Langer's 64 betters his age; he shares lead with Goydos
Four-time Chubb Classic champion and 44-time PGA Tour Champions winner Bernhard Langer bettered his age with an opening-round 64 and shared the lead with Paul Goydos, a Wilson High and Long Beach State alum, after Friday’s first round at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla.
Langer, 65, shot his age or better for the seventh time on the senior circuit.
This is his 41st time he is leading or co-leading after the first round on the tour. He is 18 for 40 converting those into victories.
The World Golf Hall of Fame member seeks his record-tying 45th win on PGA Tour Champions. He trails only Hale Irwin.
Langer seeks his fifth win at the Chubb Classic after claiming titles in 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2022.
Goydos, 58, carded his lowest 18-hole score on the senior tour since the 2021 Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
This is his eighth time leading or co-leading after the first round. His last win was 2017 3M Championship. A win on Sunday would snap a winless streak of 2,023 days (or 5 years, 6 months, 13 days).
World Golf Hall of Fame member Ernie Els opened with bogey-free 7-under 65 and sits tied for third, along with Duffy Waldorf (UCLA) and Dicky Pride.
DP World Tour
Four-time European tour winner Rafa Cabrera Bello of Spain bounced back from a double bogey on an island hole to shoot a 7-under 65 and take a twoshot lead after the second round of the Thailand Classic in Chonburi.
Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay, who has two tour wins, was in second place.
Notes
A federal judge ruled the head of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the financial backer of LIV Golf, must sit for depositions and produce documents in LIV Golf’s antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.
Lawyers for the Public Investment Fund and its governor, Yasir al-Rumayyan, had sought to quash subpoenas claiming sovereign immunity.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen ruled that PIF’s involvement falls under the commercial activity exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act.
Her decision allows the PGA Tour to seek documents and any communication related to such matters as LIV Golf’s recruiting and negotiating with players, its business plans and its involvement in the new league.
If the ruling holds, it could pull back the curtain on the PIF’s business dealings.
The ruling, seen as a victory for the PGA Tour, comes one week before
LIV Golf is set to begin its second season offering $25 million in prize money at its 13 events, with $50 million for the team championship finale.
Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau were among 11 players who originally filed the antitrust lawsuit in August. LIV Golf joined the lawsuit, and eventually all but three players — DeChambeau, Matt Jones and Peter Uihlein — removed themselves as plaintiffs.
John Paramor, the mustachioed European tour rules official whose career spanned six decades, has died after a bout with cancer. He was 67.
The European tour confirmed the death of Paramor, who retired in 2020 as chief referee. He had officiated at dozens of major championships over the years and was recognizable on every circuit in the world.