Langer Wins Champions Challenge


Despite closing with a 2-over 74, Bernard Langer had enough of an edge through 36 holes to win the Nedbank Champions Challenge on Saturday. The limited-field senior event was played parallel to the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, South Africa.

Langer, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, finished at 7-under 209 in the three-day tournament. He opened with rounds of 68 and 67 to enter the final round with a four-stroke lead over Jay Haas and ended up edging Haas (72) by two strokes.

Langer, a winner of the Nedbank Golf Challenge while a member of the PGA and European tours, said his win in the Nedbank Champions Challenge helped offset the disappointment of blowing a final-round lead in 2011 and finishing second to Mark Calcavecchia.

"It's very satisfying because of what happened last year," Langer told reporters. "It still came down to the end because the wind was very tricky and I missed more greens, which makes bogeys inevitable. But Jay was also very solid today, he drove the ball terrifically and he was good with his wedges too. To be fair, he was a bit unlucky with a few putts."

Ian Woosnam (72) was the only other golfer in the eight-player field to break par at 2-under 214. The 54-year-old Welshman was followed by Jeff Sluman (73) at 1-over 217, Sandy Lyle (77), Tom Watson (75), Calcavecchia (85) and Fred Funk (74).

After going out in 5-over 41 following a triple-bogey on the par-5 ninth hole, things got even worse for Calcavecchia, who shot an 8-over 44 on the back nine for his 13-over 85.

For complete scoring, visit http://www.nedbankgolfchallenge.com/leaderboardseniors.aspx.