KA'UPULEHU, KONA — Bernhard Langer didn't peek at the leaderboard all week, until the middle of the back nine. Langer needed a birdie, and he delivered.

Langer won the Champions Tour's season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship yesterday, closing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory over Andy Bean.

"I knew I had to birdie one or two holes coming in," Langer said about the key birdie on the par-5 14th. "I figured he wouldn't drop any shots, so I birdied that hole to go one ahead and that was good enough."

The 2008 player and rookie of the year had an 18-under 198 total to get his sophomore campaign off to a strong start and earn his fifth title in his 26th start on the 50-and-over circuit.

"I came into this tournament setting high goals and having high expectations, so it's good to get off a good start," Langer said. "If you start off struggling three or four weeks, it gets into your head and it could get worse. It's much better this way."

Bean, who shot a second straight 66, surged into contention with three birdies on the front nine and an eagle on No. 10 but parred the final four. His 10-foot birdie try on 18, to possibly force a playoff, lipped out.

But Langer wasn't flinching, even with the wind kicking up. Langer, who earned $315,000 and was the only player to break $2 million last year, was patient and focused.

The two-time Masters winner owned the back nine at Hualalai. Of his 23 birdies in the tournament, 15 came on the back nine.

The wind finally picked up along the Kona coast, which was blanketed by a haze from the volcanic fog spewing from across the island at Kilauea.

And the fog seemed to follow Brad Bryant, who was in command for the first two rounds and closed with a 75 to finish tied for eighth.

After birdieing two of the first three holes to reach 17 under, Bryant built a two-stroke cushion over Langer with 14 holes remaining.

Bryant then self-destructed with a quadruple-bogey 7 on the 205-yard fifth hole that lifted Langer into the lead.

Jay Haas, who began the day two strokes behind Bryant, also found trouble in the water on No. 5 for a double bogey.

Haas (70) finished alone in third place for the third time in four years at the winners-only Hualalai. Mark McNulty (67) and Jeff Sluman (70) tied for fourth, four strokes back.