CHAMPIONS

• Haas wins toughest Senior PGA ever

  
  

  Rochester, NY (Sports Network) - Jay Haas tapped in for his last par and exhaled.

  He had every right to.

  Haas survived four brutal days at Oak Hill to win the Senior PGA Championship on Sunday, closing with a four-over 74 in the final round to hold off Bernhard Langer by a shot.

  It was the second time in three years that Haas won this major championship -- and nobody's ever done it with a higher score.

  Haas' seven-over-par 287 total was the worst winning score in tournament history, five shots more than Sam Snead's plus-two number in 1970. It was the second-highest winning score in any 72-hole Champions Tour event.

  "I'm very glad it's over," said Haas, who claimed $360,000 for the win.

  Langer, who held a one-shot lead overnight, started the final round off with a double-bogey and never fully recovered.

  He played his first eight holes at six-over par, then his last 10 at even-par to shoot a 76 and end at eight-over 288.

  Joey Sindelar joined Scott Hoch with a 72, and they shared third place with Scott Simpson (73) at nine-over 289.

  Former world No.

  1 Greg Norman was one shot off the lead with two holes remaining before he made a double-bogey at the 17th hole.

  The Hall of Fame Aussie shot a 73 and finished tied for sixth place, just three shots back at 10-over 290 -- although he sounded like a man who never considered the possibility he might win.

  "I thought these guys would hang on," said Norman.

  And although Norman has played on three different tours this season -- European, PGA and Champions -- he remains mostly retired. A good finish at a tough event didn't have him thinking about playing full-time again.

  "It might get me to go the other way," said Norman, who was followed around the course by girlfriend and Hall of Fame tennis player Chris Evert. "It reminds me too much of what you have to go through with the game of golf. To go through all this to play golf again? Who knows." But Norman wasn't the only one who struggled. There were just 12 rounds in the 60s posted through four days, and only one of them by the winner.

  Haas opened with a 69 on Thursday, then carded back-to-back 72s to climb within a shot of the third-round lead held by Langer. The shot that eventually won Haas the tournament was a hole-out eagle on the 17th hole on Saturday.

  His final round on Sunday included bogeys at the second and fourth holes, then on the 11th, 13th and 17th holes. He had just one birdie -- at the par-four fifth.

  Haas had missed a six-foot birdie putt at the 15th with a chance to go ahead by two shots when, two holes later, he bogeyed the 17th. But Langer also made a bogey there to remain one off the lead.

  Haas then took his tenuous one-stroke lead to the 18th, where he has some dubious history.

  He was part of the United States Ryder Cup team that was defeated at Oak Hill in 1995, when the Europeans came from two points down on the last day of competition.

  Haas lost the clinching singles match on the 18th hole. This time around, a two-foot par putt was all he needed to claim his 11th Champions Tour title.

  "I exorcised a few demons there," said Haas.

  05/25 19:27:42 ET