High winds caused the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai to be called after 36 holes
Bernhard Langer won for the 30th time on PGA TOUR Champions to sit in second place alone on the all-time list. (Chris Condon/PGA TOUR)
Member, Pat O’Dell and friend, Sharon Peterson, celebrate Langer’s win with him
KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii – Bernhard Langer won the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai to claim his 30th victory on PGA TOUR Champions. He now sits in second place alone on the all-time list, trailing only Hale Irwin (45 wins).
“It’s very special because it’s maybe my favorite tournament out here,” Langer said. “To start the year off in this fashion, just winning the Schwab Cup last year and now my caddie’s wearing the Schwab Cup jersey again, it can’t be much better. And then to have won on the day when we celebrate our 33rd anniversary, I have my kids and my wife (Vikki) with me, that doesn’t happen very often. It’s quite emotional for me, pretty neat.”
The event was shortened to 36 holes due to heavy sustained winds of 40-plus miles per hour. Sunday’s forecast called for similar conditions. At one point during Saturday’s final round the scoring average was 80.287.
Scoring conditions were ideal during the first two days. Langer shot 64-65 during the first two rounds while Fred Couples was just one shot back after a pair of 65s.
“It’s not the way I wanted to win,” Langer said. “I was ready to compete and battle it out, but I don’t make the rules. … (Sunday) would have been more wind, supposedly. So this was really the right decision.”
Added PGA TOUR Champions Vice President of Rules and Competition Brian Claar: “The winds kept getting stronger and the golf course became unplayable. Balls were going up by the hole, rolling back off the green. Four or five of the greens you couldn’t play. The forecast is to get as bad or worse. (Sunday) does not look any better. So taking everything into consideration, golf course, flights and the fact that it’s just not getting any better, we’ve come to a tough decision that it’s a 36-hole tournament.”
It’s the 11th straight year Langer has won at least one event in a PGA TOUR Champions season, tying Hale Irwin’s mark. Langer also won the event for the third time, marking the fourth time in his PGA TOUR Champions career that he has won an event three times.
The last time a round on PGA TOUR Champions was suspended due to high winds was in 2010 in Naples, Florida.
Langer is coming off his third consecutive Charles Schwab Cup and was named the PGA TOUR Champions Player of the Year for 2016.
January 21, 2017
By Bryan Mullen, PGATOUR.COM
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