Montgomerie Strolls to Senior PGA Victory


Colin Montgomerie fired a 6-under 65 to cruise to victory in the Senior PGA Championship. The $2 million event, the second straight Champions Tour major following the Regions Tradition last week, was held at the Golf Club at Benton Harbor in Benton Harbor, Mich.

After a birdie and a bogey through seven holes, the 50-year-old Scot got downright toasty, posting six birdies the rest of the way to finish at 13-under 271, four strokes ahead of Tom Watson, who also shot 65.

Montgomerie entered Sunday just a stroke ahead of Bernhard Langer, but distanced himself from the field with his string of six birdies in eight holes midway through the final round.

The win was Montgomerie's first on the over-50 circuit and the first major title in his Hall of Fame career. While playing on the European Tour he totaled 31 victories, and was an eminent player on the European Ryder Cup teams, with an overall record of 20-9-7.

Watson, who won Senior PGA titles in 2001 and 2011, recorded six birdies Sunday for a 9-under total of 275.

Langer, a two-time winner this year and the leader in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup points' race, closed with a 70. The 56-year-old German tied Jay Haas (67) for third at 7-under 277, while another stroke back were Joe Durant (64), Mark Brooks (65), David Frost (68) and Bart Bryant (70).

Sharing ninth at 279 were Jeff Maggert (66), Kiyoshi Murota (71) and Marco Dawson (71).

After posting rounds of 72 and 74, respectively, Craig Thomas and Bob Friend finished as the low club pros at 3-over 287.

For all the scores, visit http://www.pga.com/seniorpga/scoring/leaderboard.