Tag: PGA Tour Champions

Bernhard Langer calls recent pro golfer cheating scandal ‘foolish’ and ‘stupid’

“How can you think you’re going to get way with changing a scorecard?”

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During last week’s Ottawa Open on the PGA Tour Canada, Justin Doeden cheated.

Doeden, after his playing partner signed the scorecard, changed his score on the last hole of his second round from a seven to a five. This put him one stroke above the 36-hole cut number and would have sent 13 other players home early.

Players noticed the discrepancy during lunch and reported it. Tournament officials discovered Doeden used an eraser to change the score, but he withdrew from the tournament during the investigation. He didn’t respond to a request for comment but did confess in a social media post Monday.

On Wednesday, Bernhard Langer was asked about the scandal during his pre-tournament press conference at the Senior Open being held this week at Royal Porthcawl in Bridgend, Wales.

“It’s obviously very disappointing when anybody cheats because the game of golf was built and founded on honesty and integrity and that’s what we try to teach our younger generations, and that’s what we all try to be, role models for that and uphold the rules,” he said.

“Let’s face it, golf is very unique in that way. What other sport penalizes yourself? If you’re a soccer player, and you kick the other guy, you go, I didn’t touch him, I didn’t do anything, would you ever say, I tripped this guy, you need to give a penalty. You’ll never see that, ever. Any other sport, tell me any sport, tennis, you always think it’s in.

“You never say, it’s out.

“What I’m trying to say is golf is very unique where we penalize ourselves. I’ve done it to me. I had a 3-foot putt, I lined it up, I put my putter behind it, looked at the hole, I put it back. The ball moved marginally. Nobody saw it, not even a TV camera could pick it up, but I knew the line wasn’t where I had put it. I called for a ruling, and well, the rule is, you address it, you get a one-shot penalty, and that cost me $330,000, and I called it on myself. You don’t see that in any other sport.

“But to me it’s foolish, especially changing a scorecard is ridiculous, really. I mean, how can you think you’re going to get away with changing a scorecard? You’re not just breaking a rule. You’re actually stupid.”

Langer was 2 over through the first 12 holes of his opening round at Royal Porthcawl, seven back of Miguel Ángel Jiménez who posted a first-round 5-under 66.

Steve Stricker, Harrison Frazar tied for lead at Kaulig Companies Championship

Stricker already has four wins on the senior circuit this season.

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After opening with a 5-under 65, Steve Stricker stumbled during the second round of the Kaulig Companies Championship, shooting a 3-over 73 on Friday. He bounced back nicely on Saturday, however, firing another 65 at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, to get to 7 under for the tournament and tied atop the leaderboard.

Harrison Frazar, the 36-hole leader, shot a third-round even-par 70 and is tied with Stricker. Frazar is looking for his first win on the PGA Tour Champions and hasn’t finished inside the top 10 of an event since February. Sticker on the other hand, has already won four times on the senior circuit this season. His worse finish in 12 starts is a tie for eighth at the Cologuard Classic in March.

Stewart Cink, after and third-round even-par 70, is in third at 6 under, one back.

Ernie Els and K.J. Choi are tied for fourth, two back of the leaders at 5 under. Scott Parel is solo fifth at 4 under while David Toms is alone in sixth at 3 under.

Harrison Frazar leads, Stewart Cink one back at Kaulig Companies Championship

Frazar is looking for his first win on the PGA Tour Champions.

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Harrison Frazar followed up his opening-round 65 with a 2-under 68 and leads the Kaulig Companies Championship at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.

The 51-year-old, who hasn’t finished inside the top 10 since February, is still searching for his first win on the PGA Tour Champions. In his last start, Frazar tied for 32nd at the U.S. Senior Open.

Frazar’s one-shot advantage is over Stewart Cink, who has used rounds of 66-68 to get to 6 under for the tournament.

This is Cink’s second start on the senior circuit this season. The first came at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship where he finished third.

Ernie Els is alone in third at 5 under, K.J. Choi is solo fourth at 4 under, while Steve Stricker and Scott Parel are tied for fifth at 2 under.

Bernhard Langer just keeps battling Father Time — and winning

He’s aware of Father Time’s undefeated record. He’s still throwing punches anyway. And he’s landing a few, too.

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AKRON, Ohio — Like many golfers of all levels hoping to keep playing as long as possible, Bernhard Langer is in a battle with Father Time.

He’s aware of Father Time’s undefeated record. He’s still throwing punches anyway. And he’s landing a few, too.

Langer recently broke the record for the most PGA Tour Champions victory at the U.S. Senior Open. It was his record-setting 46th victory on the tour, breaking a tie with Hale Irwin, and his 12th major title.

He’ll also be celebrating his 66th birthday next month. Nobody has had more success on the PGA Tour Champions than Langer. Nobody has kept jabbing with Father Time at a higher level of performance longer than him, either.

“Father Time is always winning at some point, and I’m just trying to slow down the process of aging and falling apart,” Langer said ahead of Thursday’s Round 1 of the 2023 Kaulig Companies Championship. “I certainly have more aches and pains now than I’ve had 10 years ago, or 20 years ago. That just comes with the territory.”

Langer has three titles at Firestone Country Club, so his widespread success has also been felt in Akron. What’s behind his success in competing — and winning — into his mid-60s? It’s part mental, part physical, part genetics.

Bernhard Langer watches his team play out the No. 4 hole during the 2023 Kaulig Companies Championship Pro-Am at Firestone Country Club, Wednesday, July 12, 2023, in Akron, Ohio.

One could say it’s the holy trinity of punching Father Time in the mouth.

The first element? Genetics. Langer’s mom will be turning 100 in two weeks.

“Hopefully I have my mother’s genes,” he said.

The second ingredient? The drive to be the best never left him. That fire has remained stoked for decades, and it’s burning as bright now as it did during his best years on the PGA Tour.

“Yeah, that’s another thing not everybody has, and I think it was given to me — the drive I have is very unusual,” Langer said. “To be turning 66 in a month from now and still want to improve and get better and compete with the young guys out here, many people don’t have that.

“You look at Byron Nelson — his drive was to win enough money to buy a farm and be a farmer. So, everybody’s different.”

Ingredient number three? Langer has worked hard to maintain his same fitness levels. Quite amazingly, he still uses the same iron shaft flex that he has for the last 40 years. In order to make that work, his swing speed would need to remain stable.

Langer has, of course, noticed some slight distance loss with his driver and 3-wood. That is to be expected. But through some altered workouts, he’s actually regained some driver clubhead speed.

Father Time threw an uppercut, but Langer was able to land a few jabs.

“As I said, I’m trying to slow down the process of aging,” Langer said. “I’m not going to win. I’m just going to try and slow it down.”

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.

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Photos: U.S. Senior Open 2023 from SentryWorld

A star-studded field has descended on Stevens Point, Wisconsin, for the 2023 U.S. Senior Open.

A star-studded field has descended on Stevens Point, Wisconsin, for the 2023 U.S. Senior Open.

Stevens Point learned two years ago it would host the event. The USGA announced the news in February 2021, marking the third USGA Championship at the site. The other two were the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links in 1986 and the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in 2019.

Sentry Insurance developed the public facility in 1982 as part of a sports complex that includes indoor tennis courts, banquet space and restaurants. At the heart of the 200-acre property lies the championship layout.

In 2013, Robert Trent Jones Jr. oversaw a major renovation that was led by architects Bruce Charlton and Jay Blasi, a Golfweek rater panelist and contributing writer.

Here’s a look at some of the best shots of the week.

This former PGA Tour venue has a stacked Champions field. Here are 9 players to watch at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open

The chase for top honors in the 16th playing of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open begins Friday.

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — The chase for top honors in the 16th playing of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open and the accompanying $315,000 cut of the purse begins Friday morning at En-Joie Golf Course in Endicott.

Back to defend his championship will be 51-year-old Padraig Harrington, whose Dick’s Open debut brought rounds of 66-67-67 and a three-stroke victory over Mike Weir and Thongchai Jaidee, with Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh another shot back.

One of the most-followed players across decades at En-Joie will not be in the field for the first time since his 2008 Dick’s Open debut.

Joey Sindelar, a long-time resident of nearby Horseheads and now residing in the Town of Lansing and twice a B.C. Open champion, has concluded his competitive playing career due to health reasons. He did, however, play in Dick’s Open Pro-Ams Wednesday and Thursday.

Here is a smattering of players to keep an eye on:

Padraig Harrington leads big names heading to this year’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Open

Harrington has gone down as one of the most popular champions since the Dick’s Open’s 2007 inaugural event.

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Preliminaries for the 16th playing of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open − part PGA Tour Champions tournament, part musical treat and part old-home week − get underway at En-Joie Golf Course in earnest Wednesday and the event continues through the conclusion of final-round play Sunday.

The defending champion could hardly be of higher profile, and ditto for the Friday night concert headliner relative to modern country acts.

The former, Padraig Harrington, has gone down as one of the most popular champions since the Dick’s Open’s 2007 inaugural event, for reasons extending beyond scoreboard superiority.

The latter, Kenny Chesney, represents a high blip on the tournament’s screen in terms of big-timers to perform Friday night off the 18th green.

“I’d like to think we’ve got a lot going for everybody, whether it’s people watchers, golf fans, kids − the whole bit,” said tournament director John Karedes.

All told, it would appear the latest in a long line of summertime sports and entertainment offerings in Endicott is up to snuff, though falling on a mighty crowded weekend. For how that might impact the masses, one needn’t look beyond Karedes, who’ll duck away from the premises to attend son Jake’s graduation Saturday morning.

2022 Dick's Sporting Goods Open
Padraig Harrington and his wife, Caroline and sons Patrick and Ciaran pose with the trophy after Harrington won the 2022 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open at En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott, New York. (Photo: Ryan Young/Getty Images)

“It’s actually the kids, because certain ages are still going to have finals. So, it is making it a little bit more challenging for some of those organizations where kids under 18 do help us,” Karedes said of the graduation-weekend conflict. “But I think we’re covered. It just took a bit more creativity and a few more phone calls to get it done. But I think we’re in good shape.”

For many visitors, the week’s highlight will come after sundown Friday when Chesney walks on stage. He and his band played to 1.3 million fans on their 2022 Tour, stops including 21 NFL venues.

“We’re bringing that show to Endicott and it’s big. I think it’s the biggest show that we’ve had when it comes to the name, the star power,” Karedes said. “But what we’re going to do is make it like a 14,000-people night. This isn’t going to be a 20,000-type night with fans.”

Concert attendees approached a Dick’s Open-high 25,000, Karedes said, for the 2017 Bon Jovi fiasco.

Back to defend his championship will be 51-year-old Harrington, whose Dick’s Open debut brought rounds of 66-67-67 and a three-stroke victory over Mike Weir and Thongchai Jaidee, with Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh another shot back.

Harrington’s impact last summer, and presumably this week, was and will be felt beyond numbers relative to par.

“Padraig is such a nice guy, and an amazing guy when you look at what he’s done around the world,” Karedes said. “He certainly likes the grasses here in the Northeast, when he was at Saucon Valley last year, here, he made the Senior PGA cut at Oak Hill. When it comes to his sheer personality, they don’t come any nicer.”

“ … He made time for everybody (post-tournament 2022). Here’s a guy who has been elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame, but here we are in Endicott, N.Y., he took time for everybody, autograph-wise, picture-wise, anything that anyone was looking for. He made sure that they did not leave empty-handed.”

Among other highly recognizable players who’ve committed to play at En-Joie: Darren Clarke, John Daly, Ernie Els, Miguel Angel Jiménez, Bernhard Langer, Vijay Singh.

One of the most-followed players across decades at En-Joie will not be in the field for the first time since his 2008 Dick’s Open debut.

Joey Sindelar, long-time Horseheads resident now residing in the Town of Lansing and twice a B.C. Open champion, has concluded his competitive playing career due to health reasons. He will, however, play in Dick’s Open Pro-Ams Wednesday and Thursday.

Joey Sindelar at the 2009 U.S. Senior Open.

As for what spectators may discover to be new and/or updated?

“Last year we were still coming off COVID, still coming off 2021, no tournament in 2020,” Karedes said. “I think in 2023, I can say ‘We’re back.’ And we’re back as far as crowds, concession stands, I think all but one of the bleachers have already been put in place.

“The concert is a little bit bigger than what we’ve done but we still aren’t going huge because we’d like to keep it to a manageable fun crowd. That was one of the things we learned during COVID that bigger isn’t always better. We’re looking for a comfortable crowd for concert night.”

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Steve Stricker broke one of Tiger Woods’ records on Friday at the American Family Insurance Championship

“Anytime you can pass Tiger Woods in something – and I may text him and just remind him that I did pass him … I’m proud of that.”

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MADISON, Wisconsin – Steve Stricker, humbly, said he hoped his excellent play of late would continue at his own tournament Friday afternoon at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, and give him a chance to win the American Family Insurance Championship for the first time.

Stricker did indeed play well – but he had to take a back seat to Justin Leonard, who shot a course-record 10-under par 62 to take the first-day lead. Leonard, 50, made a raucous debut at the AmFam Championship with a flawless round, where he did not record a bogey and played to the crowd as his 10th birdie was poured in on the 17th hole.

“I didn’t play with any kind of score in mind. In fact, I got in the scoring trailer and the group that finished on 9, Tom Lehman asked me what I shot, I said I don’t know,” said Leonard, who is in position to win his first individual event on the PGA Tour Champions. “That’s kind of the goal is just to get lost in the round. I was able to do that kind of on the weekend of the Senior PGA and fortunately it bridged over that two weeks into today.”

While on the PGA Tour, Leonard carded a career-low 61 during tournament rounds in 2001 (Byron Nelson Classic) and 2003 (Colonial).

“I don’t know if I’m going to hit the ball as well every day as I did today, but certainly put myself in the mindset where I’m able to do this much more often than once every 20 years,” he quipped.

As for Stricker, stellar shot-making and consistent putting has not been a mere wish and a thought, as the Madison resident broke Tiger Woods’ PGA Tour-sanctioned record of consecutive rounds at par or better in Friday’s opening round with a 7-under 65.

Beginning at the 2022 U.S. Senior Open, Stricker has now gone 53 straight Tour Champions rounds without a round over par. Woods went 52 straight rounds on the PGA Tour from 2000-01.

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“I saw Justin Leonard going deep so that motivates me to get as many birdies as I can because you don’t want to fall too far behind,” Stricker said. “So, it wasn’t really on my mind but anytime you can pass Tiger Woods in something – and I may text him and just remind him that I did pass him – but seriously, I’m proud of that. I would have rather done that on the regular tour, but to do it out here is really special, too.”

Stricker acknowledged before the tournament that the event means a lot to him, but as its host the social and corporate requirements have been something to learn how to manage. At least for the first round, it looked like he did a good job of it this week.

He then joked he needed to keep that focus Friday night at the annual concert the tournament hosts.

“Well, I’m going to go to the concert, first of all, but I already told myself there’s a limit,” he said. “I’m not telling you what the limit is, but there’s a limit. There’s more than one but less than six.

“But no, we have friends coming. It’s just a great atmosphere to be a part of and go there and see some of my friends and people and see everybody enjoying what’s going on here, so it’s hard not to partake in what we’ve got going tonight. So I’ll be there, but I’ve learned my lesson.”

Stricker is in a group of six players packed within four shots of Leonard. Paul Broadhurst, Marco Dawson and Steven Alker joined Stricker at 7-under while Paul Stankowski and Charlie Wi finished at 6-under.

Colin Montgomerie, David McKenzie and Davis Love III are five back of Leonard.

Two-time tournament champion and fellow Madison resident Jerry Kelly finished with an even-par 72 after putting an old set of irons back in his bag. He made the turn at 1-over and managed two birdies on the back nine against one bogey.

“I sucked,” he said. “It was not very good. I don’t know where the game went, but it definitely went and couldn’t find it the whole day. Couldn’t even chip, putt, everything was gone. I’ll do a little work here, see what happens.”

Milwaukee native Skip Kendall shot a 2-under 70 while Madison’s Mario Tiziani opened with a 3-over 75.

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A Stephen, Steven or Steve has won the last five PGA Tour Champions events as Stephen Ames wins 2023 Principal Charity Classic

A Stephen, Steven or Steve has won the last five PGA Tour Champions events

DES MOINES, Iowa — Stephen Ames, Steve Stricker and Tim Herron shuffled around the green at the 18th hole, calculating the best strategy to finish off the Principal Charity Classic on Sunday.

Ames — who teed off the final hole with a one-stroke lead — knew he had secured the win when Stricker missed his putt, and the 2021 Principal Charity Classic winner was relieved to avoid a playoff for the trophy.

“The fact that Steve (Stricker) missed his putt, I knew we weren’t going to a playoff,” Ames said. “In the past, Steve would’ve made the putt on 15, 16 and here. Fortunately for me, it worked out that way.”

Ames finished 17-under for the week after scores of 66-66-67–200. The Canadian birdied four holes on the front nine and two in the back, which gave Ames the padding needed to pull off the win, even with a bogey on No. 14.

The win at the Wakonda Club marked the third PGA Tour Champions win of the season for Ames, who came out on top in the Trophy Hassan II in February and Mitsubishi Electric Classic in May.

The Principal Charity Classic victory was Ames’ second win on this tour in less than a month. He claimed the winner’s purse of $300,000, which brings his total Charles Schwab Cup winnings to $1,138,164. He was ranked fourth ahead of the PCC, with three top-10 finishes, including his two victories and a ninth-place finish in the Insperity Invitational.

“Everything,” Ames said when asked what was working well right now. “At this stage, it’s the same things I was doing last year…and maybe the putter’s a little warmer at times.”

He held on for the win, but Sunday’s round was Ames’ highest score of the competition. Fortunately for Ames, the other leaders struggled, as well.

Stricker, who won last week at the Senior PGA, had a bogey-free day but he only birdied four times, two in the front nine, two in the back nine.

Stricker has two PGA Tour Champions major wins in 2023 – the Regions Tradition and the Senior PGA Championship – and has three wins in all this year, including the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in January.

“It was a battle today, there’s no doubt about that,” Ames said. “Steve obviously, the way he’s played this year already tells you that it was going to be a good battle. And the fact that I ended up on top is more fulfilling than anything else right now.”

Herron, who entered the final round tied for the lead, slipped a bit on Sunday. He had three bogeys across the first five holes and dropped eight places to finish ninths.

Others outside of the leader group had successful performances, but they weren’t enough to get past Ames’ advantage. Richard Green finished with the best score of the day (63), and a few others — Miguel Angel Jiménez, Marco Dawson and Ken Duke — scored a 64 on the final round.

Defending champion Jerry Kelly was fifth in the standings after two rounds and tied Stricker for second. He avoided bogeys while picking up seven birdies to score a 65 on the final round.

But the players who crept into the top-three or moved up in the standings might not have had a chance to win if the Steves had anything to do with it.

A Stephen (or Steve or Steven) has won the last five PGA Tour Champions events and seven of the last 12 tournaments on the circuit this season. Steven Alker won the Insperity Invitational in April, and Ames and Sticker have each won two of the last four.

It’s a group that Ames is happy to be a part of.

“Popular names, I don’t know. I have no clue what’s working for the Steves, but nice fun fact, though.”

Padraig Harrington admits to ‘the longest pee ever’ at 2023 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship

Harrington is 18 holes away from his second senior major golf championship.

Padraig Harrington is 18 holes away from his second senior major golf championship. He’s doing his best to not let a prolonged pit stop knock him off track.

A member of the over-50 circuit since last year, Harrington leads the 2023 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in Frisco, Texas, 16 under by a shot over Steve Stricker. Rounds of 64-68-68 at the brand new East Course has Harrington in a solid position and he’s happy with how his week is going so far.

“First day I shot 64 easy. Second day I got everything out of it to shoot 68. Today I left a lot out on the golf course and shoot 68,” he said Saturday after his third round. “Golf’s a crazy game.”

Golf can be crazy indeed.

Turns out during the third round Mother Nature came calling for Harrington and let’s just say he’s wasn’t shy about discussing a very personal incident.

“Probably have had the silliest, maybe the most silliest. … I come up with the silliest excuse ever for making. … I’m glad I broke my par streak. It’s not good not to have made a bogey. That’s not a good thing. I know that sounds strange, so that’s the first thing I’ll say,” Harrington began to explain, slowly working his way up to the, uh, well, the interesting part of the story.

“Sixteen came out of nowhere, which is, I have a. … so, essentially, I went in the toilet. The door was locked. Took me a minute to realize there wasn’t somebody in there, another few, another while to get the door open.

“As we are on the Champions Tour, I had the longest pee ever.”

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You gotta go, the door is locked, you’re not sure someone’s in there, your group is waiting on you. We’ve all been there.

“And then I kind of rushed down the fairway and hit my shot. The second shot was kind of innocuous because the pin was so tight I was just playing 15 feet left of it and to be honest, yeah, I just, I wasn’t. … I do that sometimes, I just wasn’t focused, I wasn’t into it and I hit a bad shot in the hazard.”

Harrington ended up with a double bogey on the par-4 16th hole. He carded five birdies on the day before that, and then closed with a birdie on the par-5 18th, keeping his lead intact after 54 holes.

“But, yeah, so when you get over 50 it sometimes takes a long time to have a pee. And that was, yeah, that’s my excuse. That’s got to be original, I would assume.”

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