Langer secures wire-to-wire ACE Group Classic win
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Bernhard Langer shot even-par 72 on Sunday and wrapped up a wire-to-wire victory at the ACE Group Classic.
Langer finished at 12-under 204, one stroke ahead of Jay Don Blake, who fired a final-round 68 at the Club at TwinEagles' Talon Course.
"(I'm) certainly relieved now having won," admitted Langer. "It was definitely a grind. I was hoping to come down the last hole with, whatever, a 3-shot lead or something, make it easy."
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It was the 17th Champions Tour victory for Langer and his second at this tournament. The German won here in 2011 and finished runner-up to Kenny Perry a year ago.
John Cook shot 68 to end tied for third with Tom Pernice Jr. (72) at 9-under, while Rocco Mediate (69) and David Frost (68) tied for fifth at minus-8. Mediate was a winner last week in his Champions Tour debut at the Allianz Championship.
Mark Mouland (68), Jeff Freeman (71) and Mark O'Meara (73) finished at 7- under, one stroke ahead of Perry (69), Bill Glasson (70) and John Huston (73).
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Chien Soon Lu, who was tied for second place with Pernice entering the final round, also finished at minus-6 thanks to a final-round 75.
Langer held a 3-shot advantage after 18 and 36 holes, but his up-and-down outward nine on Sunday allowed Blake to make a charge at the top spot.
The overnight leader opened with two birdies in three holes before stumbling to a double bogey on the par-4 fourth. After a birdie on No. 6, Langer erred again with a bogey on the ninth to make the turn at 12-under.
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Blake, meanwhile, grounded out four birdies during his bogey-free front nine, and he managed to grab a share of the lead when Langer stumbled to another bogey at the 10th.
Then, a birdie on the 13th had Blake alone on top, but the edge was fleeting, as Langer followed with a birdie of his own at that hole, then turned the trick again at No. 14 to go in front for good.
Langer bogeyed No. 15, but Blake dropped a shot on the 16th, and last year's money-leader closed with a trio of pars to seal the victory.
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"(I) played very solid coming in, had a good birdie chance on 17, played a really difficult shot from hardpan, you know, where all the carts and the people go to the right there, played a really good third shot to about six feet and missed a putt again," continued Langer. "And then 18, hit two decent shots, really good drive, good 5-iron, middle of the green and a great first putt to about a foot and a half and that's really it."
NOTES: The ACE Group Classic is the third Champions Tour event that Langer has won multiple times ... Mark Calcavecchia withdrew on Sunday due to a bad back after he quadruple-bogeyed No. 17 ... Andy Bean withdrew on Friday ... This year's tournament marked the 26th anniversary of a Champions Tour event in Naples. On the current schedule, only the AT&T Championship in San Antonio, Texas, has been played longer in the same city (28 years).