NAPLES, Fla. — Already the oldest winner in PGA Tour Champions history, Bernhard Langer completed a wire-to-wire victory Sunday for his record fourth Chubb Classic title.
Langer won at 64 years, 5 months, 23 days to push his victory total to 43 on the 50-and-over tour, two behind Hale Irwin for the record, and win for the 16th straight season.
« I’m getting closer now. » Langer said about Irwin’s record. « Years ago I thought, ‘Well, that’s almost impossible to reach that.′ Looking back now, I’ve lost a bunch of playoffs the last three or four years. If I had won a couple of those, I would be right there . »
The German star became the oldest tour winner in October at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Virginia.
« I’m a very competitive person and so I love to compete, » Langer said. « I work hard at it, as you all know. I spent a lot of time practicing and trying to figure out the game. »
Langer closed with his second straight 4-under 68, birdieing the par-5 18th on Tiburon Golf Club’s Black Course for the third day in a row, to finish at 16-under 200. He beat Tim Petrovic by three strokes after taking a two -stroke leads into the final round.
Langer opened Thursday by shooting his age with a 64. In the final round, the two-time Masters champion had six birdies — going 4-for-4 on the par 5s — and two bogeys.
« I liked this golf course when I saw it last year, » Langer said. « I felt I could win here. It’s not one for the bombers, where you just hit it as far as you can and hit it again. You got to be very precise. »
Langer also won the event — in its 35th season, the longest-running PGA Tour Champions tournament in the same city — in 2011 at The Quarry and 2013 and 2016 at TwinEagles. The six-time Charles Schwab Cup seasons points champions also won wire-to-wire in 2013 and 2016. Irwin won the event three times.
Petrovic finished with a 69.
« Germans win the gold again, » Petrovic joked. « Jeez, unbelievable. Shocker. »
Winless on the senior tour, he birdied Nos. 13 and 14 and closed with four pars.
« I battled back, » Petrovic said. « I battled back yesterday. Started off over by and just kept hammering away and giving myself chances and just fell a couple short. »
Retief Goosen was third at 12 under after a 70.
Brian Gay closed with a 69 to finish fourth at 10 under in his senior debut. Gay turned 50 on Dec. 14. He won the Bermuda Championship on the PGA Tour in the fall of 2020.
« I’m going to do the rest of the Florida swing on the regular tour and stay close to home, » Gay said. « Just got back from out west so I don’t really want to go back and forth. And then pop back out here in a couple months probably. »
YE Yang, also making his tour debut, tied for 12th at 6 under after a 73.
Steve Stricker, the winner last year, was unable to play as he tries to regain strength from a virus that hospitalized him late last year.
