BERNHARD LANGER was back to his best with a three stroke victory in the first US Champions Tour event of the year in Hawaii.
The 56 year old German birdied five of the last six holes to pull away from runners-up Fred Couples (67) and Jeff Sluman (65) and take the 2014 Mitsubishi Electric Championship by three strokes.
Langer shot his second straight 64 in the final round of the limited field event that opened the 35th season of the Champions Tour. He finished with a 54-hole total of 22-under.
Langer and Couples shared the lead at 14 under going into the final day with Sluman two back.
“It’s a new year and my goal was to get over the hurdle and win as soon as possible,” said Langer, who hadn’t tasted victory since April last year. “I’m very pleased and extremely blessed to play golf like this. To be 22 under doesn’t happen very often.”
Aussie Steve Elkington began the event very promisingly with scores of 65 and 67 but closed with a 1-over 73 to drop to T14 at the close. Elkington is now in his second year on the over 50’s tour.
Mitsubishi Electric Championship Leaderboard