CLEARWATER, Florida — World Golf Hall of Famer Bernhard Langer and vice captain Søren Kjeldsen led the way with 12 points each in afternoon singles matches Sunday as Team Europe rolled to victory in the Skechers World Champions Cup supporting Shriners Children’s.
The Europeans also got 10.5 points from Hall of Famer Colin Montgomerie on Sunday afternoon in the PGA TOUR Champions event at Feather Sound Country Club, and their 230 points gave them a decisive victory over Team International (213.5) and Team USA (204.5).
The morning singles session saw Team Europe make its biggest move, as Alex Cejka and Thomas Bjørn led the way with 12.5 points each, and team captain Darren Clarke contributed 11.5, with Montgomerie scoring 10.5.
“This week we all got together with all of us, the players, the wives, the caddies and everything, and our way in Europe is, when we get into a team, there’s no egos, there’s no nothing,” Clarke said. “I know we’ve got two Hall of Famers in our group and on our team, but nobody’s bigger than anybody else, and we all pull for each other and play for each other.”
Team Europe held a 4.5-point lead over the other two teams Thursday evening, and after Friday was just 1.5 points ahead of USA and three points ahead of the Internationals. Their play Sunday morning put them in comfortable position heading into the afternoon, and they had wrapped up the victory with a birdie from Kjeldsen, in the second-to-last group, on the eighth hole.
In 2023, Team USA won the inaugural tournament, which came down to the final hole.
“Looking up and down this group of guys up here, it’s incredible,” Langer said. “Some of you don’t know what happened to us this week, but Alex (Cejka) has a bad back and struggled through it. We were 7-under or something this morning through eight holes with a bad back. Incredible. Then you look down the line, everybody’s done more than they should have.”
Three points are awarded for each hole in the nine-hole rounds, featuring modified alternate shot (Scottish Sixsomes) and better ball format the first two days. Following a Saturday pro-am, the tournament was decided by 12 nine-hole singles rounds Sunday, with half of the tournament’s points accounted for on the final day.
Team USA’s Jason Caron earned the most points throughout the tournament, with 60.5. Caron is a PGA Head Golf Professional from Oyster Bay, New York who last played regularly on the PGA TOUR more than 20 years ago and has experienced a career revival on the PGA TOUR Champions circuit the last two years.
“I wish this week wouldn’t end,” Caron said. “To be honest, it’s been so much fun to be part of such a great event and such a great team. What can I take away? I guess for me personally it would be like, listen, I can play with all these guys out here. So I’ll feel confident going into next year that that’s happening. I’d love to be part of a team event like this one again. It really was awesome.”
Each of the three teams in the Skechers World Champions Cup supporting Shriners Children’s is made up of six players, including a playing captain, as well as two non-playing vice captains who may substitute in case of injury or illness.