Steven Alker birdied the par-5 18th to complete a four-under 68 and take a one-shot lead into Sunday’s final round of the 21st Boeing Classic.
The 55-year-old New Zealander sits at 9-under after rounds of 67 and 68. Vaughn Taylor is his closest challenger at 8-under.
Alker made six birdies and two bogeys during the second round, regaining sole possession of the lead with his closing four. He is seeking his 12th PGA Tour Champions title and second victory of 2026 after winning the Cologuard Classic.
A win would also make Alker and Stewart Cink the only PGA Tour Champions players to record at least two victories in both 2025 and 2026.
Alker’s Boeing Classic record
Alker entered the week ninth in the Charles Schwab Cup standings with five top-10 finishes this season. His most recent was a tie for 10th alongside Bernhard Langer in the team-format American Family Insurance Championship.
Sunday will mark the 14th time Alker has led or shared the lead entering the final round on PGA Tour Champions. He has converted six of the previous 13 opportunities into victories.
Alker has recorded four top-10 finishes in five previous appearances, including a tie for second in 2024.
He is attempting to become the tournament’s sixth consecutive international champion. Australia’s Steve Allan won in 2025, following Canadian Stephen Ames’ consecutive titles in 2023 and 2024. Spain’s Miguel Ángel Jiménez won in 2022, one year after Australian Rod Pampling.
Taylor remains closest challenger
Taylor matched Alker’s 68 and also birdied the 18th to finish one behind. The 50-year-old rookie is pursuing his first PGA Tour Champions victory after winning three times on the PGA Tour, most recently at the 2016 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
"It wasn't pretty, but got it done."
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) August 16, 2026
Vaughn Taylor is making his 12th start on PGA TOUR Champions and has been battling injuries all season.
The three-time @PGATOUR winner is heading into Sunday @BoeingClassic in the final group for the first time, just one shot back of Steven… pic.twitter.com/iGt1SuoVmv
Søren Kjeldsen and Steve Flesch share third place. Kjeldsen shot 67, while Flesch played his final eight holes in 5-under and eagled the par-5 18th for a 69.
Richard Green produced Saturday’s lowest round, a bogey-free 65 that lifted him 31 places into a tie for fifth place at 6-under. His 7-under score matched the best round of the tournament.
Green is joined two shots behind Alker by Notah Begay III, first-round leader Rory Sabbatini and 2017 champion Jerry Kelly. Begay posted a bogey-free 67, while Sabbatini recovered from a difficult middle stretch with birdies on two of his final three holes to sign for 73.
Kelly opened with three consecutive birdies before finishing with a 71. He is seeking his 15th PGA Tour Champions title and second win of the season.
Seattle native Fred Couples moved into a tie for 10th with a second-round 68. Doug Barron and David Duval withdrew before the round.

Related: St Mellion Marks 50 Years of Championship Golf in Cornwall
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 | R2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steven Alker | -9 | 67 | 68 | 135 |
| 2 | Vaughn Taylor | -8 | 68 | 68 | 136 |
| T3 | Søren Kjeldsen | -7 | 70 | 67 | 137 |
| T3 | Steve Flesch | -7 | 68 | 69 | 137 |
| T5 | Richard Green | -6 | 73 | 65 | 138 |
| T5 | Notah Begay III | -6 | 71 | 67 | 138 |
| T5 | Ángel Cabrera | -6 | 69 | 69 | 138 |
| T5 | Rory Sabbatini | -6 | 65 | 73 | 138 |
| T5 | Jerry Kelly | -6 | 67 | 71 | 138 |
| T10 | Fred Couples | -5 | 71 | 68 | 139 |
| T10 | Scott Parel | -5 | 69 | 70 | 139 |
| T10 | Stewart Cink | -5 | 68 | 71 | 139 |
| T10 | Darren Clarke | -5 | 68 | 71 | 139 |
| T10 | George McNeill | -5 | 68 | 71 | 139 |
| T15 | Tommy Gainey | -4 | 72 | 68 | 140 |
| T15 | David Toms | -4 | 71 | 69 | 140 |
| T15 | Matt Gogel | -4 | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| T15 | Miguel Angel Jiménez | -4 | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| T19 | Greg Chalmers | -3 | 72 | 69 | 141 |
| T19 | Shane Bertsch | -3 | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T19 | Kirk Triplett | -3 | 71 | 70 | 141 |
| T19 | Brian Gay | -3 | 69 | 72 | 141 |
| T23 | J.J. Henry | -2 | 72 | 70 | 142 |
| T23 | Alex Cejka | -2 | 74 | 68 | 142 |
| T23 | Gordon Burns | -2 | 71 | 71 | 142 |
| T23 | Ernie Els | -2 | 75 | 67 | 142 |
| T23 | Steve Allan | -2 | 69 | 73 | 142 |
| T28 | Stephen Ames | -1 | 73 | 70 | 143 |
| T28 | Paul Stankowski | -1 | 74 | 69 | 143 |
| T28 | Chris Devlin | -1 | 74 | 69 | 143 |
| T28 | Michael Block | -1 | 70 | 73 | 143 |
| T28 | Chad Campbell | -1 | 75 | 68 | 143 |
| T28 | Scott Verplank | -1 | 69 | 74 | 143 |
| T28 | Tim Herron | -1 | 68 | 75 | 143 |
| T35 | Kevin Sutherland | Par | 73 | 71 | 144 |
| T35 | Robert Karlsson | Par | 73 | 71 | 144 |
| T35 | John Rollins | Par | 72 | 72 | 144 |
| T35 | Rod Pampling | Par | 72 | 72 | 144 |
| T35 | Stuart Appleby | Par | 74 | 70 | 144 |
| T35 | Boo Weekley | Par | 74 | 70 | 144 |
| T35 | Thongchai Jaidee | Par | 71 | 73 | 144 |
| T35 | Brett Quigley | Par | 74 | 70 | 144 |
| T43 | Dicky Pride | +1 | 73 | 72 | 145 |
| T43 | K.J. Choi | +1 | 73 | 72 | 145 |
| T43 | Tim Petrovic | +1 | 72 | 73 | 145 |
| T43 | Ricardo Gonzalez | +1 | 74 | 71 | 145 |
| T43 | Y.E. Yang | +1 | 75 | 70 | 145 |
| T43 | Mario Tiziani | +1 | 75 | 70 | 145 |
| T49 | Tom Pernice Jr. | +2 | 73 | 73 | 146 |
| T49 | Keith Horne | +2 | 73 | 73 | 146 |
| T49 | Ben Crane | +2 | 74 | 72 | 146 |
| T49 | Michael Wright | +2 | 71 | 75 | 146 |
| T49 | Vijay Singh | +2 | 69 | 77 | 146 |
| T49 | Michael Allen | +2 | 77 | 69 | 146 |
| T55 | Rocco Mediate | +3 | 73 | 74 | 147 |
| T55 | Tim O'Neal | +3 | 72 | 75 | 147 |
| T55 | Ken Tanigawa | +3 | 74 | 73 | 147 |
| T55 | Jeff Maggert | +3 | 75 | 72 | 147 |
| T55 | Billy Mayfair | +3 | 75 | 72 | 147 |
| T55 | Ryan Armour | +3 | 75 | 72 | 147 |
| T55 | Ryan Malby | +3 | 75 | 72 | 147 |
| T55 | Tag Ridings | +3 | 76 | 71 | 147 |
| T55 | Paul Goydos | +3 | 76 | 71 | 147 |
| T55 | Mike Weir | +3 | 76 | 71 | 147 |
| T65 | Heath Slocum | +4 | 72 | 76 | 148 |
| T65 | Joe Durant | +4 | 75 | 73 | 148 |
| T65 | Justin Leonard | +4 | 76 | 72 | 148 |
| 68 | Charlie Wi | +5 | 80 | 69 | 149 |
| T69 | Tom Lehman | +6 | 73 | 77 | 150 |
| T69 | Billy Andrade | +6 | 76 | 74 | 150 |
| T69 | Duffy Waldorf | +6 | 76 | 74 | 150 |
| 72 | Scott McCarron | +7 | 76 | 75 | 151 |
| 73 | Ken Duke | +8 | 73 | 79 | 152 |
| T74 | Chris DiMarco | +9 | 76 | 77 | 153 |
| T74 | Woody Austin | +9 | 78 | 75 | 153 |
| 76 | John Senden | +13 | 80 | 77 | 157 |
| W/D | Doug Barron | - | 73 | - | 73 |
| W/D | David Duval | - | 78 | - | 78 |

Simon Bale
Simon Bale is the publisher of Golf Today. A low single-figure handicap golfer, he was previously a major shareholder and course reviewer for Top100GolfCourses.com for over a decade, starting in 2010. Through this role, he developed extensive knowledge of golf course design and architecture while playing more than 300 courses worldwide.
