Whyatt O’Rourke met Steven Alker on Thursday, the day before the inaugural Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic at Lehigh Country Club.
A day later, O’Rourke, a 19-year-old Quakertown resident, ran into Alker again on the ninth tee … with a caddie bib ready to carry Alker’s bag.
Sunday afternoon in the rain, O’Rourke was celebrating a championship with Alker, who fired a final-round, 4-under-par 66 to beat Tag Ridings by one shot and second-round leader Michael Block by two.
“It was a busy week,” O’Rourke said. “I was with Scott Parel at first. He was the first alternate and didn’t get in. Then, I was with Joe Durant before my caddy master called me and said [Alker’s] caddie went down.
“We got right into it. I was walking up to the ninth tee box throwing a bib on and carrying the bag.”
Alker’s win was his fourth this season, 14th on the PGA Tour Champions circuit after having a relatively obscure pro career on various tours before turning 50 in 2021.
The 55-year-old birdied the par-3 16th and par-4 17th to take control of a crowded leaderboard that included Ridings, Block and Stewart Cink, who entered the weekend No. 1 in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.
Cink fired a 7-under 63 on Sunday that included five birdies in a seven-hole stretch to start the back nine. His bogey on the 18th left him in a tie for fourth.
Alker was appreciative of the help he got from O’Rourke, a scratch golfer who graduated in 2025 from Quakertown and is in his first year at Lehigh CC as a caddie.
“He did a great job, a great fill-in,” Alker said. “I was kind of surprised to see him on the ninth tee on Friday. He just showed up and said, ‘I’m filling in for you.’
“We met on Thursday, had a chat and then, all of a sudden, he’s caddying for me on No. 9 [on Friday]. So, it’s a pretty cool story.”
Tom Housenick/The Morning Call
Emmaus graduate Michelle Cox was a caddie for Chris Thompson at this weekend’s Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic at Lehigh Country Club. (Tom Housenick/The Morning Call)
O’Rourke wasn’t the only former area high school golfer on the bag this weekend. Michelle Cox looped for Chris Thompson, who finished tied for 20th.
Cox is a 2021 Emmaus graduate who captured three EPC titles, two District 11 Class 3A crowns among four top-3 finishes and second-, fourth- and 13th-place finishes at the PIAA Golf Championships before having a solid career at Penn State.
The 23-year-old has been a member at Lehigh CC for years. She’s played hundred of rounds at the course.
“Last year was my 10th year caddying,” she said. “I don’t really caddy any more, but that was the coolest loop ever.
“Every time we made birdie, it was really cool. Watching the leaderboard, we were just trying to get up as high as we could.”
Cox found her way on the bag through a friend of a friend of [Thompson] who is a Lehigh CC social member. She wasn’t able to caddie for the practice round, so her dad, Dave, filled in.
A wholesaler who works remotely for a company in Charlotte and still lives locally, Cox is not playing as much golf as she would like. But she was trusted to provide help reading the greens she’s been playing for years.
“Pin placements and tee shots and positioning matters,” she said. “There are subtle breaks you really don’t see. The valley tugs on it, maybe, or there’s a ridge. Subtle stuff.”
Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic’s first year of a five-year agreement with PGA Tour Champions went over well with about 30,000 fans attending the week. That is the second-highest total on the tour in 2026, with only two regular-season events left on the schedule.
Alker stays third on the Charles Schwab Cup standings behind Cink and Zach Johnson, who did not play this week. Alker made a huge putt on No. 17 from above the hole, a slider putt he had some history with.
“I didn’t have to do much,” Alker said. “I just had to get it started down the hill. I had a similar putt on Friday, so I had a fair idea about how much it was breaking. It was good to see it go down.
“The last four holes, I had an idea [where I stood on the leaderboard]. But it was pretty tight. [Block] and I were going head to head [in the final group], though I wasn’t sure what was going on ahead of me.”
In addition to Cink, Ridings shot a 6-under 64 that included birdies on the last two holes from the group ahead of Alker and Block.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com