Bernhard Langer wins his second Senior British Open

Bernhard Langer won his second Senior British Open championship on Sunday, finishing a record 13 strokes clear of Colin Montgomerie of Scotland.

The German added a closing 4-under 67 Sunday at sunny Royal Porthcawl to his earlier rounds of 65-66-68 for an 18-under 266.

Langer’s 13-stroke win is the largest margin of victory ever on the senior tour, beating Hale Irwin’s 12-stroke win in the Senior PGA Championship in 1997, while he almost doubled Bob Charles’ record of seven strokes in the British event, set at Turnberry back in 1989.

Montgomerie shot 2-under 69 to finish at 5-under 279 after starting with a share of seventh place.

Tom Pernice Jr. of the United States, Barry Lane of England and Rick Gibson of Canada were three further shots back, tied for third on 2-under 282.

“The golf course is unbelievably tough,” Langer said. “To have this weather for four days is unreal, it’s like playing in Florida with a bit of wind.

“The secret was I didn’t make too many mistakes and my driver was very good and my long putting was excellent, although not quite today as I was lacking a little. Perhaps my lead was too big.”

While the stiff breeze sent many scores soaring, Langer displayed the same immaculate control that saw him lead throughout, going into the final day eight strokes ahead of Gibson.

At the turn Langer had stretched his lead to 13, going out in 3-under 32 to Gibson’s 2-over 37.

Langer birdied both the second, when he holed from eight feet, and the third from five feet. He dropped a shot at the fourth when his approach only reached the front edge and he putted up to three feet and missed.

He left his eagle putt at the long sixth on the lip, then bagged his fourth birdie at the seventh. He moved 14 clear when Gibson had a bogey at the 10th, but then Langer missed his par putt at 11, in what was only his fifth bogey of the week.

Langer claimed his fifth birdie of the day at the short No. 12, then posted five straight pars before finding the final green in two and two-putting for a closing birdie, his 23rd of the tournament.

Montgomerie’s closing 69 saw him win what he called “the other competition.” He dropped two strokes early on but then birdied the sixth and eighth to be level at the turn. He parred seven holes on the run from Nos. 9 through 16 before birdies at the last two to move clear of the rest of the chasers.

Gibson, second overnight, struggled on the final day, closing with a 4-over 75 while Pernice and Lane shot 70 and 72 respectively.

Americans Bob Tway (76) and Scott Dunlap (75) shared sixth place on level par 284, one ahead of Argentina’s Miguel Angel Jimenez (68) and Kirk Triplett (70) of the United States.

Tom Watson and Fred Couples struggled on the final day. Watson posted a 6-over 77 with fellow American Couples one worse, to finish on 286 and 288 respectively. Watson finished in a share of 10th alongside countryman Russ Cochran. Couples was tied for 13th.

Tim Clark wins Canadian Open

Tim Clark birdied five of the last eight holes to rally to a one-stroke victory over Jim Furyk.

Clark closed with a 5-under 65 at rainy Royal Montreal for his second PGA Tour victory. The 38-year-old South African player also won the 2010 Players Championship.

Furyk, the two-time Canadian Open champion who took a three-stroke lead into the final round, finished with a 69. The 44-year-old American matched Clark with a birdie on the par-3 17th and a par on the par-4 18th.

On No. 18, Clark left a 45-foot birdie putt about 6 feet short, and Furyk missed left on a 12-footer. Clark sealed the win by holing the 6-footer for par.

Furyk is 0 for 7 with the 54-hole lead since winning the 2010 Tour Championship for the last of his 16 PGA Tour titles

Clark, four strokes behind Furyk after bogeying the par-4 first, took the outright lead with a birdie on the par-4 16th after a short rain delay. Clark finished at 17-under 263.

Justin Hicks was third at 13 under after a 64. Matt Kuchar (65), Michael Putnam (66) and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (66) tied for fourth at 11 under.

Spain wins International Crown

Carlota Ciganda breezed to an early victory to set the tone and Spain won all four of its singles matches Sunday to capture the inaugural International Crown.

Sweden finished second in the tournament that began Thursday with 32 players from eight countries. The top-seeded United States was among three teams eliminated Saturday, leaving five countries and 20 players to compete for the trophy.

Fifth-seeded Spain began the final round tied for second behind Japan, but Ciganda immediately gave the Spaniards a boost by beating Na Yeon Choi of South Korea 8 and 6. Beatriz Recari followed with a 3-and-2 victory over Mikaela Parmlid of Sweden, and Belen Mozo clinched the tournament title with a 3-and-2 win over Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand.

That set off an impromptu celebration on the 16th hole that began with a jubilant Recari jumping into the arms of Ciganda.