PHOENIX — Bernhard Langer won the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship and in doing so, kept his streak alive. He also did something for the first time.
Langer made a long birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole, throwing his arms up in the air and tossing his hat to the ground in celebration to close out a final-round 66. He finished his day at 18 under and then watched as Steven Alker missed a birdie putt to end his week at 17 under, tied with Richard Green for second.
For Langer, it’s his PGA Tour Champions-leading 47th victory and his first this season, giving him at least one win on the senior circuit every year since 2007, his first year on the tour.
Langer, 67, shot his age Saturday to take the 54-hole lead. In Friday’s second round, he beat his age by three after posting a 64. He turned the trick one last time on Sunday with a 66 that marked the 23rd time he has shot his age or better.
Langer started the final round with four straight birdies and led by five at one point. He did run into a spot of trouble on the back nine with back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 10 and 11, which cut his lead over Steven Alker and Richard Green to three.
Langer made birdie on the par-3 13th hole to nudge his lead back to three over Green but then on 17, Langer banged his second shot out of the rough off a tree and had it come right back at him. He then put his third on the green but left himself a long putt for par. Moments later, Alker stuffed his third on 17 to less than a foot, setting up a tap-in birdie. Green then drained a long birdie on 18 to finish at 17 under and wait. Langer then made a two-footer for bogey, and suddenly there was a three-way tie for the lead.
On 18, he laid up with his second but hit his third deep, leaving himself a long putt but he made a perfect stroke on it, the ball curling right at the end before dropping in for a birdie.
“It felt like a good stroke, but from that distance you never know until it actually disappears,” he siad. “When I looked up, it looked like it was online more or less and tracking where I wanted to be and then it was just a matter of would it have the right distance and would it actually break because I played it two cups left. It did just perfectly what it needed to do and disappeared. Then all hell broke loose kind of emotionally, so it was pretty wild, yeah.”
Alker’s par at the last securd a tie for second and clinched his second Charles Schwab Cup, the tour’s the season-long points race, for a second time in three seasons.
Langer’s win at Phoenix Country Club came in the tour’s final event on the 2024 schedule. It’s also his first win in this tournament. He has won the season-long title a tour-high six times but each time did so without winning the season finale. This is the 25th different PGA Tour Champions tournament he has won.
In a career where Langer seemingly has done it all, winning in Phoenix marked a first.
“I’ve tried here a number of times and haven’t really come close. To do it on this course, I needed to putt well and I putted really well. That’s because I’m not long enough to come in with shorter irons and stop it, the greens are very firm so my ball runs out a lot. So I’m usually further away from the holes. I need to just make more putts than the other guys and I did that this week,” he said, noting that he’s proud of his ability to match his age and scorecard. “To break my age twice and shoot my age a third time three out of four rounds is pretty exceptional. The first day, if I hadn’t hit that drive out of bounds on 14, which was stupid, or 15, I would have done it all four rounds. Played some pretty incredible golf this week.”
Langer overcame a serious injury in 2024
In February, Langer suffered a ruptured Achilles and missed seven events. He’s been using a golf cart during competition and did so again this week. On Friday, he was asked if at the time did he have thoughts he might not make it back to the tour.
“I’m a very positive person, so I always thought I would be able to come back. My surgeon and PT said if everything goes somewhat well, you should be OK, just you’re probably going to lose half the season or something like that,” he said. “I was fortunate to come back after three months actually. The nice thing, we can use carts out here. Because I wasn’t able to walk 18 holes, it helped me. When people ask me how are you doing now, I’m nowhere near 100 percent, but I’m a functioning golfer.”
How the Schwab points work
Unlike the PGA Tour’s post-season – where the Tour Championship winner is declared the FedEx Cup champion – it’s possible to have someone win the final tournament while someone else captures the Schwab season title.
The winner of the tournament wins the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The winner of the season-long race is the Charles Schwab Cup champion.