Alex Cejka emerged because the Senior Open Champion at Royal Porthcawl in Wales on a windy day with damp circumstances.
Cejka, who hails from Germany, and Padraig Harrington of Eire battled all day, as the 2 gamers wanted a pair of playoff holes to determine the victor.
However the German made the least quantity of errors, particularly on the second playoff gap.
On the par-5 18th, which served because the playoff gap on each events, Harrington and Cejka blistered their drives down the left facet of the green as they’d the wind at their backs.
Harrington performed first and muscled a 7-iron over the inexperienced. His ball landed in a whispy lie. Cejka, in the meantime, knocked his shot onto the inexperienced. He proceeded to two-putt for birdie.
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Harrington gave him a robust run, however fatigue got here on the mistaken second. His third shot from past the inexperienced barely went 5 yards, a psychological error that in the end price him the Senior Open for the second straight 12 months.
The Dubliner put forth a valiant effort, as he carded a remaining spherical 4-over 75.
Harrington wanted a birdie on the 72nd gap to tie Cejka and drive a playoff.
He delivered.
The Irishman’s second shot on the par-5 18th was the shot of the day because it set him up for an eagle alternative. Had that putt dropped, Harrington would have gained. He as an alternative settled for a birdie, however his method shot on the 72nd gap was otherworldly.
Cejka limped to the end line as he made two bogeys over his remaining three holes to card a 5-over 76.
For the second consecutive day, no one completed with an under-par spherical at Royal Porthcawl. The very best spherical of the day got here from Miguel Angel Jimenez, who shot a 2-over 73.
On the 72nd gap, Cejka stepped up the tee field holding a one-stroke lead over Harrington. He hit his tee shot into the nasty tough left of the green, which was unforgivable, to say the least. The 53-year-old couldn’t even get his second shot to the green. Regardless of that mishap, he nonetheless made a par and subsequently outlasted Harrington within the playoff.
The three-time senior main winner is not any stranger to the large stage. In 2009, he led the Gamers by way of 54-holes however shot 7-over 79 on the ultimate day to lose to Henrik Stenson.
Cejka tied for ninth within the U.S. Senior Open and completed in a tie for twelfth on the Senior PGA Championship. He gained his two different senior majors in his rookie season in 2021. Cejka gained the Areas Custom and Senior PGA Championship that 12 months.
However the German’s efficiency Sunday was by far his most spectacular, as he held off considered one of Harrington, probably the greatest hyperlinks golfers on the earth, in probably the most brutal of circumstances.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By. You’ll be able to observe her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and on Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports for extra golf protection. You’ll want to try @_PlayingThrough too.
