Darren Fichardt eagles 18 to win in Little Rock as Bernhard Langer misses the Schwab Cup finale for the first time

Darren Fichardt holed a 10-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th at Pleasant Valley on Sunday to win the Simmons Bank Championship by one over Zach Johnson. It is his first PGA Tour Champions title, and it moved him from 46th to 17th in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, which puts him in the 36-man season finale.

Fichardt and Johnson both shot 8-under 64. They were tied at 20 under on the 18th tee. Johnson birdied the last to post 21 under, and Fichardt answered with the eagle to finish at 22 under, 69-61-64.

"That's something fairytales are written about," Fichardt told Golfweek. His wife caddied for him this week. Golfweek also reports he had to Monday qualify four times this season.

Who got in, and who didn't

Only the top 36 in points advance to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club, Nov. 12-15. All 36 also keep full status for 2027, so the cutoff decides jobs as well as the finale field.

• Darren Fichardt jumped 29 spots, from 46th to 17th, with the win. Golfweek says he was one of only three players who started the week outside the top 36 and finished inside it.
• Zach Johnson stays second in points. A win would have moved him past Stewart Cink for the No. 1 spot, per AP and Golfweek. Johnson was chasing a seventh win in his rookie season on the senior tour.
• Stewart Cink tied for 10th and holds the points lead going to Phoenix, where he is the defending champion.
• Michael Block tied for 10th but moved only from 43rd to 42nd, so his season is over and he misses the 2027 card that comes with the top 36. Golfweek counts 20 starts, six top-5s, eight top-10s and $548,971 in earnings for the club pro who made a hole-in-one alongside Rory McIlroy at the 2023 PGA Championship.
• Bernhard Langer, 69, sat out Little Rock rather than play four weeks in a row and finished outside the top 36. Golfweek reports it is the first time he will miss the finale since he joined the circuit full time in 2008, ending a run of 18 straight appearances.

Jerry Kelly shot 67 to finish third at 14 under. George McNeill, Soren Kjeldsen and Scott Hend tied for fourth at 13 under.

The finale is 72 holes with a $3 million purse. First round is Thursday, Nov. 12, and the season-long Schwab Cup is decided that Sunday.