Phillips earns berth in 2026 Senior PGA Championship
PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida (Oct. 26, 2025) – With a tie for 25th Sunday in the 2025 Senior PGA Professional Championship, Tracy Phillips of Tulsa has earned a spot in the 2026 Senior PGA Championship. It will be the fifth consecutive year he has competed in the major championship and the eighth time overall.
Phillips shot steady rounds of 73-73-72-72 over four days at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., to finish at 2-over. Justin Hicks (Wellington, Fla.) hoisted the Leo Fraser Trophy for the first time after recording a final-round 1-under-par 71 on PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker course to finish the week at 8-under-par 280 and win by one.
While waiting for a delayed flight at the Orlando airport today, Phillips said his ballstriking through the four days was spot on but he felt let down by his putting on the fast Bermuda greens.
“I hit 14, 15, 15 and 16 greens in regulation in the four rounds and missed 14 putts inside of 10 feet and 7 inside of 5 feet,” Phillips said. “I hit it well enough to be in contention to win but it’s unfortunate that the putter is the thing that’s holding me back.”
Phillips will also compete next April in the PGA Professional Championship at Bandon Dunes with a chance to earn a spot in the 2026 PGA Championship. He made his way through to compete in the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla. His best finish in the Senior PGA Championship was a tie for 17th in 2023.
Phillips was the only one of the Oklahoma contestants to finish in the top 35 and earn a spot, although former Tulsan Brad Elder of Texas did get a spot with a tie for 35th.
Chris Tidland of Stillwater Country Club was in the top 20 through three rounds but a final-round bounced him to a tie for 39th, where he was tied with Tim Fleming of Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club, both one agonizing shot out of the top 35. Willie Wood of Edmond tied for 53rd.
Chris TidlandSunday’s victory continues a strong run for Hicks, a PGA Teaching Professional at Stonebridge Country Club in Boca Raton, Florida, who claimed seven victories at the South Florida PGA Section and Chapter levels earlier this year.
“It’s a really good group of players out there and to come out on top of it I feel pretty good about it,” said Hicks. “I play against so many good players in our section. I steamrolled it a little bit into continuing what I was doing this summer to beat the young guys.”
Alan Morin (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) finished second at 7-under-par 281. Omar Uresti (Austin, Texas) took third at 6-under-par 282. Tim Cantwell (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) finished fourth at 5-under-par 283 while Jeff Gove (Sandpoint, Idaho) claimed fifth at 4-under-par 284.
HThe complete list of 35 PGA of America Golf Professionals who earned a place on the Corebridge Financial Team for the 2026 Senior PGA Championship is below in the order they finished.
Justin Hicks (Wellington, Fla., Stonebridge Country Club, South Florida Section)
Alan Morin (Royal Palm Beach, Fla., The Club at Ibis, South Florida Section)
Omar Uresti (Austin, Texas, PGA Life Member, Southern Texas Section)
Tim Cantwell (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., PGA National Golf Club, South Florida Section)
Jeff Gove (Sandpoint, Idaho, PGA Life Member, Pacific Northwest Section)
Rohan Allwood (Prosperity, S.C., Chester Golf Club, Carolinas Section)
Ryan Malby (Kalispell, Mont., PGA Life Member, Pacific Northwest Section)
Rod Perry (Port Orange, Fla., Crane Lakes Golf & Country Club, North Florida Section)
Bob Sowards (Dublin, Ohio, Kinsale Golf & Fitness Club, Southern Ohio Section)
Paul Scaletta (Jupiter, Fla., The Bear’s Club, South Florida Section)
Neil Thompson (Hoover, Ala., Pine Tree Country Club, Alabama-NW Florida Section)
Brian Thornton (Sumner, Wash., Meridian Valley Country Club, Pacific Northwest Section)
Warren Pineo (Reno, Nev., Montreux Golf & Country Club, Northern California Section)
Matt Schalk (Erie, Colo., Colorado National Golf Club, Colorado Section)
Mark Brown (Hobe Sound, Fla., The Yacht & Country Club, South Florida Section)
Mick Smith (Summit, Wis., Mick Smith Golf, Wisconsin Section)
Steve Holmes (Ventura County, Calif., Rustic Canyon Golf Course, Southern California Section)
David Roesch (Menomonee Falls, Wis., Storm’s Golf Range, Wisconsin Section)
Frank Bensel (Jupiter, Fla., Galloway National Golf Club, Philadelphia Section)
Kyle Dobbs (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., Ardsley Country Club, Metropolitan Section)
Brian Smock (Coronado, Calif., Coronado Golf Course, Southern California Section)
Greg Bisconti (South Salem, N.Y., The Saint Andrew’s Golf Club, Metropolitan Section)
Grover Justice (Lexington, K.Y., Bluegrass Golf Academy, Kentucky Section)
Jim Deiters (Midland, Mich., Midland Country Club, Michigan Section)
Jeff Martin (Attleboro, Mass., Wollaston Golf Club, New England Section)
Todd Sapere (Cobbtown, Ga., Ohoopee Match Club, Georgia Section)
Jeff Hart (Solana Beach, Calif., PGA Life Member, Southern California Section)
Jeffrey Schmid (Iowa City, Iowa, Brown Deer Golf Club, Iowa Section)
Tracy Phillips (Tulsa, Okla., Cedar Ridge Country Club, South Central Section)
Craig Hocknull (Queen Creek, Ariz., Westchester Country Club, Metropolitan Section)
Mike Small (Champaign, Ill., University of Illinois, Illinois Section)
John Pillar (Hawley, Pa., CC at Woodloch Springs, Philadelphia Section)
Mike Stone (Toledo, Ohio, Belmont Country Club, Northern Ohio Section)
Brennan Little (Plano, Texas, PGA TOUR, Northern Texas Section)
Brad Elder (Dallas, Texas, PGA Life Member, Northern Texas Section)
The top eight finishers —Hicks, Morin, Uresti, Cantwell, Gove, Allwood, Malby and Perry— also qualified for the 2026 Senior PGA Professional Championship at Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club in Gold Canyon, Arizona.