2 - PGA TOUR Media

SECTION INTRODUCTION
1
1-12
Overview
The Charles Schwab Cup is a
season-long, points-based competition
launched in 2001 to determine the
Champions Tour’s leading player. The
program rewards both consistency and
top-10 finishes week-in and week-out
at all official/Charles Schwab Cup
events.
Prize Money
$2.1-million annuity to the top-five point earners at season’s end.
Payouts
1st $1 million
2nd $500,000
3rd $300,000
4th $200,000
5th $100,000
Points Distribution
Points are awarded to the top-10 finishers and ties in all official
tournaments and are based on the money distribution for each tournament, with
every $1,000 earned being the equivalent of one Charles Schwab Cup point.
Points are doubled at the Champions Tour’s five major championships and have
triple value at the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in October.
Web Site
Information and updates are available throughout the year on
PGATOUR.com.
2005 Recap
Tom Watson arrived at Sonoma Golf
Club for the 2005 season-ending Charles
Schwab Cup Championship with little
expectation of winning his second
Charles Schwab Cup in three years. And
despite solid play through the first three
rounds, Watson still had no visions of
Charles Schwab presenting him the Cup
at the end of the day Sunday. The
month’s hottest player, Jay Haas, was
firmly in command of the Championship
with a six-shot lead. What Watson
hadn’t factored in was the sizzling 64 he
would shoot and the impact triple points
would have.
2005 Charles Schwab Cup champion Tom Watson
Through 27 of 28 official Charles
Schwab Cup events, Dana Quigley held a 345-point lead over 2002 and 2004 Cup
winner Hale Irwin, which was a lot closer than Quigley cared for him to be.
Quigley knew all points had triple value in the final tournament, with the Charles
Schwab Cup Championship winner collecting 1,320 points. Quigley’s caddie had
worn the yellow bib distinguishing him as the Cup leader the previous 17 weeks,
and he wanted to close the deal. Watson entered the finale in fifth place, 686
points behind.
Through three rounds Quigley and Watson were tied for second in the
Championship, with Irwin pretty much out of contention after three days of
mediocre play. With Quigley near the lead, nothing much short of a victory was
going to enable Watson to win the Cup. It was an unlikely scenario but not out
of the question.
The drama mounted Sunday as Haas never got untracked, and Watson
turned into a birdie machine. With darkness setting in and Haas and Quigley
Charles Schwab Cup
Champions Tour 2006 Guide
watching in the 18th fairway, the 1988 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee drained
his 10th birdie of the day to take a one-shot lead over Haas, who knew what he
had to do. An 8-iron approach landed hole high, 25 feet right of the flagstick. A
collective groan from the crowd surrounding the green signaled Haas’ birdie
attempt to send the Championship to overtime had come up inches short. A
stunned Watson had not only won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, he
had claimed the Charles Schwab Cup and its $1 million first prize once again.
Quigley, who finished tied for fifth, knew the Cup outcome without being told.
“I knew I was fifth coming into today, but I didn’t really think I had a chance
with Dana in there even though the points were tripled today,” said Watson. “I’m
glad I was wrong. I haven’t had a chance to think about what I may do with the
money, but I remain committed to finding a cure for ALS.”
Just two years ago in 2003, Watson played with a heavy heart throughout
the season knowing that his longtime friend and caddie, Bruce Edwards, was
dying from ALS. In an emotional Cup ceremony, Watson and Edwards accepted
the Charles Schwab Cup from company founder, Charles Schwab, with Watson
announcing he would donate the $1 million to ALS-related organizations.
Edwards would succumb to the disease the following April on the eve of the
Masters.
Inspired by both Watson and fellow New Englander Allen Doyle, Quigley
had decided during the summer that any Cup money he won would be donated
to charity. Doyle won the inaugural Charles Schwab Cup in 2001 and donated the
entire $1 million to seven organizations. True to his word, Quigley and his wife,
Angie, donated his $500,000 annuity as runner-up to four charities (see related
story).
Irwin and Quigley were the only two players to hold down the top spot in
the Cup standings over the first 27 tournaments. Quigley led the first two weeks,
before Irwin assumed the lead in February and held it for eight straight
tournaments. A playoff runner-up finish in the Senior PGA Championship in late
May jumped Quigley back to No. 1. He retained the lead for the next 18
tournaments. The biggest lead Quigley enjoyed was 522 points after tournament
No. 21, the JELD-WEN Tradition. Irwin’s largest lead was 299 points, which he
held for three weeks.
Watson’s highest position in the standings prior to winning the Cup was
second, which he held three times, the latest being after the U.S. Senior Open
Championship in July.
2005 Results
Rank/Player Earnings Points Points Behind
1. Tom Watson $1,000,000 2,980 --
2. Dana Quigley $500,000 2,733 247
3. Mark McNulty $300,000 2,210 770
4. Hale Irwin $200,000 2,001 979
5. Loren Roberts $100,000 1,846 1,134
6. D.A. Weibring -- 1,701 1,279
7. Craig Stadler -- 1,505 1,475
8. Gil Morgan -- 1,504 1,476
9. Jay Haas -- 1,420 1,560
10. Allen Doyle -- 1,410 1,570
About Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE/NASD: SCH), through Charles
Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC), U.S. Trust Corporation, CyberTrader, Inc. and
its other operating subsidiaries, is one of the nation's largest financial services
firms, serving over 7 million client accounts with approximately $1 trillion in
assets. Schwab provides individual investors with a complete range of stock
brokerage services, mutual funds, financial planning and investment advice,
retirement plans and banking products and services, through branch offices, the
telephone and the Web. The Charles Schwab, U.S. Trust and CyberTrader Web
sites can be reached at schwab.com, ustrust.com and cybertrader.com,
respectively.
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