Bernhard Langer digs his heels in to win Senior Open title

Published on Sunday 25 July 2010 20:43

BRIDGING a 27-year gap - he won the Glasgow Classic at Haggs Castle in 1983 as a fledgling European Tour player - Bernhard Langer chalked up only his second success in Scotland after holding off a spirited challenge from Corey Pavin, the US Ryder Cup captain, to notch a one-shot victory in the Open Senior Championship at Carnoustie yesterday.

• Senior Open title is German's first win in Scotland since the 1983 Glasgow Classic (credit: PA)

As the clouds darkened above the hotel behind the 18th green on the Angus course, the Florida-based German narrowly avoided a potential disaster when his tee shot at the last came close to finding the burn to pip Pavin, a fighter if there ever was one, by the narrowest margins in what, ultimately, became a two-way battle for the title as well as a first prize of just more than 200,000.

Langer's first major success - he's the first Continental European to win this event - earns the 52-year old, who closed with a 72 for a five-under-par total of 279, a spot in next year's Open Championship at Royal St George's, where he was second to Bill Rogers in 1981, tied for third behind Sandy Lyle four years later and then, in 1993, was third again as Greg Norman claimed the Claret Jug.

"I always said I wanted to win an Open Championship," said the two-time Masters champion. "This is not the Open but, at senior level, it's the same thing and this is very special. My tee shot at the last was a bit too close to the water for my liking but I then played up short (of the burn] hoping for a par or bogey because I knew the odds of Corey making a birdie were slim."

In closing with a 70, Pavin did his best to extend a run that had seen the Americans lift this version of the Claret Jug seven years in a row, while three of his compatriots, Russ Cochran, Fred Funk and Jay Don Blake, all signed off with 72s to share the third-place money with Austrlian Peter Senior, who made one of the most significant final-day moves thanks to a closing 68. Ian Woosnan finished top Briton in a tie for eighth with Tommy Armour III, the grandson of the Edinburgh-born three-time major winner, and another American, Jay Haas.

"This win ranks very high, pretty close to my two US Masters triumphs and some of my Ryder Cup achievements," added Langer, who played against the Americans ten times before leading Europe to a record-breaking 18.5-9.5 victory as captain at Oakland Hills in 2004. "Carnoustie is a wonderful and tough links course, maybe the toughest I've ever played and it's a thrill to have won this trophy."

Langer started the day with a three-shot cushion but could have been out of sight. He failed to make a birdie at the 14th in his third round after being on the edge of the green in two and didn't convert a good birdie chance following a peach of an approach at the 17th before dropping his only shot of the day at the last. There, he drove into his first fairway bunker all week, conceding it had been all his own fault after he'd stubbornly taken a 3-wood off the tee instead of the hybrid preferred by his caddie.

As had been the case on the opening two days, there was sufficient wind to concentrate the mind, not that anyone should ever step on to this course expecting to get it easy. Only the players went into th ce final round below par and two of them soon had blue figures against their names, Carl Mason dropping shots at the second, sixth and ninth to be out in 39, while Haas dropped out of contention, too, after following a triple-bogey at the seventh with another dropped shot straight after it.

Further up the leaderboard, Pavin made the first thrust of the day with a birdie at the second before Langer prevented his advantage being reduced even further by getting up and down from a greenside bunker to save his par at the next. The German then rolled in a 12-footer at the fifth for his first birdie of the day and the last pairing were back to where they had started, albeit a shot better in each case.

In the group ahead, Funk and Blake had both lost ground by the the turn. Funk, who defends his US Senior Open title at Sahalee in Washington this week, cancelled out a birdie at the third with a 5 at the seventh before also dropping a shot at the ninth, Blake was also out in 37. However, Woosnam and Cochran were doing their best to hang on to the leader's coattails. Woosnam birdied the eighth to be out in 35, moving him to three-under alongside left-hander Cochran, who picked up a shot at the third.

Langer then offered the chasing pack more encouragement after missing the green left at the short eighth, he almost putted into the bunker and failed to save par before dropping another shot at the next, where he three putted again, this time from much further away. Out in 37, he was back to five-under, two in front of Pavin and three ahead of Funk, Blake, Cochran and Woosnam, the latter two having let shots slip at the tenth and 12th respectively.

What looked as though it might have turned into a Sunday afternoon stroll for Langer suddenly became an exciting contest when Pavin, still a fiesty competitor, birdied the 12th to close within a shot of the leader. However, as he'd done earlier in the round, Langer dug his heels in, typified when, for the second day running, he hit his recovery stiff from a greenside bunker at the short 13th.

As the best of the rest - Cochran, Blake and Funk - all finished on one-under, it became a two-horse race, the gap between the pair remaining at just one after they both birdied the 14th. However, a visit to a greenside bunker at the next cost Pavin a shot, giving Langer the bit of breathing space he'd certainly have welcomed entering the toughest closing stretch in golf.

Despite missing the green at the par-3 16th, the leader safely got down in two putts to save par and repeated the feat at the next, where Pavin produced a good recovery from the left of the green for his 4. On most courses a two-shot lead would be a comfortable cushion but, as Jean Van de Velde knows to his cost, Carnoustie's closing hole is capable of causing all sorts of problems. And it almost caught Langer out, too.

His drive was pushed a touch and came within three feet of toppling into the burn. Sensibly, he then played up short of where the burn snakes back across the front of the green and, with Pavin unable to make a birdie - the American holed from three feet for a closing par and a round of 71 - a closing 5 still proved good enough to see Langer home.

"It was obviously a little closer than I wanted it to be," added Langer. "My goal was to come into the 18th with a three-shot lead so I played it safe. But Corey played well and my hat's off to him." Pavin, for his part, said: "It's tough when you almost win. Bernhard didn't play his best golf, he did what he needed to win and that's what it is all about."

In the end, only six players finished in red figures, including Senior, who bagged three birdies in the opening four holes on his way to a 68 for 283, one-under. DSadly, the home contingent never got into the title shake up. Bill Longmuir (73) and Gordon Brand Jnr (74) finished as the leading Scots on 295, followed by Ross Drummond (77) on 298, Sam Torrance (73) on 299 and Fraser Mann (76) on 300.

(USA unless stated, par 71)

279 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 67 71 69 72

280 Corey Pavin 69 69 72 70

283 Russ Cochran 70 71 70 72, Fred Funk 75 69 67 72, Jay Don Blake 67 74 70 72, Peter Senior (Aus) 71 72 72 68

284 Trevor Dodds (Nam) 74 71 69 70

285 Ian Woosnam (Wal) 72 67 72 74, Jay Haas 70 69 72 74, Tommy Armour III 74 72 69 70

286 John Cook 69 72 72 73, Jeff Sluman 69 74 70 73, Tom Lehman 71 75 73 67

287 Mark Calcavecchia 70 70 75 72, Loren Roberts 71 72 75 69, Larry Mize 69 70 72 76, David Frost (Rsa) 71 75 71 70

288 Dan Forsman 68 71 74 75, Eduardo Romero (Arg) 74 73 72 69

289 Gary Hallberg 70 74 68 77, Bruce Vaughan 68 76 74 71, Mark James (Eng) 74 72 70 73, C.s. Lu (Tpe) 76 71 69 73

290 Tom Watson 74 71 71 74, Bobby Clampett 76 73 70 71

291 David J Russell (Eng) 75 67 72 77, Des Smyth (Irl) 74 74 72 71, Carl Mason (Eng) 67 76 69 79, Olin Browne 70 72 72 77

292 Michael Allen 73 70 71 78, Chris Williams (Rsa) 73 74 70 75, Glenn Ralph (Eng) 75 73 73 71, Barry Lane (Eng) 75 72 72 73

293 Ted Schulz 75 70 72 76, David Peoples 70 74 80 69, Angel Franco (Par) 73 75 71 74

294 Gene Jones 73 74 75 72, Bob Cameron (Eng) 75 73 75 71, Morris Hatalsky 71 72 76 75, Steve Cipa (Eng) 74 72 76 72

295 Denis Watson (Zim) 76 72 77 70, Randy Haag 71 77 73 74, John Harrison (Eng) 72 77 72 74, Gordon Brand Jnr (Sco) 73 75 73 74, Bill Longmuir (Sco) 75 71 76 73

296 James D Mason 71 74 77 74, Mark Wiebe 68 80 73 75, Mike Donald 69 79 72 76, Tsukasa Watanabe (Jpn) 74 74 72 76

297 Juan Quiros (Spa) 76 72 74 75, Wayne Grady (Aus) 77 71 75 74, Bob Gilder 76 73 77 71, Gordon J Brand (Eng) 73 75 74 75, Stephen Bennett (Eng) 74 73 78 72, Scott Simpson 78 69 73 77, Tim Simpson 75 74 76 72, David Merriman (Aus) 74 75 73 75

298 Domingo Hospital (Spa) 74 70 77 77, Denis O'Sullivan (Irl) 73 76 74 75, Ross Drummond (Sco) 72 74 75 77, Peter Fowler (Aus) 75 73 71 79, Ronnie Black 72 74 75 77

299 Sam Torrance (Sco) 69 77 80 73, Mark Belsham (Eng) 75 73 78 73, Hideki Kase (Jpn) 77 70 74 78, Martin Poxon (Eng) 75 74 76 74, Mike Goodes 73 75 70 81

300 Fraser Mann (Sco) 72 74 78 76

301 Boonchu Ruangkit (Tha) 75 74 75 77, Mike Cunning 74 74 77 76

302 Noel Ratcliffe (Aus) 76 72 75 79

308 John Benda 74 75 80 79

309 Philip Blackmar 75 74 81 79