Bernhard Langer continues to defy Father Time. The 62 year old has won eight Champion’s Tour events since he turned 60 and was able to separate himself from the field on the back nine at Tucson National, to secure his victory. His 18 under par total of 201 was good enough to take home the $255,000 first place purse…and his 61st win on the Champions Tour…just 4 behind alltime winner Hale Irwin.
Langer said he knew he had to take chances, starting the day three shots down. “Today was extremely good. I drove the ball phenomenally. I played very aggressive off the tee, I took driver where I sometimes would take a 3-wood or hybrid… “
This Cologuard Classic marked the first Champion’s Tour appearance of Hall of Famer Ernie Els. Els finished -6. Even though he finished halfway down the leaderboard, Els drew huge galleries on all three days…as did fan favorite Freddie Couples, who was leading early on the last day but faded on the back nine.
Former Tucson high school star, Willie Wood, finished -7…breaking par on all three days. Last year’s second place finisher said that it’s a nice home field advantage for him, saying that he’d probably played the course over 200 times.
Tucson National, and the Cologuard Classic, received rave reviews from the tour golfers, all agreeing the course was in perfect shape…and the weather was near perfect. A number of golfers placed the tournament near the top of the tournaments on their tour, saying it will only draw more notoriety now that the sponsor agreement has been extended for four more years.
