This story first appeared in the Spring 2025 edition of Northern Ohio Golfer Magazine, the official print publication of the Northern Ohio Golf Association. NOGA members who provide a mailing address in their GHIN account receive a copy mailed to their home twice per year. Not yet a NOGA member? JOIN NOW >
Recognizable Names Resurface at the Kaulig Companies Championship
We all have our favorites, right?
You liked Hogan. He liked Snead. You liked Jack. He liked Arnie. You liked Watson. He liked Price.
One of the beauties of the Kaulig Companies Championship and the PGA TOUR Champions, which returns to Firestone Country Club June 18-22, is that it gives us an opportunity to watch our favorites from the recent past.
The PGA TOUR Champions guys might not hit it as far as they once did, and a few are now using carts. They are in their 50s and 60s but the competitive spirit burns bright, and they can still get it under par: cart or no cart.
Their names routinely dotted PGA leaderboards in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. We came to know Bernhard Langer, Darren Clarke, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Stewart Cink, Ernie Els and many others. Their faces were on television, and their pictures were in newspapers – you know, when newspapers covered golf.
Fans still love watching Miguel Angel Jimenez, the game’s greatest showman since the late and loveable Chi Chi Rodriguez. Or John Daly, if they haven’t lost patience.
The tournament has been moved from mid-July to late-June and will be played one week before the U.S. Senior Open in Colorado, meaning two majors will be played back-to-back.
Many of those in the Kaulig Companies Championship, which is one of five majors on the PGA TOUR Champions schedule, will return to Firestone. Some have won on the South Course before.
A winner from the past can become a winner of the present.
As if they never left.
Stewart Cink
Age: 51
Wins at Firestone: 2004 WGC-NEC Invitational
Notes: The 2009 Senior Open champion and 8-time winner on the PGA Tour went wire-to-wire with rounds of 63-68-68-70=269 (-11) and remains one of the few to beat Tiger Woods on the South Course. Woods and Rory Sabbatini finished four strokes back. His opening, bogey-free 63 was two shots better than Zach Johnson. He made just five bogeys in 72 holes. Woods eventually got his payback when he beat Cink in a playoff in the 2006 WGC-Bridgestone.
On the PGA TOUR Champions: His success on the PGA Tour has continued in his two-plus seasons on the PGA TOUR Champions. He has made the cut in 18 of 18 events and won the 2024 Ally Challenge. Finished T7 in 2023. He has three top-10 finishes this season.2003
Darren Clarke
Age: 56
Wins at Firestone: 2003 WGC-NEC Invitational
Notes: The popular pro from Northern Ireland, a five-time Ryder Cup member and winner of the 2011 Open Championship, won the 2003 WGC-NEC Invitational at 12-under par 268 with rounds of 65-70-66-67. His come-from-behind victory – he was two shots behind Chris Riley and David Toms after the second – came when he laid a 66 on the field in the third and closed with a 67 on Sunday. He eventually won by four over Jonathan Kaye. Local favorite Ben Curtis was in the field after his surprise win in the Open Championship at Royal St. George’s.
On the PGA TOUR Champions: Has won four times, including the 2022 Senior Open Championship. In five appearances in the Kaulig Championship, his best finish was T12 in 2021.
David Duval
Age: 53
Wins at Firestone: 1998 NEC-WSOG Invitational
Notes: Four solid rounds lifted Duval to one of his four victories during a spectacular season in which he was the Tour’s leading money winner, won the Vardon Trophy, the Byron Nelson Award, and was on his way to being the number-one player in the world (in 1999). He shot 69-66-68-69=269 (11-under) to beat Phil Mickelson by two shots. Duval won 11 times in 18 months and finished with 13 career tournament wins – including the 2001 Open Championship — before injuries and personal issues ended his career on tour.
On the PGA TOUR Champions: He has played in three Kaulig Championships, with a top finish of T44 in 2024.
Ernie Els
Age: 55
Wins at Firestone: 2024 Kaulig Companies Championship.
Notes: Once the best player in the world with 19 wins on the PGA Tour and more than 70 worldwide, Els ended a 32-year winless streak at Firestone with rounds of 70-68-64-68=270 (10-under) for a one-shot victory over Y.E. Yang (72-69-64-66). Els’s 64 zoomed him into contention after starting the day in a tie for eighth. The final five holes became a two-man race, and both stumbled late. Els hit his second shot into the pond on 16 to fall into a tie at 10-under. Yang, playing one group in front, lost a chance for a tie with a bogey on 18.
On the PGA TOUR Champions: While his Kaulig victory was his first major on the PGA TOUR Champions, Els has won seven times, including this year’s Mitsubishi Electric Classic with rounds of 67-65-66=198. His previous best finish in the Kaulig was a tie for third in 2023.
Jose Maria Olazabal
Age: 59
Wins at Firestone: 1990 and 1994 NEC-WSOG
Notes: Talk about first impressions. Olazabal’s first PGA Tour event was the 1990 WSOG, and he shot a course record 9-under par 61. He followed that with three straight 67s to win by 12 shots over Lanny Wadkins. Four years later, he continued his under-par performance with rounds of 66-67-69-67=269 (11-under) to edge Scott Hoch by one. The Spaniard went on to win four more times on Tour and added Masters wins in 1994 and 1999. He won 23 times on the European Tour and was ranked in the top 10 of the OWGR for 33 weeks from 1989-1995. A seven-time member of the Ryder Cup team, he captained the Europeans to a stunning come-from-behind win in 2012 at Medinah, as it rallied from a 10-4 deficit to a 14.5 to 13.5 victory.
On the PGA TOUR Champions: His career was interrupted around 1995 when he was diagnosed with rheumatoid polyarthritis in his feet. The condition was so severe there were times he was forced to crawl around his house. He joined the PGA TOUR Champions in 2016 but has not had much success. He has not won and has two top-five and three top-10s while making 73 cuts. He has not found the Firestone magic in his two appearances in the Kaulig Companies Championship, finishing T59 and T76.
Retief Goosen
Age: 56
Wins at Firestone: 2019 Bridgestone Senior Players
Notes: The South African was voted into the World Golf Hall of Fame after a marvelous career on the PGA Tour, winning seven times, including the 2001 and 2004 U.S. Open. He has more than 30 victories worldwide and has represented the International Team six times in the Presidents Cup.
On the PGA TOUR Champions: Became the 10th player to win in his debut, which helped him win the PGA TOUR Champions Rookie-of-the-Year. He has won three times on the PGA TOUR Champions. His win at FCC included a marvelous second-round 31-31=62 – one off the course record. He birdied the final two holes on Sunday, making a 15-foot putt on the 17th and a 10-footer on 18 to win by two shots over Jay Haas and Tim Petrovic.
Miguel Angel-Jimenez
Age: 61
Wins at Firestone: Has not won at Firestone but may hold the record for most cigars smoked in a 72-hole event.
Notes: While he never won on the PGA Tour, he is one of the most decorated players on the European Tour, with 21 career wins in more than 720 starts. He finished T2 in the 2000 U.S. Open and T3 in the 2001 Open Championship. One of the most colorful players in the game.
On the PGA TOUR Champions: The Spaniard has won 14 times with his latest victory coming earlier this season at the Trophy Hassan II International – his first in three years — with rounds of 70-69-69=208 (11-under). Jimenez stands second on the Schwab Cup standings. He has competed in nine Kaulig Championships, with a runner-up finish in 2016.
Jerry Kelly
Age: 58
Wins at Firestone: 2020 and 2022 Bridgestone Senior Players
Notes: The Wisconsin native won twice on the PGA Tour — never at Firestone – but was the oldest player in history at 56/3/16 to make the cut at The Players Championship in 2023, breaking the record held by Arnold Palmer.
On the PGA TOUR Champions: Has had a tremendous “second” career with 12 victories, 10 runner-up finishes, and 12 thirds, including two wins in three years at Firestone. He has had nine wins since 2019. He shot 68-70-70-69=277 (3-under) in 2020, but only a few people were there to see it as fans were not permitted due to Covid. A hole-in-one on the 177-yard 12th gave him a 3-shot lead over eventual runner-up Scott Parel. After a runner-up finish to good friend Steve Stricker in 2021, he earned the 2022 title by shooting 67-69-65-68=269 (-11) while Stricker was second, two shots back.
Bernhard Langer
Age: 67
Wins at Firestone: Langer hasn’t won at Firestone, but he’s won practically everywhere else, with approximately 100 wins worldwide.
Notes: One of the all-time greats with 61 international victories, including Masters wins in 1985 and 1993 and two Open Championships in 1981 and 1984. In 2020, he became the oldest player at age 63 to make the cut at the Masters.
On the PGA TOUR Champions: Langer has established himself as the most successful player in the history of the PGA TOUR Champions with 47 victories and a record 12 major titles although he hasn’t won in 2025. He has been the leading money winner 12 times and is a 10-time Player-of-the-Year.
Steve Stricker
Age: 58
Wins at Firestone: 2021 Kaulig Companies Championship; 2023 Kaulig Companies Championship.
Notes: He went wire-to-wire in winning in 2021 with rounds of 63-68-72-70=273 (7-under) to cruise to a 6-shot victory over Jerry Kelly. Two years later he won by three shots over David Toms with rounds of 65-73-65-66=269 (11-under). Before turning 50, he had won 12 times on the PGA Tour and represented the USA in three Ryder Cups and five Presidents Cups.
On the PGA TOUR Champions: Has become one of the great performers with 18 victories – including seven majors – while making 76 straight cuts. While he has yet to win in 2025, he is a Firestone favorite.
The 2025 Kaulig Companies Championship, one of five major championships on PGA TOUR Champions, is a Father’s Day gift that can be enjoyed by the entire family. Through June 15, fans will receive the best pricing on all tickets. Tickets for competition rounds, Thursday through Sunday, start at $28 and include admission to the live music festivals after play, while Wednesday grounds tickets are available for $14. All tickets can be purchased at KauligChampionship.com.
