Year in Review: The best of the Champions Tour 2010

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Bernhard Langer had much to celebrate in 2010 with five victories and the Charles Schwab Cup.

OTHER YEARS IN REVIEW: PGA TOUR | Nationwide Tour

It was a hat trick season for Bernhard Langer.

Langer crafted a third exceptional year on the 2010 Champions Tour but he doesn't hesitate to identify the best of the best.

"I thought it was pretty special the first two years, I really did," Langer said after putting the finishing touches on 2010 by claiming the Charles Schwab Cup, a competition he dominated almost the entire year.

"But this year obviously tops it off with having won the two majors back-to-back and then ending up with this (Schwab Cup) trophy. It doesn't get any better than that."

Langer ticked off many of the goals he achieved this year:

• 2 major victories
• The Charles Schwab Cup
• Money list
• Five victories
• And an unprecedented third straight Player of the Year is in the bag.

"It's hard to do that year after year," Langer said. "The competition that I was facing this year with Fred Couples and many, many other great champions and Hall-of-Famers, you go down the list, whether it's Nick Price or John Cook or Mark O'Meara, it goes on and on and on.

"There are so many great players out there. To come out on top is a great feeling and it's worth all the hard work over the years."

Langer wasn't alone in achieving highs this year on the Champions Tour. Here's a look at some of the others:

Player of the Year: Bernhard Langer. He put together a Champions Tour year to remember.

Best Shot: David Frost, step forward.

Frost produced two memorable shots -- in the same round -- at the 3M Championship. They resulted in an 11-under 61, a tournament record by 2 shots (191) and his first title on the Champions Tour.

Frost went out in 7-under 29 in the final round. On the par 5 third hole, he drilled a 3-wood from 255 yards to about 3 feet from the hole. Eagle No. 1. That 3-wood was the first of Frost's two "best shots."

On the 18th hole, the distance covered was just a 25-feet putt but given the circumstances and the significance, it was Frost's second "best" effort. He made the eagle putt there, too.

Two great shots, two eagles and a championship.

Most improved Player: There was no sophomore jinx for Russ Cochran. After a solid rookie season in 2009, the left-hander moved into the front ranks of the Champions Tour when he won back-to-back at the Songdo Championship in Korea and the SAS Championship.

It lifted Cochran from No. 17 on the Money List in 2009 to No. 4 this year.

Best moment: In the course of human events, some things are simply more important than what happens inside the ropes.

Ken Green's return to competitive golf at the Liberty Mutual Legends in April certainly falls into that category.

Green made his first Champions Tour start since having his lower right leg amputated after an auto accident in June, 2009. He returned to the Champions Tour alongside partner Mike Reid. The pair tied for 26th at 12-under. It didn't matter. What did matter is the inspiration Green provided to all around him with his refusal to give up.

Best Individual finish: So many to choose from. Take your pick. Mine is Gary Hallberg's final round 11-under 61 at Rock Barn for a 1-shot victory over Fred Couples with Bernhard Langer finishing third.

Hallberg was looking for his first Champions Tour victory with the daunting figures of Couples and Langer in pursuit. In a difficult situation, Hallberg kept his nerve to make birdie at the final hole for the title. His 61 and 18-under 198 were tournament records.

Tied for 10th after two rounds, Hallberg made eight birdies and an eagle in his signature round. Special stuff.

Most impressive win: Bernhard Langer's first major championship on the Champions Tour took a while to achieve. The second came quickly, only one week later.

The methodical Langer never wavered despite flying across the Atlantic Ocean and the United States from Carnoustie, Scotland, to Seattle. He didn't let the highly partisan galleries supporting favorite son Fred Couples deter him from his goal. Not likely. Langer is nothing if he isn't focused and single-minded on the task at hand.

With Couples lurking every step of the way, Langer fired a bogey-free 3-under 67 in the final round to win by 2 shots.

Best round: When Fred Couples gets on a roll, the pertinent question becomes: How low will he go?

At the Cap Cana Championship, Couples went very low to produce the Champions Tour best round of the year. It wasn't the lowest round but coming in the final round and producing a victory, it was the best.

Couples started Sunday's round on the 7,170-yard par 72 Punta Espada Golf Club 2 shots behind leader Corey Pavin. Couples shot 62 and said, "It was an unbelievable day. The first six or seven holes, there was an eagle, birdies and putts going in from everywhere."

It produced Couples' third consecutive victory.

Rookie of the Year: Let's not waste any time with this. It's Couples. Next.

Armour

Best Round That Got Lost In the Headlights: Tommy Armour made his debut at the ACE Group Classic. For two rounds, he watched Couples threaten to run away from the field. In the third round, Armour put up the stop sign.

Armour forced Couples to play an exceptional round of golf by shooting a sensational 61 himself, three shots better than the eventual winner.

Best Trouble Shot: Bernhard Langer's skill set includes a wonderful bunker game and he proved it once again at the Allianz Championship.

Langer's second shot was buried in a greenside bunker on the first playoff hole, a par 5. With John Cook looking at an eagle putt from about 30 feet, it didn't look good for Langer. Looks can be deceiving.

Langer holed the bunker shot for eagle, Cook missed the putt. Game, set and match to Langer.

"You could probably put me in there 50 times and I probably wouldn't hole it again," Langer said.

Cook said, "Hall of Famers do things like that. That's why they're Hall of Famers."

Craziest Finish: It had the makings of a memorable conclusion to a major championship. It was, but not in the way most expected when Tom Lehman, Fred Couples and David Frost set out to decide the Senior PGA Championship in a three-man playoff in Denver.

Lehman won his first senior major with a par on the first extra hole when both Couples and Frost made double-bogeys. It was bizarre.

"I'm not sure I've ever experienced anything like that," Lehman said. "I turned to my caddie and said, 'How many shots have they taken?' I didn't know."

Biggest surprise: Jay Haas drew a blank in the win column.

Haas won 14 times in his first five Champions Tour seasons, reaching a high of 4 wins twice (2006, 2007) and never less than twice in a year.

Haas ended 2009 with back-to-back victories at Rock Barn and the Senior Players and successive T2s at the Administaff and AT&T Championship in a run of four events before the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

The hot finish didn't translate into a fast start and the popular Haas failed to win in 2010.