Langer & Lehman Capture The Title at The Legends of Golf

Bernhard Langer and Tom Lehman are each credited with official victories for their playoff victory over Jeff Sluman and Craig Stadler on Sunday.

CLICK ON THE VIDEO LINK TO SEE THE FULL STORY.

It was Langer’s second win this year (he also won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai) and the sixth in his Champions Tour career, while Lehman wins in his initial start on the Champions Tour.

With his victory on Sunday, Lehman became the 13th player to win his Champions Tour debut and the first since Mark Wiebe at the 2007 SAS Championship. Lehman’s first win on the PGA TOUR came in his 146th start (1994 Memorial Tournament).

Lehman becomes the second consecutive first-time winner at this tournament, joining Andy North, who teamed with Tom Watson a year ago. The last time there were back-to-back first-time winners was in 2007 when Bernhard Langer (Administaff Small Business Classic) and John Cook (AT&T Championship).

Langer’s win makes him the first international player to win since Des Smyth prevailed in 2005 when the official portion of the tournament was stroke play. In team competition, the last internationals to win were John Bland and Graham Marsh in 1997.

Langer and Lehman each earned 225 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race and Langer maintained a comfortable lead in the race with 922 points. Loren Roberts is second with 506 points followed by Joey Sindelar (486), Andy Bean (465) and Mark O’Meara (400).

While Langer was already eligible for the 2010 season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, Lehman’s victory earns him a two-year exemption into the event. Each player also earns $225,000 with Sunday’s victory.

Jeff Sluman and Craig Stadler finished as runners-up for the second straight year. In 2008 they finished one stroke behind Tom Watson and Andy North.

Sunday’s playoff was the fourth in tournament history (team competition) and the first since 1998 when Dale Douglass and Charles Coody defeated Hugh Baiocchi and David Graham with a birdie on the second extra hole at Amelia Island. The others were in 1979 (Julius Boros/Roberto De Vicenzo beat Tommy Bolt/Art Wall) and 1988 (Bruce Crampton/Orville Moody beat Tommy Aaron/Lou Graham with birdie on sixth extra hole) in Austin.

Although they were unable to defend their title, the team of Andy North and Tom Watson extended their streak of consecutive holes without a bogey to a remarkable 216. Since teaming up in 2005, the pair has played 12 consecutive bogey-free rounds. North and Watson finished T11 in the 31-team field.

The team of Jeff Sluman and Craig Stadler led all teams in the tournament with 27 birdies in regulation, one more than the teams of Langer/Lehman, Kite/Morgan and Cook/Sindelar.

Competition remains keen on the Champions Tour in 2009. Sunday’s playoff was the second in eight events and five others were decided by one stroke. Nick Price’s two-stroke win at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am is the largest margin of victory.