wild weekend in Wales

0: During the final two days of The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex (July 27-30), zero players recorded under-par rounds. It was the first PGA TOUR or PGA TOUR Champions event with multiple rounds where the lowest score was par since the 1999 Open Championship.

78.515: The final-round scoring average at The Senior Open was 78.515, the third-highest field scoring average in the final round of a PGA TOUR Champions event, dating back to 1980. The third-round scoring average was 76.143.

75.823: The cumulative scoring average for The Senior Open (75.823) was the highest at any PGA TOUR Champions event since the 2008 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship (75.994) and the scoring average relative to par (+4.823) was the highest since the 2010 U.S. Senior Open (+5.373).

Miscellaneous

Sixty-six-year-old Langer led PGA TOUR Champions in Greens in Regulation (76.53%) despite ranking 62nd in driving distance (269.4 yards). Langer’s average driving distance was 33 yards shorter than the TOUR’s leader in driving distance (302.4 yards).

4: In four instances in 2023, a player won with one of his children caddying for him that week:

• Alker (with his son, Ben, at the Insperity Invitational)

• Ames (with his son, Ryan, at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic)

• Stricker (with his daughter, Izzy, at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship)

• Flesch (with his son, Griffin, at the Ascension Charity Classic)

3: In breaking through for their first wins on PGA TOUR Champions in 2023, Mark Hensby, Ken Duke and Harrison Frazar each joined an elite club, becoming the 19th, 20th and 21st players to win on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and Korn Ferry Tour. Hensby won the Invited Celebrity Classic (April 21-23), Duke won the Shaw Charity Classic (Aug. 18-20) and Frazar won the Dominion Energy Charity Classic (Oct. 20-22).

1 hour and 58 minutes: In the fastest round of the 2023 season, Hensby played the second round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in under two hours. He was a single in the first tee time of the day on Nov. 10 for the 35-player field.