LANGER WINS US SENIORS TOUR EVENT
BY A MIGHTY IMPRESSIVE EIGHT SHOTS
By Melanie Hauser
US PGA Tour website
SPRING, Texas -- He didn't leave a shot out there Sunday. But, oh, how the field wished he had. This one wasn't close. It wasn't even close to close. Think Tiger at Pebble Beach. Or Augusta. n the tables. The Champions (Seniors) Tour rookie opened with a course-record 62 and never looked back. He slept on a four-shot lead Saturday night and held a 17-under-par total of 127 -- the lowest 36 relative to par on the Tour this season.
And Sunday? No one got closer than three shots -- and that was for four early holes.
Langer won the Administaff Small Business Classic by eight. Did we mention his 25-under 191 tied the all-time 54-hole Champions Tour record set by Loren Roberts at the 2006 MasterCard Championship at Hualalai?
And, oh. Two-time Masters champ at Augusta National, one-time champ at Augusta Pines. Yes, his caddie, Terry Holt, reminded him.
There was no catching Herr Langer. None at all.
And just think. This is only his fourth Champions Tour event. His worst finish in the previous three? A tie for 13th at last week's Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship.
The other players noticed. In fact, a couple of them teased him in the locker room Sunday morning before he went to the range.
Hey, why don't you find another place to play?
Langer grinned. "It's been,'' he said, "a fantastic week.''
Not perfect. But damn close.
He couldn't argue with his debut at this Augusta -- birdie, eagle. Or the 62. And while he wasn't that pleased with his second-round 65 -- "left a few shots out there," he said -- the closing 64 was oh-so sweet.
"Today was pretty decent,'' he said.
Playing partners Mark O'Meara and Tom Kite just shook their heads.
It's not often you shoot 17 under for the week, O'Meara said, and LOSE by eight shots.
Kite was nine back and, like O'Meara, felt he played great.
"We got all got hammered,'' Kite said. "I'm pleased with the way I played, but Bernhard did some unbelievable things.''
Just pick a hole. Six of his eight birdies were inside 8 feet. And, yes, he was razor-sharp with his irons.
As always, he was precise. Methodical. Deliberate.
The difference was all those putts. And no three-putts.
The wind whipped up before he, Kite and O'Meara teed off and it took a few holes for all three to settle in. But even when Kite eagled the second hole, Langer scrambled for a birdie.
"But,'' Kite said, "we weren't able to put any heat on him.''
That didn't mean Langer was going to let up. He couldn't. Not a bit.
"There were a lot of champions who were there to snap at my heels if I faltered,'' he said.
Yet, they didn't. And when Langer wedged to 7 feet at the eighth hole to go up by four shots? The switch flipped. Two holes later, his 9-iron stopped 8 feet from the pin and he was up by five and cruising.
"Once I got real comfortable, accelerated and made some crucial good iron shots," Langer said.
By then, it was all over. He birdied the 12th and 13th to go up by six and birdied the last three holes -- he tapped in, basically, from three feet at the 18th -- for the win.
Yes, Langer won the World Cup with Marcel Siem last year. And he and son Stefan won the Del Webb Father-Son Championship in 2005 and 2006. But it wasn't winning a stroke-play event.
Langer came close in May, losing a playoff to Rory Sabbatini at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial on the PGA TOUR. And he tied for ninth at the Shell Houston Open. It's all, he said, due to the putter.
He's gotten his shoulders into his stroke the last year and that rocking motion has meant smoother strokes and more putts falling into the hole. Like the blur of all of them dropping this week.
"That's a nice blur to have,'' he said.
He flew home to Fort Lauderdale Sunday night to be at Stefan's district golf tournament Monday morning. The 17-year-old junior is turning into quite a good player and, well, Dad didn't want to miss it.
But he'll be back in Texas next week at the AT&T Championship at Oak Hills in San Antonio. And there's a chance, too, that if Langer could win his fifth start at next week's AT&T Championship and get some help from borderline players, he could play his way into the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Again, the players have noticed just how hot a start he's had.
"Hopefully, he'll cool off,'' Kite grinned, "and we won't have to put up with it.''
He WAS kidding.
"That's the great thing about the Champions Tour,'' Kite said, "There's not the jealousies and the grudges and the intense competition you have on the PGA TOUR.
"I'm glad Bernhard is playing out here. I think he's going to bring a lot of credibility and a lot of excitement to the Champions Tour and that is good for our business. I hope he keeps playing well out here and if he does, we're all going to have to step up to the plate.''
Or get left in the dust like they did at Augusta Pines.
And Sunday? No one got closer than three shots -- and that was for four early holes.
Langer won the Administaff Small Business Classic by eight. Did we mention his 25-under 191 tied the all-time 54-hole Champions Tour record set by Loren Roberts at the 2006 MasterCard Championship at Hualalai?
And, oh. Two-time Masters champ at Augusta National, one-time champ at Augusta Pines. Yes, his caddie, Terry Holt, reminded him.
There was no catching Herr Langer. None at all.
And just think. This is only his fourth Champions Tour event. His worst finish in the previous three? A tie for 13th at last week's Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship.
The other players noticed. In fact, a couple of them teased him in the locker room Sunday morning before he went to the range.
Hey, why don't you find another place to play?
Langer grinned. "It's been,'' he said, "a fantastic week.''
Not perfect. But damn close.
He couldn't argue with his debut at this Augusta -- birdie, eagle. Or the 62. And while he wasn't that pleased with his second-round 65 -- "left a few shots out there," he said -- the closing 64 was oh-so sweet.
"Today was pretty decent,'' he said.
Playing partners Mark O'Meara and Tom Kite just shook their heads.
It's not often you shoot 17 under for the week, O'Meara said, and LOSE by eight shots.
Kite was nine back and, like O'Meara, felt he played great.
"We got all got hammered,'' Kite said. "I'm pleased with the way I played, but Bernhard did some unbelievable things.''
Just pick a hole. Six of his eight birdies were inside 8 feet. And, yes, he was razor-sharp with his irons.
As always, he was precise. Methodical. Deliberate.
The difference was all those putts. And no three-putts.
The wind whipped up before he, Kite and O'Meara teed off and it took a few holes for all three to settle in. But even when Kite eagled the second hole, Langer scrambled for a birdie.
"But,'' Kite said, "we weren't able to put any heat on him.''
That didn't mean Langer was going to let up. He couldn't. Not a bit.
"There were a lot of champions who were there to snap at my heels if I faltered,'' he said.
Yet, they didn't. And when Langer wedged to 7 feet at the eighth hole to go up by four shots? The switch flipped. Two holes later, his 9-iron stopped 8 feet from the pin and he was up by five and cruising.
"Once I got real comfortable, accelerated and made some crucial good iron shots," Langer said.
By then, it was all over. He birdied the 12th and 13th to go up by six and birdied the last three holes -- he tapped in, basically, from three feet at the 18th -- for the win.
Yes, Langer won the World Cup with Marcel Siem last year. And he and son Stefan won the Del Webb Father-Son Championship in 2005 and 2006. But it wasn't winning a stroke-play event.
Langer came close in May, losing a playoff to Rory Sabbatini at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial on the PGA TOUR. And he tied for ninth at the Shell Houston Open. It's all, he said, due to the putter.
He's gotten his shoulders into his stroke the last year and that rocking motion has meant smoother strokes and more putts falling into the hole. Like the blur of all of them dropping this week.
"That's a nice blur to have,'' he said.
He flew home to Fort Lauderdale Sunday night to be at Stefan's district golf tournament Monday morning. The 17-year-old junior is turning into quite a good player and, well, Dad didn't want to miss it.
But he'll be back in Texas next week at the AT&T Championship at Oak Hills in San Antonio. And there's a chance, too, that if Langer could win his fifth start at next week's AT&T Championship and get some help from borderline players, he could play his way into the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Again, the players have noticed just how hot a start he's had.
"Hopefully, he'll cool off,'' Kite grinned, "and we won't have to put up with it.''
He WAS kidding.
"That's the great thing about the Champions Tour,'' Kite said, "There's not the jealousies and the grudges and the intense competition you have on the PGA TOUR.
"I'm glad Bernhard is playing out here. I think he's going to bring a lot of credibility and a lot of excitement to the Champions Tour and that is good for our business. I hope he keeps playing well out here and if he does, we're all going to have to step up to the plate.''
Or get left in the dust like they did at Augusta Pines.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
191 B Langer (Ger) 62 65 64 ($255,00).
199 M O'Meara (US) 67 64 68 ($149,600).
200 T Kite (US) 66 65 69 ($122,400).
202 J Haas (US) 69 66 67, L Nielsen (&S) 67 67 68 ($91,800 each).
Other scores:
203 M James (Eng) 68 68 67, B Crenshaw (US) 70 65 68 ($52,700 each).
212 D Smyth (Ire) 69 71 72 (jt 46th) ($5,950)
Labels: Pro seniors
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Tuesday, October 16, 2007
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