Germany’s Other Ultimate Driving Machine

The PGA Champions Tour is only for professional golfers ages 50 and older.  Many events are usually dominated by the “young bucks” from ages 50 to 55.  Those senior rookies are still capable of hitting some very long drives off the tee. By age 60, most golfers on the senior golf tour have faded off the leader board. Aging tends to bring shorter drives, increasingly unsteady putting, and more of the traditional aches and pains experienced with advancing age.  This older age group on the senior circuit is generally happy with having the chance to compete on a regular basis with their former PGA Tour buddies. There is one exception.  He is quite stubborn and simply refuses to give up and fade away like most of his peers. This 65-year old ageless wonder is Bernhard Langer.  He just established a new record for wins on the PGA Champions Tour on Sunday.  He snagged the US Senior Open trophy at the challenging SentryWorld golf course in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. If Langer wasn’t still a German citizen, he would have just become the first PGA Champions Tour winner on Medicare!  He remains the only golfer age 65 or older to win a golf tournament on the senior tour. Though Bernhard Langer hits the golf ball about 20 yards shorter than most of his fellow playing competitors, the Bavarian golfing machine finished last weekend’s US Senior Open ranked #1 in accuracy off the tee (49 out of 56 fairways for a nifty 87.5%) and #1 in greens hit in regulation. A golfer on any professional tour who leads the field in those two important statistics will usually win the golf tournament. In Sunday’s final round, Langer shot 4-under par in his first ten holes to open-up a 6-shot cushion on the back nine.  The normally unflappable German then bogeyed his final three holes but still won by two strokes over Wisconsin’s home favorite Steve Stricker.  Langer closed with a one-under par 70 in the final round and a 7-under par total as he took another trophy and $750,000 for his week. This was Bernhard Langer’s 46th win on the senior circuit.  The victory broke a tie with fellow World Golf Hall-of-Famer Hale Irwin at 45 wins apiece.  Irwin’s final senior triumph came at the age of 61 back in 2007.   The man in third place for most wins on the PGA Champions Tour is Lee Trevino.  The man nicknamed “The Merry Mex” posted 29 more wins aft