Cologuard Classic: Bernhard Langer blitzes the field to claim first Tucson title and 41st on PGA Tour Champions

Sometimes, Bernhard Langer said, he has to pinch himself.

How could a kid from a tiny town in Germany achieve so much in the game of golf?

Langer is a two-time Master champion and a 41-time winner – yes, 41 – on the PGA Tour Champions. His latest conquest? The Cologuard Classic, which he claimed with a classic Sunday charge that overwhelmed a field full of past champs and fellow Hall of Famers.

Langer shot an 8-under 65 at Omni Tucson National Resort to overcome a four-shot deficit and finish at 18 under par, two strokes clear of runner-up Woody Austin, who won this event in 2016. Langer’s round tied for the best of the day. He didn’t miss a single fairway. He also didn’t miss a beat during his post-round address to the hundreds gathered around the 18th green.

After earning the right to place the iconic conquistador helmet atop his head for the first time, Langer joked: “Can I take this home? Or is it like the green jacket at Augusta, where I have to leave it behind? They’ve never seen anything like this in Germany.”

Langer, 62, was born in Anhausen, whose population is a little over 1,300.

“Out in the boondocks, basically,” Langer said. “Everybody was playing soccer and ping-pong and other stuff, and here I am, playing golf. So that was really unusual.”

Langer made a career out of it that has spanned more than 45 years. He notched his first professional victory at the 1974 German Open and has won at least once in every decade since.

His 41 wins on the PGA Tour Champions are the second most of all time, trailing only Hale Irwin’s 45. Langer is the all-time leading money winner on the Champions Tour, his earnings now topping $29 million.

“I have to pinch myself and be very grateful for the gift I’ve been given,” Langer said.

Sunday’s round was more about taking than giving. Langer hit driver off the tee on holes where he’d normally use a 3-wood or a hybrid club to better position himself to make birdies.

Langer began the day in a tie for fifth place at 10 under par, four shots behind second-round leader Brett Quigley. Playing one group ahead, Langer quickly closed the gap.

He birdied each of the first three holes and shot a front-nine 31 to make the turn at 15 under.

Playing partner Rod Pampling matched Langer at 15 under through nine and tied Quigley for the lead with a birdie on No. 10.

But Pampling faltered down the stretch. Quigley, the rookie who won his second career Champions Tour start and led the Cologuard Classic after each of the first two days, bogeyed the 10th and double-bogeyed the 12th.

Langer, meanwhile, birdied the 11th, 12th, 15th and 17th holes. He made bogey on No. 18, his first since the 15th hole Friday, but by that point it was irrelevant. When he stood on the tee at the final hole, Langer had a three-shot lead over Austin, who already had finished. No one else had a chance.

“I knew there were a lot of Hall of Famers, great players ahead of me or right around me, and I figured somebody’s going to play good,” Langer said. “So I had to play really good to get on top, and I was fortunate enough to do that.”

Langer has won at least one PGA Tour Champions event in a record 14 straight seasons.

Sunday’s win was his 14th come-from-behind victory on the tour.

At 62 years, 6 months and 3 days, Langer became the fifth-oldest winner in Champions Tour history. Mark O’Meara was 62 when he won the Cologuard Classic a year ago. It’s the first time the same tournament has been won by players 60 or older in back-to-back years.

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“I still feel if I can play my best, I have a chance to win out here,” Langer said. “But I have to play my best. I can’t play at 80%. There’s too many really good players nowadays that just will lap me.”

The biggest challenge Sunday came from Austin, who was playing in the group ahead of Langer and began the day at 9 under par. Austin birdied the par-5 second hole, then made a hole-in-one on the par-3 fourth.

“That’s a pin you usually don’t go at,” said Austin, who shot a 7-under 66. “But … I was in that attack mode where I knew I had to go as low as I could.

“I think it was almost a mini-positive that I missed a little 4-footer on the hole before. So I was a little angry there and said, ‘Screw it, just go at it,’ and it never left the flag. It was right dead in the middle, so it was pretty cool.”

Austin made five more birdies but bogeyed the par-3 14th on a day when no one could afford the slightest slipup.

Although he was only 1 under for the round through No. 11, Quigley was right there. Then disaster struck on the par-5 12th. Quigley had a long bunker shot into the green and hit it flush, the ball landing about 70 yards past the pin.

His fourth shot came up short, and his pitch rolled past the hole onto the fringe. An up-and-down yielded a seven and all but ended Quigley’s chances.

“You’re going, ‘What in the world just happened?’ ” Quigley said. “You go from tied for the lead to way back. It’s a very humbling game.”

Quigley shot an even-par 73 and finished in a tie for third with Pampling at 14 under. Quigley wasn’t sure his best would have been good enough to beat Langer anyway.

“Forty-one,” Quigley marveled. “That’s awesome.”

Langer, who missed last year’s tournament because of injury, was asked afterward where this win ranked.

“It ranks right up there, because it’s getting harder and harder,” said Langer, who somehow made it look easy.

Chip shots

• Austin’s hole-in-one wasn’t the only ace of the day. Darren Clarke made a hole-in-one on the par-3 16th hole. Clarke shot a 3-under 70 to finish in a tie for 24th at 8 under.

• Fred Couples, who began the day in second place, made three bogeys in a five-hole stretch (Nos. 9-13), shot a 1-under 72 and finished in a tie for fifth.

• Steve Stricker, who won the Cologuard Classic in 2018, shot a final-round 67 and also finished tied for fifth. His worst finish in four appearances in this event is a tie for sixth last year.

• O’Meara finished in 17th place at 10 under par. It was his third top-25 finish in four starts this year.

• Tucson product Willie Wood shot a 2-under 71 to finish in a tie for 29th at 7 under. Wood played bogey-free golf Saturday and Sunday before making a six on the par-5 17th hole in his final round.

• Tour rookie and former world No. 1 Ernie Els shot his second consecutive 3-under-par 70 to finish in a tie for 34th at 6 under.

• Stephen Ames and Steve Flesch both withdrew Sunday because of illness.