Singh wins; Langer claims season title
Vijay Singh rallied from six shots behind Sunday in Phoenix with his career-best round on the PGA Tour Champions, a 10-under 61 that gave him a four-shot victory in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship and gave Bernhard Langer the season title and $1 million annuity.
Langer won the Schwab Cup for the fifth time, and fourth time in the last five years.
“At age 61 to do it is quite an achievement,” Langer said, holding a glass of red wine on the balcony at Phoenix Country Club. “Maybe there’s another in me.”
Scott McCarron was in position to capture the Schwab Cup for the first time, needing only to win the final tournament of the season provided Langer didn’t make a big run and finish among the top three. Langer tied for 13th.
McCarron, however, faded badly. He hit a tee shot out-of-bounds on No. 3 to make double bogey and was never under par at any point in the final round. Needing a big finish, McCarron hit over the green into a corporate grandstand behind the 17th hole and made another double bogey.
He closed with a 72 and tied for third.
The charge came from Singh, who was holing putts from everywhere and lost track of his score until it was time to sign his card. His 61 was his lowest score by two shots on the 50-and-older circuit.
“I really didn’t think chance,” Singh said.
Singh said he saw a leader board around the 13th hole that showed him tied for the lead, and he poured it on.
He punched a wedge under the trees to 30 feet and holed the birdie putt on the 16th, rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th and was on his way.
Singh finished at 22-under 262 to win by four shots over Tim Petrovic, who started the final round one shot behind McCarron and closed with a 70.
The 55-year-old Fijian won for the
I had any third time this year and finished at No. 4 in the Schwab Cup.
“The way they were scoring all week, I thought if I got to 20 (under), I might finish top 5,” Singh said. “I birdied the first two, hit it close at 4. I just kept going. I didn’t think about much. I didn’t even know what we were shooting.”
Singh missed only one green in regulation.
Langer capped off another remarkable year for a 61-year-old German with an ageless game. He only won twice, his fewest since 2015, but was runner-up six times.
“It doesn’t get old,” he said. Langer was among only six players who had a mathematical chance to win the Schwab Cup. McCarron was the only one who had a chance to win Sunday, and he wound up second in the Schwab Cup, worth a $500,000 bonus.
Wes Short had a 69 and tied for third with McCarron.
Madison’s Jerry Kelly finished with a 69 and was 10 strokes back.
PGA Tour: Matt Kuchar ended more than four years without a victory by closing with a 2-under 69 and holding up through a few nervous moments down the stretch to win the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Kuchar had a four-shot lead going into the final round.
But after making two bogeys over the first 67 holes in the tournament, he made two bogeys in two holes on Nos. 14 and 15, and his lead shrunk to one shot when Danny Lee made a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the 16th hole.
Lee finished with two pars for a 65. Kuchar qualifies for the Sentry Tournament of Champions to start next year at Kapalua.
He finished at 22-under 262, breaking by one the 72-hole record at Mayakoba previously held by Harris English.
J.J. Spaun (66) and Richy Werenski (67) tied for third.
Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk closed with a 67 and was among those who tied for sixth.