Bernhard Langer may have ruptured his Achilles tendon back in February and been forced onto the sidelines for three months, but the 67-year-old wasn’t going to let that stop him extending his 17-season winning streak on the PGA Champions Tour.
With 46 Champions Tour wins and a dozen senior major championships, he’s already by far the most decorated player ever to grace the circuit, but despite hitting the front after 54 holes, he appeared to be running out of steam coming down the stretch in the Charles Schwab Championship at Phoenix Country Club and found himself tied for the lead with New Zealander Steven Alker who had an eight-footer for birdie while Langer had almost four-times the distance for a birdie of his own.
Call it genius, call it force of will, call it what you like, Langer’s left-to-right slider disappeared into the hole, raising the stakes for Alker who couldn’t respond in kind and it was win number 47, and 18 consecutive Champions Tour campaigns with at least one victory.
“When we arrived here on Monday, I mentioned to Terry [Langer’s caddie] that we hadn’t won this year, and we’ve only got one more chance,” said Langer, who required surgery to repair his left Achilles tendon, which he tore playing pickleball. “This was the least likely one to win, because I’ve just never done very well here for some reason.
“But I had one of the best putting weeks of my life.”
Alker can console himself with a joint runner-up finish alongside Richard Green and the number one ranking and accompanying $1 million bonus having overtaken Ernie Els who finished tied for 13th.
“Just competing with Bernhard and everybody out here on the Champions Tour,” Alker said, “it’s just made me a better player. I’m very grateful for that.”
Pádraig Harrington was one of six players who held destiny in his own hands and would’ve taken the number-one ranking with a win, but the Dubliner didn’t have his ‘A’ game all week and his final round three-under 68 was his lowest of the four and saw him round out the tournament tied for eighth and in fourth spot in the season-long race.
“That’s another year done,” the three-time 2024 winner tweeted after his round. “Well I just have the PNC Championship to look forward to, before Christmas. I shot 68 today for 8 under T8th. I holed a nice 8 footer on the last to hold onto my 4th place in the Schwab Cup. Struggled on the greens this week but in general this was one of my better years putting. Long game turned around nicely in the last few months. So unusually I’ve nothing new to work on this winter, just mental game stuff and speed.”
Darren Clarke can take consolation from the fact that he too carded his best round of the week on the final day, and his 67 lifted him into a tie for 23rd, bringing down the curtain on a season where he showed glimpses of the ball-striking that propelled him to win a Senior Open title to go with his 2011 Open Championship victory, but those glimpses were too few and far between for the Dungannon man’s liking.
Els, who led the rankings for much of the season, was gracious in defeat and paid tribute to Langer’s outstanding longevity.
“Incredible, just incredible,” said Els, whose best round of the week (4-under 67) wasn’t enough to save his rankings spot. “He (Langer) just defies anything. He’s an absolute incredible golfer. … I just saw some highlights in there, he’s making long putts. Just a wonderful player, and wonderful asset to our game.”
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