Previewing next week’s 2022 Golfweek Senior Desert Showdown

The Sewailo Course at beautiful Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona, plays host to some of the best senior amateur golfers in the world beginning November 2nd. The 2022 Golfweek Senior Desert Showdown tees off on Wednesday with players beginning to make their final pushes for their chance at Golfweek Player of the Year honors.

With just three events remaining for this year’s POY title, the race is tight between No. 1 Rusty Strawn and No. 2 Kevin VandenBerg. With Strawn not in the field in Tucson, VandenBerg can take a bite out of the 1,930 points that separate the two men.

As the only player within nearly 4,000 points of Strawn, VandenBerg is mathematically the only challenger that can overtake Golfweek’s No. 1 as the season ticks down. Nonetheless, players inside the top 10 are all jockeying for strong finishes to gain momentum heading into the 2023 POY race.

No. 7 ranked Steve Maddalena is the next highest-ranked player in the field this week. A first-place finish this week would catapult him all the way to the No. 4 spot thanks to the 1,200 POY points that come with a win.

While it won’t put him close enough to challenge Strawn, Maddalena would most certainly use the late-season push as a building block for next season.

The field also includes Craig Larson, who went wire-to-wire in his victory back in late September.

In all, four different age divisions will duke it out over 54 holes in the desert. Four new champions will be crowned with winners being invited to the year-end Golfweek Tournament of Champions.

If you want to play elite golf courses across the country against some of the best senior amateurs in the world, check out Golfweek’s events schedule. There’s still time to register for the three remaining events that round out the calendar year. The Golfweek Player of the Year Classic in January kicks off the 2023 race for Player of the Year honors. We hope you join us!