NAPLES, Fla. – Defending champion Bernhard Langer shot an 8-under 64 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the ACE Group Classic.

Langer birdied three of his first holes in his bogey-free round on TwinEagles’ Talon Course. The 56-year-old German star won the 2011 tournament and finished second behind Kenny Perry in 2012. Langer won the season-opening event in Hawaii last month for his 19th Champions Tour title.

Bob Tway was second. He birdied his last three holes, making a 60-foot putt on No. 8.

Olin Browne opened with a 66, and Duffy Waldorf and Kirk Triplett shot 67. Waldorf is coming off a playoff loss to Michael Allen on Sunday in Boca Raton in the Allianz Championship.

Allen had a 68.

Leading the Canadian charge is Rod Spittle of St. Catharines, Ont. The 58-year-old is tied for 18th after firing a 2-under 70. Jim Rutledge of Victoria, B.C. shot an even-par 72 and is tied for 45th.

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Michael Allen won the Allianz Championship on Sunday for his sixth Champions Tour title, beating Duffy Waldorf with a two-putt birdie on the second hole of a playoff.

After Allen holed out on the par-5 18th, Waldorf had a chance to extend the playoff, but missed an 8-foot birdie putt after finding the front bunker in two.

Allen closed with a 3-under 69 to match Waldorf at 18-under 198 on The Old Course at Broken Sound. Waldorf, winless on the 50-and-old tour after winning four times on the PGA Tour, shot 67.

They each birdied the 18th in regulation and on the first extra hole.

In the first round, Allen had become the ninth player to shoot a 60 on the Champions Tour. A missed 4-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole Sunday cost Allen a chance to win in regulation.

Chien Soon Lu was third at 17 under after a 69. Tom Lehman was another stroke back after a 68.

Mark Calcavecchia shot a 64 to tie for 15th at 10 under. He had seven consecutive birdies, one off the Champions Tour record. Calcavecchia set the PGA Tour record with nine straight birdies in the 2009 Canadian Open.

St. Catharines, Ont. native,  Rod Spittle, finished 8-under at 208. He tied for 25th. Jim Rutledge of Victoria, B.C. finished 5-under and tied for 39th.

KAUPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii – Bernhard Langer birdied five of the last six holes Sunday to pull away from Fred Couples and Jeff Sluman and win the Mitsubishi Electric Championship by three strokes.

The 56-year-old German shot his second straight 64 in the final round of the winners-only event that opened the 35th season of the Champions Tour. He finished with a 54-hole total of 22-under 194 at Hualalai.

“It’s a new year and my goal was to get over the hurdle and win as soon as possible,” said Langer, who won here five years ago. “I’m very pleased and extremely blessed to play golf like this. To be 22 under doesn’t happen very often.”

Langer, who is 41 under in his last seven rounds at Hualalai, earned his 19th senior victory, but first since April despite a string of top-10 finishes the last half of 2013.

He and Couples shared the lead at 14 under going into the final day under ideal conditions. Sluman was two back, but surged ahead at the turn, his fifth birdie putt taking him to 17 under. All but one came from inside 6 feet.

“My iron shots were pretty bueno on those,” said Sluman, who was making in his 80th consecutive senior start. He has been among the tour’s top-20 money winners the last five years.

Langer and Couples caught him at 18 under with birdies on No. 13.

Langer just kept rolling, two-putting for birdie on the next hole to grab the lead alone, then draining three more birdie putts from inside 12 feet.

Sluman closed with a 65. Couples, looking for his 10th Champions win and second in a row, had a 67. After playing Hualalai’s par-5’s in 6 under on the opening day, he was just 4 under combined the final two days.

Two-time senior Player of the Year Jay Haas made a late charge after parring all but two of the first 12 holes. He birdied the 13th, then chipped in for eagle and birdie to get within two on the 16th hole.

He could make up no more ground on the streaking Langer. Haas, one of eight 60-year-olds in the field of 41, birdied the final hole to shot a 65 and finish fourth at 199.

First-round leader Rocco Mediate also got within two with his seventh birdie of the day, at the 15th, but parred the final four. He shared fifth with David Frost _ who lost a playoff with John Cook here last year – at 16 under.

Langer, who earned $307,000 for the win, came up a shot short of making playoffs at both Hawaii senior events last year. The seniors play here again Sept. 18-21 in the Pacific Links Hawaii Championship at Kapolei.

The next tour event in Hawaii is the LPGA Lotte Championship, April 16-19 at Ko Olina.

KAUPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii – Bernhard Langer and Fred Couples broke away with birdies on the 17th to top the leaderboard going into Sunday’s final round of the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.

Facing benign conditions for the 35th season opener for the Champions Tour, Langer shot an 8-under 64 to get to 14 under for the tournament. Couples caught him with his second straight 65.

Mark O’Meara was just one stroke back of the leaders. O’Meara was 7 under after seven holes and finished with a 65.

David Frost, who lost to John Cook in a playoff here last year, pulled into contention with a 64. Frost one-putted 10 times.

Cook is two back and shares fourth with Jeff Sluman (66) and Steve Elkington (67). First-round leader Rocco Mediate was 1 over on the back nine and fell into a tie for seventh with Tom Lehman (66) at 11 under.

Langer and O’Meara tied the tournament record with 6-under 30s on the front nine. Langer two-putted three of the par 5s for birdies and sank a 30-footer at No. 8. His other birdie putts were inside 12 feet until he drained a 15-footer at the 17th. Couples caught him with a 20-footer on the same hole.

Couples, 54, is one of nine World Golf Hall of Famers in the 41-player field featuring major champions from the last five years, other tournament winners in the last two seasons and sponsor invitees. Couples has won nine senior events since 2010, including the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in November. He has two top-five finishes here the last four years.

But even he doesn’t have any idea of how low he will have to go to win at a pristine Hualalai Course with barely any wind.

“The scores here are crazy every year,” Couples said. “To be honest, the only time I pay attention is Sunday when I’m done.”

Couples had 10 top-10s in 15 starts last year. Langer hasn’t finished outside the top 10 since July, but the last of his 18 senior wins came in April.

“There is definitely frustration,” he said, “especially because I was leading almost every week at some point. I’m ready for more wins, hopefully.”

Langer, who won his fifth money title last year, injured his thumb Thursday and had to drop out of the Pro-Am. He is 33 under in his last six rounds at Hualalai, while Couples is 31 under.

KAUPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii – Rocco Mediate took the first-round lead Friday in the Champions Tour’s season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship.

Mediate shot a 9-under 63 at Hualalai Golf Course, playing the first seven holes in 6-under with four birdies and an eagle on the par-5 seventh. He added birdies on Nos. 10, 14 and 18 to finish a stroke ahead of 2012 winner Dan Forsman.

Mediate won twice last year in his first season on the 50-and-over tour after winning six times on the PGA Tour.

Forsman had an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey.

Fred Couples, Fred Funk, Tom Pernice Jr. and Steve Elkington shot 65. Couples played the four par-5 holes in 6-under, eagling Nos. 4 and 7 and birdieing Nos. 10 and 14.

The 41-player field features major champions from the last five years, other tournament winners in the last two seasons and sponsor invitees.

Defending champion John Cook had a 69.

Kenny Perry opened with a 72. He was the player of the year last season, winning three times and taking the Charles Schwab Cup points title.

LEVIS, Que. –  The Champions Tour event that was played in Montreal the past four years will be moving to the Quebec City area next summer.

Promoter Synchro Sports announced Friday the US$1.6-million tournament will be held Sept. 5-7 at the La Tempete Golf Club.

It is the first PGA Tour-sanctioned event in the area since Billy Casper won the 1956 Labatt Open.

The Quebec Remparts junior hockey team will join Synchro Sports as marketing partners for the event, which will be called the Quebec City Championship.

The event was called The Montreal Championship the last four years and was won by Larry Mize in 2010, John Cook in 2011, Mark Calcavecchia in 2012 and Esteban Toledo in 2013.

The move is taking place because the 2014 RBC Canadian Open will be conducted in Montreal July 21-27 at The Royal Montreal Golf Club in Ile Bizard, Que.