By Jocko Connelly
Ernie Els PGA Champions Tour 2024 Winner of Kaulig Companies Championship at Akron July 14, 2024 Final Round Press Conference.mp3
2024 Kaulig Companies Championship
Final-Round Notes
Sunday, July 14, 2024
Firestone Country Club (South Course) | Akron, Ohio
16th of 28 PGA TOUR Champions events in the 2024 Season
Course Setup: Par 70 / 7,189 yards
• Round 4 Scoring Average: 71.573
• Cumulative Scoring Average: 71.349
• Weather: Partly cloudy with temps in the high-80s and winds SW at 10-15 mph
Player To Par Scores Money Charles Schwab Cup
1 Ernie Els -10 70-68-64-68 – 270 $525,000 1st
2 Y.E. Yang -9 72-69-64-66 – 271 $308,000 6th
3 Jerry Kelly -7 71-66-67-69 – 273 $252,000 7th
T4 K.J. Choi -6 69-68-67-70 – 274 $189,000 11th
T4 Steve Stricker -6 66-68-67-73 – 274 $189,000 4th
Things to Know
• World Golf Hall of Fame member Ernie Els captured his first senior major title with a one-stroke win over Y.E.
Yang, who carded the low round on Sunday.
• 54-hole leader Steve Stricker, seeking his third Kaulig Companies Championship title in the last four years,
closed with 73, which included a triple bogey on No. 14.
Ernie Els, 70-68-64-68 – 270 (-10)
• The 54-year-old earned his sixth win on PGA TOUR Champions (94 starts)
• Earned his third win of the 2024 season (13 starts)
o Becomes the first three-time winner of the 2024 season on PGA TOUR Champions
o Previous wins in 2024: Principal Charity Classic; American Family Insurance Championship
o Each of his three wins have come in his last five starts
• Moves up to No. 1 in the Charles Schwab Cup standings
o Previously led for two weeks in October 2020
• Earned his first major title on PGA TOUR Champions
o Previous best finish in a senior major: T2 (2023 Regions Tradition)
• Has finished inside the top 5 in all five of his appearances at the Kaulig Companies Championship
o Previous finishes: T5 (2020), 5th (2021), T3 (2022), T3 (2023)
• Has finished inside the top 10 in all four senior majors to this point of the 2024 season
o T3 (Regions Tradition)
o T6 (KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship)
o T8 (U.S. Senior Open)
o Won (Kaulig Companies Championship)
• In 19 appearances at Firestone Country Club on the PGA TOUR, he earned two top-10 finishes
o Best finish: 5th (1999 WGC-NEC Invitational)
Other Notes
Seeking his first win on PGA TOUR Champions, Y.E. Yang carded the low round of the day with 4-under 66 to
finish 2nd at 9-under. It matched his best finish on PGA TOUR Champions (67 starts).
o Previous instance: 2nd (2022 Ascension Charity Classic)
• Two-time champion (2020, 2022) Jerry Kelly finished 3rd at 7-under after closing with 69. This is his second top3 finish of the 2024 season (13 starts).
o Best finish of 2024: T2 (Cologuard Classic)
• 54-hole leader and two-time champion (2021, 2023) Steve Stricker closed with 73, which included a triple bogey
on the 14th hole, to finish T4 at 6-under. This is his fifth top-5 finish of the season (10 starts).
• K.J. Choi bogeyed two of his last four holes to finish T4 at 6-under after shooting 70.
• 2013 champion Kenny Perry finished 6th at 4-under.
COURTESY PGA TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
