Bernhard Langer eagles 18 from bunker to win Allianz Championship in playoff

Langer wins Allianz Championship in playoff

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Bernhard Langer’s bunker shot was plugged about 45 feet from the hole in a playoff at the Allianz Championship.

Turns out, the German star had John Cook just where he wanted him.

Langer holed the difficult shot for an eagle to edge Cook on the first extra hole, to the delight of his many fans in his adopted hometown.

“It doesn’t get any better than that, to play near where you live is fantastic,” said Langer, who dropped his club and jumped for joy after winning for the ninth time in 48 career Champions Tour starts.

“To finish it off the way I did today with an unbelievable shot, that only happens every so often, and makes it that much more thrilling. I’m still flabbergasted. … You could put me in there 50 times and I probably wouldn’t hole again.”

Cook missed a 30-foot eagle putt on the playoff hole.

“Hall of Famers do stuff like that,” Cook said about Langer. “I felt, for sure, if I hit a good putt here, I have a good chance to win the golf tournament.”

Langer and Cook closed with 5-under 67s to finish at 17-under 199 on The Old Course at Broken Sound Club. Langer earned $255,000.

Langer lost the lead when he missed a 4-foot par putt on No. 17, but rebounded with a birdie on the par-5 finishing hole to tie Cook, recovering after his tee shot landed in a bed of crushed shells.

“I’ve been all over the world and won a lot of tournaments, and the way this turned out it’s definitely in the top three of my experiences,” Langer said. “The two Masters weren’t shabby and there was a couple of wins in my home country, too.”

Joey Sindelar (67) finished third, a stroke out of the playoff. Gene Jones (66) was fourth at 15 under, and Mike Reid (68), Loren Roberts (69), Tom Lehman (69) and Tim Simpson (71) were another stroke back.