South Korea’s Y.E. Yang made a birdie putt on the first playoff hole to beat tough-fought Bernhard Langer and win his first PGA Tour Champions title on Sunday at the Ascension Charity Classic in St. Louis.
Yang led the tournament after 18 holes and shared the 36-hole lead with Stewart Cink before shooting a 5-under-par 66 in the final round to finish at 13-under 200 at Norwood Hills Country Club.
But Langer, the German who has won more on the PGA Tour Champions (46) than anyone in history, entered the picture with a 7-under 64 that included eight birdies, including a right-to-left putt on the par-4 18th hole that forced the playoff.
They replayed No. 18, and after Langer missed a birdie try, Yang’s midrange putt was right. He pumped his fist as the ball disappeared into the cup.
Yang, 52, is best known for defeating Tiger Woods at the 2009 PGA Championship. He has not won a professional event on US soil since then.
“It has been a goal for a very long time, but I think it’s nice to win the champions in just the third year,” Yang told reporters.
“I think today is a very special day.”
Langer said his birdie effort on the playoff hole was similar to the putt he made for the playoff.
“About one-and-a-half cups broke, so I played it almost exactly the same,” Langer said. “Just a little bit higher, so it went to the right edge or the outside edge, the high part.”
Langer turned 67 late last month. After shooting 67 on Saturday, he extended that number by three on Sunday, his 18th time shooting under his age or younger on the PGA Tour Champions. He would have loved to cap it off with another trophy.
“Yeah, for me it would have meant a lot to win another tournament at 67. I don’t think that’s what happened here,” Langer said. “But we’ll see. Maybe in a few weeks in the future it will happen.”
Cink shot a 4-under 67 and finished third at 12 under. His par-bogey-par finish prevented him from joining Yang and Langer in the playoff.
Shane Bertsch made seven birdies and no bogeys to match Langer’s day-long round of 64. He moved into a tie for fourth at 9 under with Justin Leonard (67).
–Field Level Media
