The 2025 Legends Tour has come to a close, marking another successful season filled with exceptional golf courses, unforgettable moments, and strong support from players and partners alike. This year’s tour showcased a variety of venues that tested the skills and resilience of the competitors, while also providing fans with thrilling golf action throughout the season.
Alex Cejka played a key role in securing Team Europe’s lead on the opening day of the World Champions Cup.
Team Europe clinched the World Champions Cup with a dominant final round, led by Cejka and Langer against USA and International.
The Legends Tour has unveiled its first wave of tournaments scheduled for the 2025 season including two new events and an eye-watering prize pool for senior professionals. Legends Tour also continues to offer keen amateurs the greatest amateur experience in sport, playing alongside Legends of the game in stunning locations.
The globetrotting schedule will start with the 2025 Legends Tour Qualifying School played at Gloria Hotel and Resorts, Belek, Turkey (13th-20th January). Following this, sixteen additional tournaments have been confirmed including Barbados, Vietnam, Zambia, Greece, Ireland, France, Italy, Mexico and India.
New tournaments include the Marbella Legends at Aloha Golf Club, in Spain (14th-16th February) and the NI Legends Open to be played at Galgorm, Ballymena (29th-31st August), with more additions to be announced later this year.
They join Legends Tour staples such as the flagship Staysure PGA Seniors Championship which will return to Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen (31st July-3rd August) for its third year following the success of previous year’s events and the OFX Irish Legends hosted on the championship course at Mount Juliet Estate (16th – 17th May), which has previously been the venue for five Irish Opens and two World Golf Championships.
Many of the Legends Tour’s brightest stars will be eyeing up Major victory in 2025 at the Senior PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club, Bethesda (22nd-25th May), the US Senior Open at The Broadmoor Golf Club, Colorado Springs (26th-29th June), and The Senior Open returning to Sunningdale Golf Club, Berkshire (24th-27th July).
As well as the tournament silverware, some of golf’s biggest names will also be competing for the largest prize pool in Legends Tour history. The €20million (more than €10million of which will be assigned outside of the Majors of senior men’s golf – the Senior PGA Championship, the US Senior Open and The Senior Open) represents a 16% increase in prize funds year-on-year.
Complementing the drama of the professional events will be the unique Legends Experience where passionate amateurs can tee off alongside their heroes in the Tour’s one-of-a-kind pro-am experience. Amateurs live the life of a professional golfer, playing in tournament conditions in-front of the crowds and TV cameras with access to the players’ lounge and locker room, private coaching clinics with our Legends and practice on the players’ range. Amateurs will also enjoy world-class hospitality and attend VIP functions, such as evenings hosted by Ryder Cup Legends. The Legends Experience has now been rolled out to 11 tournaments across the globe.
The Luxe Scot Celebrity Pro-Am will also return to the OFX Irish Legends and the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship and features stars from the world of sport and entertainment competing to raise money and awareness for their chosen charities.
Phil Harrison, CEO of the Legends Tour, said: “Over the summer we have been working hard and 2025 promises to be another incredible year for the Legends Tour.
“Securing new events in some truly spectacular venues around the world is always a key objective of ours, and we are thrilled with the additions to the schedule for this season, as well as the prestigious venues we are honoured to return to.
“Everything from the standard of competition to the number of amateurs getting involved has been growing year on year, and 2025 will be no exception. This is the earliest we’ve been able to announce next year’s schedule due to the new approach to multi-year tournament contracting. Further additions to the schedule will be announced later this year and we cannot wait to see it all unfold.”
(Written by Legends Tour Communication)
Bernhard Langer holds the record for the most wins on the Champions Tour with 46 victories. Padraig Harrington, 52 years old and therefore only recently eligible for the seniors tour, already has eight wins. Last Wednesday, Harrington was asked by a journalist whether he or another golfer would be able to break Langers record.
“No. I’ve tried to do the math on it as you would say, the maths as I would say. It doesn’t look possible or likely, but the reality is it mightn’t be me but all records are broken, that’s just the way it is.”
“When somebody sets a record, it’s a goal for somebody else and they’ll chase it down eventually. Certainly for myself, it would seem like an incredibly tall order. Yeah, he’s 67, still playing great, which is amazing and an inspiration to us all, but to get to his amount of wins I think is a step too far for me”, said Padraig Harrington.
46 wins on PGA TOUR Champions.@Padraig_H knows it’s going to be tough to break Langer’s record 😅 pic.twitter.com/WTcSGOhXfw
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) August 21, 2024
In terms of both the total number of victories on the Champions Tour and the number of victories in senior majors, Langer is the G.O.A.T. – Greatest of all time – on the Champions Tour. The German has won a total of 46 tournaments on the Champions Tour, twelve of them in senior majors. The US American Hale Irwin has won the second most tournaments – 45 in total. Lee Trevino is a distant third with 29 triumphs. The figures for Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player are also impressive. Both are known to have won a total of 27 majors in the “regular majors”. But the two Hall of Famers have also won a lot in the senior category, with a combined total of 17 victories in senior majors. However, Bernhard Langer remains the ultimate winner on the senior tour for the time being, even if it has been a while since his last victory. On July 2, 2023, he won the US Senior Open, his 46th and last tournament to date.
Is Bernhard Langer's career underrated?
— Jamie Kennedy (@jamierkennedy) July 2, 2024
• 123 wins as a pro
• 2 Green Jackets
• 42 European Tour wins (2nd all-time)
• 46 Champions Tour wins (1st all-time)
• 12 Senior majors (1st all-time)
• World No. 1
• 2-time European POTY
• 10 Ryder Cup appearances (21-15-6) pic.twitter.com/Ks42g8f2Pc
The US-magazine Golf Digest reported yesterday on the golf cart situation involving five golfers – including Bernhard Langer – at the Senior British Open. In addition to Bernhard Langer, John Daly, Vijay Singh, Tim Herron and Paul Broadhurst also asked for permission to drive a golf cart. All five golfers gave various forms of physical problems as the reason. In the case of Langer, it is known that he is still suffering from pain after tearing his Achilles tendon at the beginning of the year. Of the five requests, only one was ultimately approved by the tournament organizers, that of Tim Herron. The result even led to John Daly withdrawing from the tournament.
In a statement quoted in the Golf Digest article, the tournament committee explains its procedure as follows: “As per the championship’s rules and terms of entry and participation, competitors can request use of motorized transportation on or before the closing date for entries. The championship committee received five applications which were carefully considered before one was granted to Tim Herron.” According to the article in the sports magazine, the four seniors did not receive a permit because they had competed in at least one tournament on foot within the last year and are therefore classified as fit. Note: The rules for senior tournaments vary depending on the organizer; in this case, the aforementioned rule was the deciding factor. This means that Paul Broadhurst, who is currently suffering from chronic inflammation in his right ankle (arthritis), must also play the Carnoustie Golf Links on foot. Paul Broahurst: “It’s tough. It’s severe arthritis. It is bone on bone. It’s an operation and a year out probably and no guarantee that I’ll be able to play to this level. So I’ve made a decision that if I can get through next season, I will probably call it a day. Monday was the first time I’d walked on a golf course in a year.” The Englishman was also surprised by the decision of the R&A and European Legends Tour, the tournament organizers.
On the Champions Tour and at the USGA Senior Championship, however, Broadhurst received permission to drive due to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Nevertheless, he has to walk the rest of the tournament in Carnoustie. The 58-year-old uses a walking stick to help him.
What a finish from Paul Broadhurst!
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) July 25, 2024
He’s T2 after bouncing back in a big way at Carnoustie. pic.twitter.com/SVgtDHVkDC
The Principal Charity Classic, part of the Champions Tour, is currently taking place in Des Moines, Iowa, USA, at the Wakonda Club. The tournament offers a prize money of $2,000,000. The fourth round has concluded with notable performances from the participants.
Rod Pampling from Australia and Ernie Els from South Africa are tied for the first place with a total score of -14. Bernhard Langer from Germany and Stephen Ames from Canada share the third position, each with a total score of -13. The fifth position is a three-way tie among David Duval, Kevin Sutherland, and Vijay Singh, with each having a total score of -12.
The best daily scores of the round were recorded by Bernhard Langer with -9, Rod Pampling and David Duval both with -7. These performances highlighted the intensity of the competition on the final day.
To watch a compilation of the best moments from this round, please refer to the provided video, which features the Champions Tour Highlights and Principal Charity Classic Highlights.
The Principal Charity Classic is a four-round event, and with the final round completed, attention now turns to the overall winner of the tournament.
For over a quarter of a century, caddie legend Mike “Fluff” Cowan and golf pro Jim Furyk formed an inseparable duo on the course. But now they have parted ways by mutual agreement, as Cowan has found his way back onto the PGA Tour.
The end of an era.
Jim Furyk and Mike ‘Fluff’ Cowan have amicably parted ways after 25 years together. The 76-year-old will now caddie for C.T. Pan full-time. pic.twitter.com/Hut4liBJ3M — PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 3, 2024
Cowan, who already stood on the green alongside Tiger Woods in the late 1990s, is now returning to the big stage of golf. At this week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson in McKinney, Texas, he is supporting Taiwanese professional C.T. Pan. “It’s hard to say goodbye after 25 years,” Cowan commented to Golfweek. “But sometimes it’s necessary to make the right move, even if it’s difficult.” The decision comes at a time when Jim Furyk has been sidelined by injuries for the last two years. His best result on the Champions Tour this season was a tied 33rd place at the Hoag Classic in March.
“We’re playing for two million dollars. They’re playing for 8, 20, 25 million,” Furyk wrote in a message to Golfweek. “I knew it was a good opportunity for him, and C.T. is playing pretty well. (Fluff) was hesitant. Because he’s a great person at heart. But I pushed and we both knew it was the best thing for him and his family.” Compared to Furyk’s modest earnings of 19,464 US dollars this season, the 32-year-old Pan has already earned 674,187 US dollars. For Furyk’s son Tanner, the split has created a special opportunity to caddie for his father at three or four events this summer.
Cowan can look back on an impressive career in which he has worked for golfers such as Ed Sabo (1976-78), Peter Jacobsen (1978-96) and Tiger Woods (1996-99).
Bernhard Langer, who is the oldest player on the PGA Tour Champions and therefore get’s calles “Dad” by his fellow tour players, got injured in February. Now his friends on the tour send their best wishes to “Dad”.
Fred Couples. Padraig Harrington, Ernie Els and Steve Stricker have contacted their friend bernhard langer via video message. They sent the video from Newport Beach, where Langer has won before. “Hopefully you’re on the couch relaxing, I know that’s where I would be”, said Fred Couples and hopes to see Langer back in action soon. Padraig Harrington said he would look up to him and what he does. “Everybody’s learning from you and we miss you out here”, says the Ire. Furthermore Ernie Els sent his best wishes to Langer wishing him a speedy recovery. Last but not least Steve Stricker had a message for “Dad”: “Hi Dad, we sure miss you out here, but I have one question for you. What do you miss the most about being out here on the Champions Tour?” Langer is still due to answer that question. But as the keen golfer he is, Langer probably misses everything what playing professional golf is about.
We miss you, @BernhardLanger6 ❤️
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) March 26, 2024
Freddie, Paddy, Ernie and Steve check in with ‘Dad.’ pic.twitter.com/43nDc2ckuy
In February the exceptional German golfer ruptured his Achilles tendon during a training session in Boca Raton, Florida. Following his injury, he underwent surgery directly in Miami. According to sports physician Dr. Tino Lorenz, surgery for an Achilles tendon rupture is one of the more complicated procedures and requires a recovery period of three to six months. Although the downtime for professional athletes can be reduced through improved rehabilitation conditions, it remains questionable whether Bernhard Langer will return to the course one last time on the DP World Tour on his farewell tour. The BMW International Open will take place in Munich at the beginning of July. A full recovery by then seems quite realistic.