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Here are 6 golfers who could win the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores

john fineran
·4 min read

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — The Kitchen Aide Senior PGA Championship returns to Jack Nicklaus-designed Harbor Shores Golf Club on the edge of Lake Michigan this week for the sixth time in tournament history, all since 2012.

The four-round tournament begins Thursday and continues through Sunday.

Former winners of the Champions Tour major at Harbor Shores are Roger Champman (2012), Colin Montgomerie (2014), Rocco Mediate (2016), Paul Broadhurst (2018) and Steven Alker (2022).

Here's a look at six players who have a shot at winning in 2024:

More: Stricker seeking Michiana “sweep” when Senior PGA stops at Harbor Shores

Stephen Ames

The PGA Champions Tour’s leading money winner — and 2022 KitchenAid Senior PGA champion Steven Alker of New Zealand — is not here this week. But 60-year-old Ames, born in Trinidad & Tobago but living now in Canada, is.

Ames has won $956,120 and twice already on the tour this season — the Chubb Classic on Feb. 18 and the Mitsubishi Electric Classic on April 28. In addition Ames has four other Top 10 finishes, and in 2022 here finished three strokes behind Alker in second place.

Paul Broadhurst

Paul Broadhurst tees off during the 40th Senior Open Championship on Monday, June 24, 2019, in South Bend at Notre Dame's Warren Golf Course.
Paul Broadhurst tees off during the 40th Senior Open Championship on Monday, June 24, 2019, in South Bend at Notre Dame's Warren Golf Course.

The 58-year-old Englishman won the 2018 title with a 19-under-par total of 265 (the tournament record he shares with 2016 winner Rocco Mediate). This year, Broadhurst stands third on the PGA Champions Tour money list with $813,446 in earnings thanks to a victory at the Invited Celebrity Classic (April 21), runner-up at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic (April 28) and third place at Chubb Classic (Feb. 18) among his five Top 10 finishes.

Steve Stricker

Steve Stricker waves to fans after winning the U.S. Senior Open following the final round of play on Sunday, June 30, 2019, at Notre Dame's Warren Golf Course in South Bend.
Steve Stricker waves to fans after winning the U.S. Senior Open following the final round of play on Sunday, June 30, 2019, at Notre Dame's Warren Golf Course in South Bend.

The victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team captain in 2021, Stricker was expected to contend for the 2022 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship title but had to withdraw over COVID-19 concerns. Winner of the U.S. Senior Open at Warren Golf Course at Notre Dame in 2019, Stricker will be seeking a Michiana Senior Sweep this week at Harbor Shores. The 57-year-old from Madison, Wis., already has won seven Senior majors and he has five Top 10 finishes in the six events he has played, including a tie for third at the Regions Tradition on May 12, and won $527,650.

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Bernhard Langer

May 29, 2022; Benton Harbor, Michigan, USA; Bernhard Langer waves to the crowd after making par on the second hole during the final round of the 2022 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
May 29, 2022; Benton Harbor, Michigan, USA; Bernhard Langer waves to the crowd after making par on the second hole during the final round of the 2022 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

The 66-year-old German native has 46 PGA Champions Tour victories (first all-time) and 12 senior major titles in his trophy closet along with two Masters green jackets (1985, 1993). He stands just 56th on the money list only because he has played just three times after having surgery performed on a torn Achilles tendon in his left ankle Jan. 31.

Langer has worked his way back, finishing 31st in the rain-abbreviated Insperity Invitational on May 5 (where he walked 36 holes on one day) and a tie for eighth at the Regions Tradition May 12. A winner of the 2017 KitchenAid Senior PGA at Trump National outside Washington, D.C., Stricker has a good track record at Harbor Shores where is has finished third (2022, 2016, 2014) and fourth (2012).

Doug Barron

Doug Barron plays his shot from the third tee during the final round of the 2024 Regions Tradition at Greystone Golf & Country Club. (Photo: Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Doug Barron plays his shot from the third tee during the final round of the 2024 Regions Tradition at Greystone Golf & Country Club. (Photo: Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

Winner of his first major title, the Regions Tradition in Hoover, Ala., earlier this month, the 54-year-old from Memphis, Tenn., has won $620,268 thanks to his win and a tie for runner-up honors at the Mitsubishi Electric Open (April 28). In winning the Regions Tradition, Barron closed with rounds of 66-68 for 271 to edge Steven Alker for the title by two strokes and held off Stricker, Stewart Cink and Ernie Els by three.

Ernie Els

Golf’s “Big Easy” has four major titles to his credit — two U.S. Opens (1994, 1997) and two Open Championships (2002, 2012). But the 6-foot-3 likeable South African has yet to win a senior major title. This season in seven events, Els has won $367,377 with a pair of Top10 finishes — thirds at the Chubb Classic in February and May 12 at the Regions Tradition where he had fours of 65, 68, 70 and 71 to finish at 274, three behind winner Doug Barron.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Golfers to watch at KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores