If Rory McIlroy’s multi-shot win last Sunday felt like a cruise to the Open Championship, what should we call Bernhard Langer’s dominance one week later at the Senior Open? This was Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach in 2000 dominant, where a player overwhelms a field and course and is simply playing a different tournament than everyone else. It seemed Langer would have challenged and beaten anyone, Champions Tour or not, this week at Royal Porthcawl.
Bernhard Langer wins Senior Open Championship by record 13 shots, joins Ryder Cup discussion
Bernhard Langer just won a Senior major in a dominating fashion you rarely ever see in golf, at any level.
Christian Petersen
A total of five players finished under-par. Colin Montgomerie, who had just won the U.S. Senior Open and Senior PGA, made another impressive run this week to finish 5-under. He was 13 shots worse than Langer, the German machine grinding everything down in much the same way Martin Kaymer did at the U.S. Open. Kaymer’s eight-shot win at Pinehurst, however, had to feel tense compared to this laugher, which was the largest margin at any Champions Tour event ever, major or not.
Would have been great if graphic before that Langer putt had said "15 putts to win"
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) July 27, 2014 Langer has been the best player on the Senior circuit for several years now, consistently showing up at the majors as the man to beat in the 50-and-over crowd. Fred Couples, Tom Lehman, and now Monty have all had their runs, but Langer remains the most consistent and dangerous player. If that anchored putter is rolling smooth, he’s unbeatable. While Monty may have had all the momentum and summer buzz, this felt like an emphatic re-centering on the Champions Tour and a signature tour de force for the two-time Masters champ.
This is his fourth Senior major championship, and second Senior Open, and given the margin and his continued success at age 56, people are taking Langer seriously for a potential Ryder Cup spot on the loaded Euro side. Paul McGinley could probably put together two separate teams that would be favored over the U.S. side, so he’s got plenty of talent to choose from. Langer, a 10-time participant and the captain a decade ago, has to at least be an option for Gleneagles.
Here’s the final eye-opening tally for the top 20 at Porthcawl:
| Place | Player | Score |
| 1 | Bernhard Langer | -18 |
| 2 | Colin Montgomerie | -5 |
| 3 | Tom Pernice Jr | -2 |
| 3 | Barry Lane | -2 |
| 3 | Rick Gibson | -2 |
| 6 | Scott Dunlap | E |
| 6 | Bob Tway | E |
| 8 | Miguel Angel Jimenez | 1 |
| 8 | Kirk Triplett | 1 |
| 10 | Russ Cochran | 2 |
| 10 | Tom Watson | 2 |
| 12 | Esteban Toledo | 3 |
| 13 | Bruce Vaughan | 4 |
| 13 | Miguel Martin | 4 |
| 13 | Fred Couples | 4 |
| 16 | Dan Forsman | 5 |
| 16 | Jeff Sluman | 5 |
| 16 | Chris X. Williams | 5 |
| 19 | Roger Chapman | 6 |
| 19 | Steve Pate | 6 |
See More:
