Darren Clarke’s recent rich vein of form continued at the PGA Champions Tour’s Ascension Charity Classic as the Dungannon man finished in a tie for eighth, while Y.E. Yang held off a Bernhard Langer for victory.
2009 PGA Championship winner Yang had yet to win in 71 starts on the seniors circuit, and despite leading after both 18 and 36 holes, when Langer birdied the 54th and final regulation hole to draw level with the Korean, the odds suggested that Yang would go 0-for-72 and Langer would improve to 47-for-351.
Yang had other ideas, however, and when they headed back to 18 for the playoff, this time it was he who birdied to secure the victory and become the second Korean to win on tour after K.J. Choi took glory at the Senior Open Championship back in late July.
Langer had thrust himself into the mix with a 67 on Saturday – the 17th time he shot his age on tour – and quickly made it 18 when he shot the joint low round of the day with a 64 on Sunday to reel in Yang who’d started two strokes clear.
But Yang is no stranger to giant killing, having become the first player to deny Tiger Woods victory when the now 15-time major winner held the 54-hole lead in a major championship, and in taking down the record Champions Tour victory holder, can now add Langer’s scalp to that of Woods.
Clarke has now played 18 events on the circuit in 2024 and this was his third top-10 finish in a row. Birdies on his opening two holes briefly had him eyeing an unlikely fifth Champions Tour win, but back-to-back bogeys on five and six put paid to those chances, though another birdie on te eighth was a good response.
He’d bogey one more on the back side but counter it with three birdies to close out the week with a 68 and a T8 finish, but the week belonged to Yang.
“PGA … long time ago,” Yang, smiling, told Golf Channel reporter John Cook after sinking the title-winning putt at Norwood Hills. “But Champions? Just third year. It’s good. … Today I think was a special, special day.”
Langer continues to defy his age, and disappointed as he was not to get win number 47, enjoyed the battle with Yang and Stewart Cink who finished one shot outside the playoff.
“Yeah, played well,” Langer said. “I had another birdie chance in the playoff and I missed. He (Yang) made. You know, he played great golf. Stewart Cink had a chance, too. It was a great match all day long.”
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