Today, Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela won the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey in Oakville (Toronto suburb), Canada, and American resident Bernhard Langer of Germany won the Senior British Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales, UK.
Vegas became only the fourth player in history to successfully defend his Canadian Open title. He had tied with American Charley Hoffman at 21 under par 267 for the regulation 72 holes. Vegas won the first extra hole with a birdie on the par-five 18th hole. It gave him a total of three wins on the PGA Tour. Jhonttan’s previous first PGA Tour win was the 2011 Bob Hope Desert Classic.
I’m a fan of Jhonattan Vegas. He seems like a nice, friendly guy. Often smiles. He has a very good, smooth golf swing, and he hits it a mile. But then, so do a lot of guys on that tour now. I think he should win more. But then, golf is 50 percent short game for them.
Jhonattan Vegas emerged victorious while his country is in chaos. For months, protesters have been violently clashing with police, resulting in some deaths. Today, Venezuelans voted on whether or not they will continue with democracy. It’s about President Nicolás Maduro changing the nation’s constitution and replacing the country’s General Assembly, which would surely lead to a dictatorship. The U.S., EU, and several South American nations have registered their opposition to this happening.
Langer’s win today was his 1oth major on the Champions Tour, giving him the most majors ever on that tour. He won by three strokes as he fended off American Corey Pavin. Both are committed Christians and members of the Christian chapel program on the Champions Tour. Both became Christians earlier in their careers on the PGA Tour when they attached themselves to the PGA Tour Bible Study. Pavin is ethnically Jewish. (He’s also about the only pro golfer on either tour that still use the old, famed, Bulls Eye putter.)
Langer admitted in his TV interview today that he has at times played some of the best golf of his entire pro golf career as a senior on the Champions Tour. That is remarkable, especially since he is a two-time Masters champion. Bernhard Langer just defies Old Father Time. You wonder how anyone can keep winning like that since he is now 59 years old. But he certainly doesn’t look it. He still uses the very long putter even though the changed the rule so that you can’t anchor the grip end of the club to your body.
The Champions Tour used to have four major championships when I played it. But recently, the Senior British Open has been added as a fifth. Langer’s win today gave him three major wins on the Champions Tour for a single year, which is also a record.
The Canadian Open was always one of my favorite tournaments on the regular PGA Tour. Of course, one good reason was that I won it in 1970. It was then held at the London Hunt Club in London, Ontario. After that, the Canadian PGA soon built Glen Abbey, where the Canadian Open was then held the rest of my career on that tour. Before that, the Canadian Open used to be played at different venues, just as the British Open, American PGA Championship, and the U.S. Open are. For a long time, the Canadian Open stayed at Glen Abbey. Then officials went back to the previous policy to move the championship around. Apparently, that didn’t prove so successful because Glen Abbey was very popular with the pros. In recent years, they’ve been keeping it as Glen Abbey, which used to house a Catholic monastery of that name.
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