Bernhard Langer of Germany shot below his age with a bogey-free, 8-under 64 to tie Paul Goydos for the first-round lead at the Chubb Classic on Friday in Naples, Fla.
Langer, 65, is the defending champion at the event at Tiburon Golf Club. It marks his seventh time shooting his age or better on the PGA Tour Champions. He also shot his age as a 64-year-old in last year’s opening round en route to winning by three strokes.
“It’s a year later, so it feels even better (this year), I guess,” Langer said. “Last year I was 64, now I’m 65. But it always feels good to shoot 8-under par on any golf course, certainly out on Tour, and it’s great, and I look forward to the weekend.”
The German would tie Hale Irwin for the most wins all-time on the 50-and-older circuit (45) with a victory this week.
Langer and Goydos hold a one-shot lead over Duffy Waldorf, Dicky Pride and South Africa’s Ernie Els (7-under 65).
Langer made eight birdies and was done scoring by the 15th hole. He was boosted by a string of four birdies at Nos. 8-11.
“I think started with 6, 7, 8, 9, something like that, and yeah, felt pretty comfortable,” he said. “Too bad I kind of chunked my putt on the 18th. I hit the ground first. That’s why I came up short. Otherwise it would have been nice to go 9-under, but still happy with 8.”
Goydos piled up nine birdies with one bogey (at par-4 No. 9), including a birdie at the par-5 18th.
“I drove it straight and birdied the holes you’re kind of supposed to with wedges, and I took advantage of that,” Goydos said. “I made a little bit of a mess on 9, but that’s going to happen, and me. Other than that, I played really solidly.”
Between his PGA Tour career and the Champions Tour, Friday was Goydos’ 700th career competitive start.
“No one has ever accused me of being a star or a great player, but I’ve been able to stay consistent and do my thing and keep doing my thing, enough to have a nice long career out of it,” said Goydos, who has won five Champions Tour events but none since 2017.
Tied for sixth at 6-under 66 were Scott Dunlap, John Huston, Justin Leonard and South Africa’s Retief Goosen. Fred Couples, Steve Stricker and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington were part of a tie for 10th at 5 under.
–Field Level Media
