Steven Alker Wins Ally Challenge, Holds Off Michael Block

By Staff Writer

August 31, 2026

3 min read

Steven Alker in competition on the PGA Tour Champions

Jhansen23 / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Key takeaways

Steven Alker closed with a 4-under 68 to win The Ally Challenge at 15 under, three strokes ahead of the field.
The victory was Alker's 13th PGA Tour Champions title, his third of the 2026 season and his second in as many weeks.
Michael Block, who led by two entering the final round, bogeyed the 13th and 15th holes and finished tied for third at 11 under.
Retief Goosen shot a final-round 8-under 64, the low round of the day, to finish runner-up at 12 under.
The tournament signed a one-year extension and will return to Warwick Hills Aug. 27-29, 2027, for its 10th edition.

Steven Alker won The Ally Challenge on Sunday at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club in Grand Blanc, Michigan, closing with a 4-under 68 to finish at 15 under and beat Michael Block and a chasing pack of major champions by three strokes.

How did Alker take the lead from Michael Block?

Alker began the day two shots behind Block, the 50-year-old PGA Tour Champions rookie chasing his first win in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. Alker took sole possession of the lead with a birdie at the par-4 12th, then extended it with a two-putt birdie at the par-5 13th after a 3-wood approach from 245 yards. "Perfect number. Worked out well," Alker said of the shot. He added further birdies at the 14th and a 60-foot putt at the 15th to pull away for good.

Four birdies in five holes turned a two-shot deficit into a three-shot cushion.

What happened to Michael Block on the back nine?

Block found trouble at the 13th, where an overhanging tree blocked his approach; he pulled a 3-wood well left, missed short-sided, and needed a bunker shot and an up-and-down just to make bogey. A bogey at the par-4 15th followed, and Block finished the week tied for third at 11 under alongside Stewart Cink and Greg Chalmers. It was Block's fifth PGA Tour Champions start.

Who else contended at Warwick Hills?

Retief Goosen, the two-time U.S. Open champion, shot the tournament's low round Sunday, an 8-under 64, to climb into a share of the lead on the back nine before missing short birdie putts at the 13th and 14th. He finished alone in second at 12 under. Stewart Cink, the 2024 and 2025 champion, shot 67 to finish 11 under. Angel Cabrera finished sixth at 10 under, and Padraig Harrington tied for seventh at 9 under.

Finish	Player	Final Round	Total
1	Steven Alker	68	-15
2	Retief Goosen	64	-12
T3	Michael Block	74	-11
T3	Stewart Cink	67	-11
T3	Greg Chalmers	69	-11

The win was Alker's second at Warwick Hills and boosted his standing in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup points race, which the 55-year-old New Zealander has won twice before. The Ally Challenge announced a one-year extension shortly before this year's event and will return Aug. 27-29, 2027, for its 10th edition.