The Champions Tour announced today Bernhard Langer as the 2010 Champions Tour Player of the Year. Langer posted five victories this year, including back-to-back major championships. With today's announcement he becomes the first player in Champions Tour history to win the Jack Nicklaus Trophy and the Arnold Palmer Award, as the Tour's leading money-winner, for a third consecutive year.
"Congratulations to Bernhard, Fred and Ken for their accomplishments during the 2010 season," said Mike Stevens, President of the Champions Tour. "Bernhard played premier golf this season with five wins, including back-to-back majors, the money list title and the Charles Schwab Cup. It's a season definitely worthy of this award. Fred made an enormous impact on the Champions Tour this year, storming out of the gates with three early wins, generating tremendous interest in our Tour, before capping his season with another win in Houston late in the year. Ken showed great heart and incredible courage, inspiring many people with his return after his tragic accident last year."
Langer, who joined the Champions Tour in 2007, earned his first Charles Schwab Cup this year, the season-long competition designed to recognize the Champions Tour's leading player, closing the season with 3,597 points, 826 points ahead of his nearest rival Fred Couples.
"First of all, it's been an awesome year," said Langer. "Winning five times and two majors and also winning far more Charles Schwab Cup points than I had won the first two years - it's been a wonderful ride on the Champions Tour these last three years. To be voted Player of the Year three years in a row is an amazing thing. I've been very blessed to be healthy and to be playing that well. I had expected to do well but not that well. This was probably my best year since I've been on the Champions Tour. The consistency was there all three years -- it's just the first two years I played steady in the majors but just didn't win any of them. To win two this year is pretty awesome."
With $2,648,939 in earnings this year, Langer averaged $115,171 per start. His five wins were the most in a season since Craig Stadler won five times in 2004. He is the first to win back-to-back major championships on the Champions Tour since Tom Watson in 2003. Langer, from Germany, was also the first international player to win five times in a season since New Zealand's Sir Bob Charles in 1989.
In 23 starts during the 2010 season, Langer led all players in the number of Rounds in the 60s (49), Sub-Par Rounds (54) and Top-10 finishes (15).
