Langer ‘seals’ record 10th Senior major title
Smith beats Levy in playoff
LONDON, July 30, (AFP): Bernhard Langer claimed his third senior British Open title at Royal Porthcawl in Wales on Sunday to become the most successful player in senior major-championship history.
The German, who won two Masters titles on the main tour, held off American Corey Pavin to claim a record 10th senior major title by three shots on four under par for the tournament.
Langer, 59, carded a one-over final round of 72, as 2010 US Ryder Cup captain Pavin settled for a 71.
It was a third major victory of the season for Langer, who also won the senior Open at Porthcawl three years ago.
After holding at least a share of the lead at the end of each day, Langer is the third three-time winner of the senior Claret Jug, after all-time legends Tom Watson and Gary Player, despite having to battle a bout of laryngitis at the start of the week.
“It’s a fantastic feeling to have won here again,” he told europeantour.com.
“There might have been a little extra pressure, just knowing that I won here by 13 a few years ago. I hit my first tee shot straight into a gorse bush on the left and it was unplayable so, looking back now, it ended a lot better than it started.
“But, despite my first tee shot and my sickness, I actually had a very good first round and had the lead of the championship, and I think that was the key. I led from the very beginning.
“I led on Thursday, I was co-leader Friday and then jumped into the lead with a 65 yesterday and never surrendered.”
Langer’s win also gives him a place in next year’s British Open at Carnoustie, by when he will have turned 60.
Australian Peter Lonard shared third place with Billy Andrade and former world number one Fred Couples on level par for the championship.
Meanwhile, England’s Jordan Smith claimed the first title of his fledgling European Tour career on Sunday, beating defending champion Alexander Levy of France in a play-off at the European Open in Hamburg.
Smith had been two shots ahead overnight but he needed a birdie at the last on Sunday to force a play-off with both players tied at 13 under par.
He then survived on the first trip back down the 18th when Levy missed a close-range birdie putt to win.
Back down the 517-yard par-five last hole they came and this time Smith, 24, birdied to take the title and get his hands on the giant trophy as well as the winner’s cheque in the two millioneuro ($2.4 million, £1.8 million) event.
Smith, a former Walker Cup player who turned professional in 2014 and was top ranked on the Challenge Tour last year, shot a one-under-par 71 featuring four birdies and three bogeys.
Levy had a second successive 69 on Sunday after play was suspended due to the threat of lightning in the morning on the Green Eagle course.
He led by a single shot as he stood at the 18th tee, but when Smith holed a 10-foot birdie putt to join the Frenchman at the summit, he was forced to tap in a tricky par putt just to force the play-off.