Tag: Norwood Hills Country Club

Bernhard Langer shoots age or better twice but falls to Y.E. Yang in Ascension Charity Classic

Langer comes up just short of winning for 47th time on PGA Tour Champions.

There was a lot to unpack from the final round of the 2024 Ascension Charity Classic.

The tournament went to a playoff Sunday at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis, with Y.E. Yang seeking his first PGA Tour Champions victory. His playoff foe? None other than the guy with the most wins all time on the senior circuit, Bernhard Langer.

Now 67, Langer shot his age in Saturday’s third round and then beat his age by three shots Sunday with a 64. Those rounds were the 16th and 17th time he’s shot his age or better in his career.

His remarkable return from tearing his left Achilles tendon while playing pickleball on Feb. 1, however, came up just short, as Yang birdied the first playoff hole to claim the title.

“This week I think very special,” said Yang, who beat Tiger Woods in the 2009 PGA Championship and who was making his 72nd career Champions tour start.

As for Langer, he continues to battle through rehab as he returns to tournament play, and he admits his leg is not back to 100 percent.

“No. I wish it was. You know, I’m in the middle of it so I don’t see a lot of improvement,” he said Sunday. “If I look back two months, yeah, I’m definitely walking better than I did two months ago. So there is some improvement, but it’s slow. It’s going to continue to take probably five more months or something like that. That’s what I’m told. I would like to have it happen sooner, but it’s not.”

Langer, who has a PGA Tour Champions-best 46 wins, now has 42 second-place finishes.

In the latest Charles Schwab Cup standings, Yang is up to sixth. The top five:

  • Ernie Els
  • Stephen Ames
  • Steven Alker
  • Richard Green
  • K.J. Choi

There are four regular-season events left before the three-tournament playoffs.

Steve Flesch sets course record, wins 2023 Ascension Charity Classic on PGA Tour Champions

Steve Flesch opened birdie-eagle-birdie-par-birdie-birdie in his final round Sunday.

Steve Flesch is back in victory lane, having routed the field at the 2023 Ascension Charity Classic with a tournament-best 62 on Sunday.

Despite shooting a pair of 66s in the first two rounds, he started the final day two shots back of the lead at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis but he quickly made a move, opening birdie-eagle-birdie-par-birdie-birdie.

After three more birdies on the back nine, the lefty signed for 9-under round and earned his fourth PGA Tour Champions at 19 under. The 62 also ties Flesch’s career low round. He played the last 35 holes of the 54-hole tournament bogey free. His son Griffin was on the bag this week.

Flesch had three straight top-10s in late May/June this season then had a pair of WDs. He was T-58, T-33 and T-36 in his last three outings but definitely found the magic this week.

Kevin Sutherland and Y.E.Yang tied the then-course record with 64s in the first round while Colin Montgomerie and Bretty Quigley each had 64s in the second round. Montgomerie’s round was punctuated by his first Champions tour hole-in-one.

St. Louis hosting two pro events this week as APGA, PGA Tour Champions visit the Gateway City

It’s a good week to be a golf fan in St. Louis.

There’s going to be no shortage of options for golf fans in St. Louis to quench their thirst this weekend.

The PGA Tour Champions and Advocates Professional Golf Association Tour are both in the Gateway City, and there’s a bit of connection between the two events.

The Ascension Classic, the launch event of APGA’s Farmers Insurance Fall Series, will be the circuit’s first visit to St. Louis. Meanwhile, the second Champions tour returns for the second Ascension Charity Classic.

On Wednesday, the APGA will play its pro-am at Norwood Hills Country Club, site of the Champions tour event. There will also be a practice round at Glen Echo Country Club, where Thursday and Friday the APGA will play its 36-hole event.

Tim O’Neal is also going to make some history in St. Louis. After turning 50 in August, O’Neal received the first-ever exemption for an APGA Tour player into a PGA Tour Champions event, so O’Neal will tee it up with other legends of the game.

The Ascension Charity Classic begins Friday and concludes Sunday. David Toms is the defending champion.

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David Toms edges Dicky Pride in a playoff at PGA Tour Champions Ascension Charity Classic

The PGA Tour Champions brought pro golf back to the St. Louis area for the first time in eight years.

The PGA Tour has a week off before its next season starts. The LPGA is on a one-week break after a thrilling Solheim Cup. The only live golf in the U.S. this weekend took place at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis for the first pro event in the area since the 2018 PGA Championship.

After 54 holes of regulation, David Toms and Dicky Pride provided a little bonus golf. Each golfer finished at 10 under at the inaugural Ascension Charity Classic on the PGA Tour Champions.

On the first playoff hole, Pride’s second shot found a greenside bunker and after blasting out, he needed to make a 20-footer to keep the action going. He made a clutch birdie of similar length and line on 18 in regulation to force overtime but in the playoff, his putt stopped just short of the hole. Pride then took off his hat and shook Toms’ hand.

The last time Toms won was at the U.S. Senior Open in 2018. This win marks his second PGA Tour Champions victory. During his PGA Tour career, he posted 13 wins, including a major.

“I felt good all week,” an emotional David Toms told Golf Channel after his win. “It felt like a PGA Tour event with the crowds.”

Jay Haas, who missed out on the playoff by a shot, did get up-and-down from a bunker on 18 to card a final-round 67 to shoot his age.

Like Haas, Woody Austin finished 9 under. Jerry Kelly finished solo fifth.

Mark Calcavecchia finished tied for 73rd after scores of 73-76-74 but the weekend has to be considered a win for him as he played competitive golf for the first time since having back-fusion surgery in early January. His last event was playing with his son, Eric, in the PNC Championship on Dec. 20.

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