Administaff Small Business Classic: Final-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff SPRING, Texas -- Three-time PGA TOUR winner Bernhard Langer (1985 Masters, 1985 Sea Pines Heritage Classic, 1993 Masters) claimed his first Champions Tour event in just his fourth start since turning 50 on Sunday in the Administaff Small Business Classic and joins Mark Wiebe as the second member of the Class of 2007 to win this year.  Mark O'Meara finished second for the third time in his rookie season. (Levey/WireImage)
• Bernhard Langer's 54-hole total of 25-under-par 191 matched the Champions Tour's all-time scoring record (25-under/63-67-61, Loren Roberts, 2006 MasterCard Championship at Hualalai) and also was just the third three-round score of 191 ever recorded on the circuit (19-under/60-64-67, Bruce Fleisher, 2002 RJR Championship). • Bernhard Langer becomes the 19th different winner on the Champions Tour in 2007 and the seventh first-time winner. He's also the fourth wire-to-wire winner this year, joining Fred Funk (Turtle Bay Championship), Jay Haas (Principal Charity Classic) and R.W. Eaks (Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn). • Bernhard Langer becomes the first player from Germany to win on the Champions Tour and is the fourth international to claim a title on the circuit this year, joining Mark James (England), Denis Watson (Zimbabwe) and Mark McNulty (Zimbabwe). He also joins McNulty (2005) as the second international to win the Administaff Small Business Classic. • Bernhard Langer joins Hale Irwin (MasterCard Championship at Hualalai) as the second World Golf Hall of Famer to win on the Champions Tour in 2007. His victory Sunday earns him a trip to the season-opening MasterCard Championship at Hualalai in Hawaii next year. • Bernhard Langer's win Sunday is his first in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event since the 1993 Masters Tournament, ending a victory drought of 14 years, six months and three days. Earlier this year on the PGA TOUR, Langer lost in a playoff at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in Fort Worth. • Bernhard Langer earned a check for $255,000 and also picked up 255 Charles Schwab Cup points. In four starts on the Champions Tour, he has now earned $391,660 (46th on the official money list). Should he win next week in San Antonio, he might qualify for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Sonoma, featuring the circuit's top-30 money-winners in 2007. • Bernhard Langer's 24 birdies were just two off Loren Roberts' all-time mark for most birdies made in an event. Both Langer and Tom Jenkins only made one bogey in the tournament. The old Administaff Small Business Classic record for most birdies was 20 by Larry Nelson in 2004. • Bernhard Langer's eight-stroke margin of victory was the second biggest on the Champions Tour this year. Early in the season at the Turtle Bay Championship, Fred Funk won by a whopping 11 strokes, an all-time record on the circuit. • Despite making a quadruple-bogey 7 at the par-3 third hole Sunday, defending champion Jay Haas still managed to shoot a 67, his eighth consecutive sub-par round at Augusta Pines, and finished tied for fourth. Haas tied for fifth here in 2005, meaning he has now finished among the top-five in all three of his appearances in the Administaff Small Business Classic. Haas has now registered 43 top-10 finishes in 59 career appearances on the Champions Tour. • Haas' tie for fourth this week earned him 92 Charles Schwab Cup points. He now trails Loren Roberts by only 69 points with two events remaining in the season. Based on the points available (1,120 points) to the winners in the two remaining events, only six players have an opportunity to win the 2007 Charles Schwab Cup. • Loren Roberts (2,620), Jay Haas (2,551), Tom Watson (2,032), Brad Bryant (2,019), Denis Watson (1,707) and D.A. Weibring (1,562) remain in the hunt for the Schwab Cup and $1 million annuity. Last year, Haas defeated Roberts by 20 points for the Schwab Cup, the closest race ever. • Tom Kite made a strong bid to end his victory drought in Texas, but the streak now stands at 0-119. Sunday's third-place finish at the Administaff Small Business Classic was his best effort in 16 career starts on the Champions Tour in the Lone Star State. Kite's best performances out of 103 starts on the PGA TOUR both came in Houston (tie for second at the 1991 Independent Insurance Agent Open, tie for second in the 1994 Shell Houston Open). • In their Champions Tour debuts this week, John Cook tied for 36th and Phil Blackmar tied for 70th. • The stroke average for the field this week at Augusta Pines was 70.121, the lowest this year for a full-field event on a par-72 course. Earlier in the season, the par-71 Newport Beach Country Club played to a stroke average of 69.722 for the Toshiba Classic. This year's scoring average was also a record for the Administaff Small Business Classic. The field averaged 71.195 over 54 holes in 2005 and 71.246 for three rounds in 2004. Last year's 36-hole stroke average was 71.103. |
