Out of the Rough: Senior PGA Championship (2026)

With the Masters Tournament, and the first major of the PGA Tour season behind us, major season continues on on the PGA Champions Tour.

The first-of-five-majors on the PGA Champions Tour is set to take place this week with the Senior PGA Championship.

The 86th edition of the Senior PGA Championship will be held at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida.

The Senior PGA Championship, first played in 1937, is the oldest of the majors on the PGA Champions Tour schedule.

The Field

As this week is the first major of the season, all of the world’s best golfers over the age of 50 will be teeing it up as part of the 156-man field.

The likes of Stewart Cink, Zach Johnson, David Toms, Steven Alker, Padriag Harrington, Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera, Tommy Gainey, George McNeill and Boo Weekley headline this week’s field.

Along with the professionals, just as the PGA Tour’s counterpart offers, 35 club professionals, over the age of 50, who qualify through the Senior PGA Professional National Championship will be playing this week as well.

Cabrera comes in as the defending champion at the Congressional Country Club as he held off both Thomas Bjorn and Harrington by a single stoke.

Other former Senior PGA Championship winners playing this week include Alker (2023,) Alex Cejka (2021,) Ken Tanigawa (2019,) Bernhard Langer (2017,) Rocco Mediate (2016,) Colin Montgomerie (2014 & 2015,) Michael Allen (2009) and Jay Haas (2006 & 2008.) 

The Course

The Concession Golf Club is a Jack Nicklaus design in collaboration with Tony Jacklin.

As the name suggests, the course was designed with inspiration from the “greatest single sporting gesture ever.”

Sitting on the 18th hole of the 1969 Ryder Cup at Royal Birkdale, after finishing his four-foot putt for par, Nicklaus conceded a tricky two-footer to Jacklin. It resulted in the first tie in Ryder Cup history and the act has been known as “The Concession” ever since.

It was opened in 2006 and plays as a par-72 at roughly 7,150 yards.

The stunning course sits on a 1,200-acre private community on Florida's gulf coast.

As The Concession sits inland, it adds a sense of isolation as the tall pine and oak trees keep the course enclosed.

Off-the-tee, golfers will be greeted to large landing areas. With natural foliage lining the fairways, some views from the tees are blocked. This adds a bit of insecurity off-the-tee as some drives look more intimidating than they actually are.

Additionally, as the course is in Florida, water comes into play on several holes and bunkers are plentiful.

Many holes feature narrow openings onto the greens, making approach shots critical. Additionally, these Bermuda greens are particularly undulating, meaning they’ll be hard to hold if the exact landing area isn’t found.

Putting on these greens will also be difficult with the multitude of undulations featured.

One of the course’s signature holes is the par-four eighth. The short 374-yard par-four features a late dog leg right with water carved into the front of the green.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, there is at most a five-percent chance of precipitation across all four days this week. Temperatures will begin the week at 86-degrees before reaching 87-degrees on Friday. From there, temperatures will peak at 88-degrees on Saturday before returning to 87-degrees on Sunday. Winds will begin the week at 12 miles-per-hour on Thursday before settling to 11 miles-per-hour across both Friday and Saturday. Winds will return to 12 miles-per-hour on Sunday. In all, it looks like it’ll be a great four days of golf.

Key Stats

• Ball Striking

• Scrambling

• Sand Saves Percentage

• Putting Average

• Par 5 Scoring Average

• Bounce Back

Betting Card

Bernhard Langer (+2800)

Langer comes into this week in great form. He placed seventh in his latest outing at the Hoag Classic. Prior to that he placed sixth at the Cologuard Classic, 32nd at the Chubb Classic and ninth at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. Langer is currently second on Tour in ball striking, third in scrambling, sixth in par-five average scoring, eighth in sand saves percentage, 25th in bounce back and 29th in putting average. Langer won the 2017 edition of this event at Trump National Golf Club.

Freddie Jacobson (+4000)

Jacobson is currently sixth on Tour in all three of sand saves percentage, putting average and par-five average scoring. He is also eighth in bounce back, 14th in ball striking and 17th in scrambling. He placed fourth in his latest outing at the Hoag Classic. Prior to that he placed 43rd at the Cologuard Classic, 31st at the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational, and fourth at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.

David Toms (+6600)

Toms has been one of the most consistent golfers on the PGA Champions Tour this entire season. He has played all five events so far, highlighted by a win at the Chubb Classic. He also placed tenth at the Hoag Classic, 15th at the Cologuard Classic, tenth at the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational and 20th at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. He is currently second on Tour in scrambling, fourth in sand saves percentage, ninth in putting average, 20th in ball striking, 21st in bounce back and 25th in par-five average scoring. 

Michael Wright (+15000)

I’m going with the Aussie as my long shot this week. Wright is currently the best putter on Tour and when it comes to majors, that is a great sign, especially for someone priced at 150/1. He is also fifth on Tour in par-five average scoring, 12th in ball striking, 17th in bounce back, 19th in sand saves percentage and 51st in scrambling. He placed 32nd in his latest outing at the Hoag Classic, 25th at the Cologuard Classic, 35th at the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational and second at the Chubb Classic.