Dominion Energy Charity Classic: Moving Day leads to Historic Results

Story and Photo by Kent Paisley

Richmond, Virginia—The top of the leaderboard delivered historic numbers on moving day at the opening tournament of the Champions Tour Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, the Dominion Energy Charity Classic.

Vijay Singh and Bernhard Langer tied the course record at The Country Club of Virginia, carding 63 apiece.   

“I’m playing ready. It’s a lot of fun,” Langer explained. “Hitting a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, giving myself opportunities, and today was pretty special.”

Langer’s Dominance

Bernhard Langer has owned the Champions Tour the last three years, as he is searching for his fourth consecutive Charles Schwab Title. He finished as the runner up the three seasons prior. Langer comes off a disappointing T-11 finish last week at the SAS Championship in North Carolina.

The 60-year-old German native firmly bounced back from that performance, with five birdies yesterday, and nine birdies today. For the tournament, he has yet to record a bogey enroute to his leading score of -14. He has hit 91.7 percent of greens in regulation, leading the field.

Langer strung birdies together beautifully across the day, striking them back-to-back three times over the course of the afternoon. His round was highlighted by his second birdie of the day at the par 3 fourth. From 159 yards, his tee shot rolled just outside the right side of the cup for a tap in two-footer for birdie.

Langer’s bid for the course record was shut down by a missed eight-foot slider for birdie on the par 5 18^th green. He holds a comfortable three shot lead over World Golf Hall of Famer Vijay Singh.

Singh Rallies

Singh sat at one over through three holes, and one under par for the tournament. He had been reviewing his swing mechanics with his caddy on his IPhone on the driving range.

His left ankle swollen like a balloon.

A right knee that needs to be replaced.

Yet he responded by firing off four birdies in a row.

“I missed a very short putt there (the third hole)” Singh said, “and made two long putts, and then hit the par five I got it on in two.”

The Hall of Famer capped off the front side with a birdie on the 9^th, to turn in four for the opening nine.

Singh punctuated his round with a gorgeous up and down from the green side bunker on the 18^th from 40 feet out, his bunker shot trickling past the cup for an east tap in to cap off his 63.

In spite of Singh’s incredible performance, he holds just a one-stroke lead over Joe Durant, who carded another five under on the day to sit at 10 under par in third place.

The Playoff Bubble

The Dominion Energy Charity Classic is the opening tournament of three of the Champions tour Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs. The top 72 players from the money list qualify for the tournament, with the second tournament field cut down to 54.

The points are determined by money earned, dollar for dollar. In the Cup Playoffs, the points are worth double the amount of cash won.

Larry Mize entered the tournament at 53^rd in the money list, and is projected to drop back to 56^th if his current place of T-45 holds. Mize shot one under for the second consecutive round.

David McKenzie is now projected at 55^th, moving up from 57^th after shooting up to T-17. McKenzie currently holds a 17,077 projected point advantage over Mize.

Highlights

Miguel Angel Jimenez finished the day eagle-birdie-eagle to post two under for the day. His stretching routine is always worth another view. He holds two of the nine eagles made so far at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic.

The course’s average round dropped from 71.1 to 69.4, the field taking advantage of perfect scoring conditions. Only seven players posted rounds above par.

Tomorrow, the first tee time is at 8:10 A.M. EST. Langer and Singh are the final pairing, teeing up at 1:07 P.M.