Langer Secures Senior Open Championship at Royal Porthcawl

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

If there is one thing you can guarantee with Bernhard Langer it is that when he gets into a winning position, nobody is going to catch him. He began the final round of the Senior British Open with an eight-shot lead over Rick Gibson and finished it by winning the title by an astonishing 13 shots from Colin Montgomerie at Royal Porthcawl.

His rivals needed Langer to slip up, but that was never likely to happen and he closed out the tournament with a final round of 67. Langer, the 56-year-old former Masters champion, was in a class of his own all week.

He set a new record for the biggest winning margin in the Senior Open, beating Bob Charles’s 1989 benchmark by six strokes. And he denied Montgomerie the chance of winning three successive senior majors.

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A crowd of more than 10,000  watched Langer’s final round victory march, taking the total attendance for Wales’ first senior major to 43, 503,  just short of last year’s record of 45, 503 at Royal Birkdale last year.

Only four other players broke par for the Championship, with Montgomerie a distant second on five under par following a final round of 69.

Englishman Barry Lane (72), American Tom Pernice Jnr (70) and Gibson (75) shared third place on two under par, but the result was never in doubt as Langer strolled to his second Senior Claret Jug, following his wire-to-wire victory at Carnoustie in 2010.

“This is very unusual,” said Langer, who earns a place in next year’s Open at St Andrews. “I've won a tournament by 17, the World Championship under 25 years, but this just doesn't happen, not with the competition you're facing. And certainly not in a major usually where the best from around the globe are playing. So it's been an amazing week for me.”
He birdied the second and third holes, and although he dropped a shot at  the fourth he regained it on the sixth, then followed a bogey on the 11th with a birdie on the 12th before a tap in birdie on the last.

“I am just very blessed to be able to play such good golf, and I really enjoy the 18 holes today because there wasn't too much pressure,” said the two-time Master Champion. “I still had to obviously hit some decent shots and make some putts, but I got off to a great start, and you know, increased my lead and it was a real pleasure to be playing the last ten, 12 holes.

Montgomerie paid tribute to the incredible accomplishment of his former Ryder Cup teammate. “I would like to say, Bernhard Langer's performance here is one of the golfing performances of all?time,” said the Scot. “To finish 18 under round here is remarkable play. There is satisfaction in finishing second today. The rest of us were playing for second place, and I feel that I won. I won the battle. There were 144 in the field and I beat 142 of them, it was just him. But that him is awfully good, I must admit.

“I've played well here, and I've lost by 13, which is ridiculous. All credit to him.”

Miguel Angel Jimenez completed his first appearance in the event with an eagle on the last hole for a round of 68 to finish tied eighth on one over par, while US Ryder Cup Captain Tom Watson closed with a 77 to fall back to a share of tenth on two over par.

Derek Clements is a sports journalist with a particular passion for golf with over 12 years of experience covering golf and other sports including Chief Sub-Editor on the sports desk of The Sunday Times. To contact Derek email direct via [email protected]