Alex Cejka wins his 3rd major at the Senior Open

German player Alex Cejka won The Open Championship on Sunday, defeating Irishman Padraig Harrington in a play-off. It is Ceika's third victory in the senior circuit, all in major tournaments.

Alex Cejka played an excellent tournament, especially in the first round, which he managed to play free of bogeys and with three birdies. The second day was also positive because, although he made a double bogey and a bogey, he was able to level his game and make three birdies.

The score of his first two rounds gave him the possibility to remain among the contenders despite a more discreet third round (+3). Nevertheless, it was a demanding round for the entire field, so there weren't many competitors ahead of him.

However, the third round was quite demanding, while the fourth and decisive round was even more so, with extremely adverse weather. The players had to face rain and wind that put their skills to the test.

In such an adverse scenario, Alex Cejka was able to stay in the lead. He reached the 18th hole leading by one stroke, but could only make par on the same hole.

Padraig Harrington birdied the same hole to literally force play with his last shot. Cejka and Harrington faced each other in sudden death on the same 18th hole. During the tournament, Harrington had made par, two eagles and birdie on that hole, against two pars and two birdies by Cejka.

With this, the first play-off round ended tied, par for each. In the second, Alex Cejka managed to make birdie and Harrington could not imitate him.

This is Alex Cejka's third victory on the senior circuit. The previous two were also majors, both achieved in 2021, a few weeks apart (Regions Tradition and Senior PGA Championship).

Alex Cejka and The Senior Open Championship leaderboard

Below is the final leaderboard for The Senior Open Championship. Players who finished in the Top 25 are:

• P1 CEJKA, Alex +5
• P2 HARRINGTON, Padraig +5
• 3 SINGH, Vijay +7
• 4 JONZON, Michael +8
• T5 ARCHER, Phillip +9
• T5 PRICE, Phillip +9
• T7 KELLY, Jerry +10
• T7 GREEN, Richard +10
• T7 MCINTOSH, Euan +10
• T7 LANGER, Bernhard +10
• T11 ALKER, Steven +11
• T11 HANSEN, Anders +11
• T11 YANG, Y.E. +11
• T 14 TIZIANI, Mario +12
• T14 SINGH, Jeev Milkha +12
• T14 GILLIS, Tom +12
• T14 CHOI, K J +12
• T14 DUKE, Ken +12
• T14 KEMP, John +12
• T20 LAWRIE, Paul +13
• T20 DREDGE, Bradley +13
• T20 JAIDEE, Thongchai +13
• T20 DAY, Glen +13
• T20 ORR, Gary +13
• T25 KHAN, Simon +14
• T25 HAEGGMAN, Joakim +14
• T25 CANONICA, Emanuele +14
• T25 SANDELIN, Jarmo +14
• T25 HORNE, Keith +14
• T25 MCKENZIE, David +14
• T25 JIMÉNEZ, Miguel Ángel +14
• T25 LUNA, Santiago +14