Alker leads from wire-to-wire, claims Simmons Bank Championship
LITTLE ROCK – The day started off foggy, but it didn’t matter to New Zealand’s Steven Alker who shot a 69 on Sunday in the final round of the Simmons Bank Championship presented by Stephens at Little Rock’s Pleasant Valley Country Club.
Alker ended up shooting 196 over the event’s three-days and mostly had it wrapped up after shooting 61 on Friday.. That 61 is the lowest one-round score on the PGA Champions tour this season and the lowest score at Pleasant Valley ever,
The previous low was 62, and also shot by Alker, who seems to have a thing for Pleasant Valley..
“I played well here last year.” Alker said after the win.”I’m familiar with the golf course and I feel comfortable. That’s huge. Especially when you’re trying to win a golf tournament.}
Alker ended up shooting a 61-66-69 and was 20 under for the week.
In a tie for second place was Tag Ridings, a former University of Arkansas golfer, and Richard Green, who both shot a 203 for the week.
As a former Hog, Ridings had the support of the crowd at Pleasant Valley and that made a difference.
“You always hear the crowd get loud,” he said. “:But it really meant something to hear them get loud for me,”
Ridings doesn’t make his way back to Arkansas very often, but playing in Little Rock was a treat.
“Last time I was here, it was up in Fayetteville for the Hall of Fame, and I guess that was the last time, since this week,” he said.
Ridings was inducted into the Arkansas Hall of Honor in April 2019.