Tag: 2024 Principal Charity Classic

Ernie Els wins, Bernhard Langer ties for third at 2024 Principal Charity Classic on PGA Tour Champions

Els earns his fourth senior circuit victory.

DES MOINES, Iowa — The fourth time is the charm.

It took four appearances at the Principal Charity Classic for Ernie Els to get his first win there, with the South Africa native simultaneously earning his first PGA Tour Champions win this season.

“It’s very special,” Els said. “I haven’t won for a while, and I’ve had quite a few chances. But it gets tougher when you don’t get it over the line.”

Els finished at 21-under 195, winning by two strokes.

The 54-year-old had two birdies on the front nine Sunday and three more on the back. He picked up an eagle on lucky number 13, which gave Els the padding needed for the win, even with making par on the final three holes.

“I was lucky enough to make birdie on 11,” Els said. “I didn’t need a very good approach, made a good putt. And then 12, but 13 was big to make eagle late on the back nine, that was key. Got me into a three-shot lead, and (I) kept with it.”

The win at the Wakonda Club marked the first PGA Tour Champions win of the season for Els, who entered the Principal Charity Classic ranked 16th in the Schwab Cup Standings through eight events.

He claimed the winner’s purse of $300,000, which brings his total winnings the $785,017 this season. Els has now finished in the top 10 three times this season, including third-place ties in the Regions Tradition and Chubb Classic and a tie for sixth at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

Els finished two shots ahead of Stephen Ames, the tournament’s defending champion, but it was a close race throughout. Four players were tied for first after finishing the front nine: Ames, Rod Pampling, Ernie Els and Bernhard Langer.

Then, the front group started to split apart.

Ames picked up two birdies to start the back nine, then made par on 12 and 13, and saved par on 14. Els made par on 10, then picked up back-to-back birdies and an eagle on the next three holes to take a two-shot lead. Langer also hit par to start the back nine, then made three birdies in a row before a bogey on 14.

Els’ eagle on lucky number 13 that proved to be the winning shot in Sunday’s competition.

But holistically, he played his best tournament of the year, leading after the first two rounds and hanging on through the final day in Des Moines.

“I had a good game plan,” Els responded when asked about his three-day lead. “I stuck with it all three days. I’ve put the work in and you feel a bit more confident that every aspect of the game is there.

“Then you can just go out there and compete. It was a hell of a week. Everybody played well and just that one hole maybe got it for me. Number 13.”

Els – who thanked the greens staff for the “true championship course” and the weather for cooperating – plans to return to Des Moines.

“We as players love playing here. As long as I can, I’ll come back, especially if I keep winning.”

Ageless wonder Langer, who tore his Achilles tendon while playing pickleball on just four months ago, shot a 63 on Saturday, the 15th time the 66-year-old has shot his age or better on PGA Tour Champions. On Sunday, he shot 68 and tied for third alongside Duval and Pampling.

Incredibly, Bernhard Langer is one back in pursuit of 47th PGA Tour Champions title at 2024 Principal Charity Classic

So much for Bernhard Langer easing back into PGA Tour Champions life.

So much for Bernhard Langer easing back into PGA Tour Champions life.

After tearing his left Achilles tendon while playing pickleball on Feb. 1, Langer returned to action just three months later at the Insperity Invitational in Houston in early May.

Now, less than a month from beating those odds, the 66-year-old is at it again, this time challenging for a title at the Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines, Iowa.

In just his fourth start since his return, Langer used a smart finish on the renovated Wakonda Golf Club to finish the day with a 63 and sits at 13 under after the first two rounds of the event. It’s the 15th time he has shot his age or better on the Champions Tour. He’s one stroke back of Ernie Els and Rod Pampling and tied with Stephen Ames for third. David Duval, Vijay Singh and Kevin Sutherland are two off the pace and in the hunt.

Wakonda recently underwent a restoration at the hands of golf architect Tyler Rae and his associate, Jim Ryan Jr. The course opened in 1922 with a design by William Langford, who started laying out courses during the golden era of golf design. Langford typically worked with partner Theodore J. Moreau through the early 1940s before continuing on his own later.

And while the changes have modernized the course, it’s also made it more difficult for players like Langer.

“The way they renovated it, it’s even more of a bomber’s paradise. Or it wasn’t before,” Langer said. “Before it was the type of course where a Jerry Kelly or somebody that drove it really straight, Joe Durant, those type of players. Balls coming out of the rough is not easy here, but now they’ve — like I’m looking here at No. 10 and No. 8, the biggest fairway in the world, and 18, the long guys can drive the green. Someone like me, I drove it as good as I could just to get it over the bunker, things like that. They can reach all the par 5s, I struggle to reach some of them.

“So length is always important, but yeah, this used to be about precision and it’s a little bit less about it but still important.”

Either way, Langer is right in the thick of things heading into the final round, and a victory would give him 47 on the PGA Tour Champions. Due to injuries and other reasons, Langer hasn’t won since the 2023 U.S. Senior Open, when he edged Steve Stricker by two strokes at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

“I still hit some poor shots, especially when I’m in awkward stances,” he said. “The feet are high or low or sidehill, downhill, my balance isn’t there because the foot that was operated on just doesn’t have the support or the flexibility to stabilize my swing and my weight during the swing. Therefore, I hit it thin, I hit it fat, whatever. Anything can happen now.

“I tried a driver yesterday off an uphill lie and I just about topped it almost. I’m not there, but I’m grateful I can use a cart to get me around.”