Top 35 finishers earn place on the Corebridge Financial Team at the 2025 Senior PGA Championship
SUNRIVER, Oregon – The 2024 Senior PGA Professional Championship heads to Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon, this week as 264 of the top PGA of America Golf Professionals 50 years of age and older will compete for the Leo Fraser Trophy.
The Senior PGA Professional Championship supported by Golf Channel annually features many of the finest senior players in the Association. The four-day, 72-hole Championship begins Thursday, Sept. 26, and concludes Sunday, Sept. 29.
The top 35 finishers will earn a spot on the Corebridge Financial Team to compete in the 2025 Senior PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club, Blue course, in Bethesda, Maryland, May 19-25.
Bob Sowards, the 2023 Senior PGA Professional Champion, is one of nine past Champions in the field. The PGA Director of Instruction at Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club in Powell, Ohio, shot a final round 6-under-par 66 to win by six and finish at 15-under-par 272 on PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker course last October.
It marked Sowards’ second Senior PPC title as he became the seventh PGA of America Golf Professional to win the event twice.
“I did everything well,” said Sowards. “To win by six, you’ve got to be on top of your game. Being mentally focused and not giving away shots is the main thing. I felt like I did really well on that and trying to stay in the present. Hopefully I can duplicate that this year.”
Sowards, a five-time winner of the Senior PGA Professional Player of the Year award, plans to arrive early to familiarize himself with the Meadows and Woodlands courses. He has competed at Sunriver Resort before, finishing 8th and T-22 in the 2013 and 2007 PGA Professional Championships.
In addition to the Leo Fraser Trophy, named after the 16th president of the PGA of America, players are competing for a $335,000 purse, including the winner’s share of $29,800.
Exemptions also in play include:
- The top five finishers gain an exemption into the final stage of the 2025 PGA Tour Champions Qualifying School – Final Stage 2024 (providing they have entered).
- The top eight finishers, including ties, will automatically qualify for the 2025 Senior PGA Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, next October.
Each player will compete on Sunriver’s Meadows and Woodlands courses on Thursday and Friday before a cut to the low 90 scorers and ties. The third and final rounds will be played exclusively on the Meadows course. A second cut following Saturday’s round will be made to the low 70 scorers and ties.
Sunriver Resort, one of the country’s most scenic golf destinations, has previously hosted five PGA of America member championships, including the 2024 PGA Cup and 50th PGA Professional Championship in 2017.
The Meadows course, designed by John Fought, features seven holes that border the Sun River and pays tribute to the great American golf courses from the 1920s and ‘30s. Meadows has hosted numerous USGA and NCAA championships including the NCAA Men’s Division 1 Championship.
The Woodlands course was designed by renowned golf course architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. and features dense forests of ponderosa and lodgepole pine, prominent lava rock formations and an abundance of water.
For more about the Senior PGA Professional Championship, visit here.
