Are older players winning more now on the PGA Tour Champions? Here's a look at the stats

USA Today

29-03-2025

Are older players winning more now on the PGA Tour Champions? Here's a look at the stats
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Strong winds hit the first day of the Galleri Classic golf tournament
Strong winds hit Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage on the first day of the Galleri Classic golf tournament
Bernhard Langer, 67, is leading the Galleri Classic, a senior golf tournament where most winners are in their 50s.
Langer attributes his success and the increasing number of older winners to improved fitness and health awareness among golfers.
He believes this trend of golfers competing at a high level in their 60s will continue.
Langer hopes his longevity inspires people of all ages to take up golf.
There's been a lot of talk in the world of sports recently about certain pro athletes still playing at a high level despite being among the oldest players in their sport.
LeBron James at age 40 is still one of the best players in the NBA. Alex Ovechkin at age 39 is currently in the top five in the NHL in goals scored. But if you're looking for a player who's excelling in his pro league despite being older than the rest of the competitors, please consider Bernhard Langer on the PGA Tour Champions, golf's senior tour.
To be on the senior tour, a golfer must be 50 years old. As you might imagine, almost all of the winners on tour are in their 50s, and then there's Langer.
Langer is currently 67 years old and he is tied for the lead after the first day of the Galleri Classic thanks to an age-matching 5-under 67 in his first round at the Dinah Shore Course at Mission Hills Country Club on Friday.
He is a serious exception to the rule, as it's quite rare for a player in his 60s to win on this tour. Let's crunch the numbers.
A whopping 96.77% of all winners on the PGA's senior circuit, dating back to its inception in 1980, have been in their 50s.
Only 48 times has a player 60 years old or older won a tournament on this tour.
Of those 48 times, 14 of them have been won by Langer.
Only one player has ever won on this tour older than age 63, and that is Langer who has done it six times.
Langer won twice at 64, three times at 65 and again last year at 67 when he won the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship event.
Langer believes it's not just him that is making 60 the new 50 on the senior tour. He said he believes you'll see more winners from the 60-plus age group moving forward.
"When I first came out here, I was told, and the statistics proved it, that you win most of your tournaments between 50 and 55. By the time you reach age 60, you have no chance, basically. That's what the statistics proved," Langer said Thursday in the lead-up to the Galleri Classic. "Well, we proved the statistics wrong and it's not just me, there's other guys that have won in their 60s and they're very competitive. I think that will be the trend in the future as the guys stay fitter and stronger and stay committed to the game."
Langer hit on the keyword "fitness." Langer, who is from Germany, is in tremendous shape and he feels like staying fitter longer is a trend he's seeing on the tour. That high fitness level helps players perform, of course, but also recover faster.
Case in point, Langer tore his Achilles tendon in February of 2024, returned to action in May and still finished seventh in the season-long points race despite missing one-third of the season.
Steve Stricker, at 58, said during media day for this event that he agrees with Langer's perception that the tour as a whole is thinking smarter about their health.
'People just taking better care of themselves, being a little more dedicated to that aspect,' Stricker said. 'Eating better, working out, stretching, We want to continue playing, most of us do anyway, as long as you possibly can. It's a great game to be able to play into our late 50s or potentially like Bernhard into our mid-60s.'
More: Here's your 7-iron, dad. At Galleri Classic, sons and daughters share time with dad as caddies
Langer was asked after his bogey-free round Friday if he feels like he's inspiring others on tour to play longer into their careers. He took a broad approach, hoping that he's inspiring everyone of all ages to take up the game he loves.
"Hopefully everywhere (not just on this tour)," he said. "Hopefully, young people to pick up the gameand hopefully all the people who keep playing or even start the game. Yeah, certainly I think the mindset has changed on this tour. I think people are thinking differently these days."
Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at [e-mail].