Masters, Bernhard Langer: “I am 67 years old, right to say enough. But what an emotion …”

Bernhard Langer: 67 years old and don’t hear them. The German is a 53 -seasons career, with 125 titles conquered in every continent and at all ages, lined up without jumping one year. And then an infinite series of records and as many celebrations, such as the one that was organized in 2022 for its 40 years of Masters by Mercedes, the car house that accompanied him on fields all over the world. German like him, Bavarian from Anhausen. The special tribute was a car that on the bodywork told his deeds, his victories, his Masters in comics. Satisfied? Never. Because it still had to happen in these three years. How to win again four senior titles, including a major. A Achilles tendon broke in February 2024 also included playing pickleball (“Practicing other sports is part of my training”), an incredibly fast recovery to return to the race three months later and again to the victory before the end of the year. They hit his words immediately after the accident. “I think I can still produce a lot for a few years, I always have a lot of good golf in me.” Resuming to play and win like this, at 67, seems impossible. Yet it is capable of relaunching as only the biggest know how to do. As Seve Ballesteros when, captain of the Ryder Cup 1997, as soon as the race said “we won, but next time I play too”. And as a certain Tiger Woods, always and still projected forward. The formula of the German professional? “As in a puzzle is the combination of many pieces – strength and courage derive from faith in God, I believe in Jesus Christ and I regularly read the Bible. I like to train and keep me in shape. Put a good DNA, an athletic physique and a special talent for sport, all sports: football, ping pong, athletics, I ran fast, I launched the ball far, I had a good coordination, It is not enough, you need work and dedication in all respects, you need a good coach (golf is the most technical sport ever), a good Caddie and a solid family, you have to face ups and downs, overcome the latter and learn from errors, as in life. Determination and will, in fact. Even more since, turning 50, he entered the senior world like a river in full, a young man who has growing in the middle of adults in progressive decline. Implacable, he continued to win (47 times), better than the season on the Champions Tour for a six -time record. “In the last 18 years on the Champions Tour I have been lucky enough to be able to win at least one tournament per season, which is very difficult; statistics say that here you win especially between 50 and 55 years of age, but overcome this age the success is increasingly rare. And here I am with another title at 67 years old. It’s true, I have beaten a lot of records, but I don’t necessarily play for primates, I want to be the best possible golfist.”

What part of the game is still a strong point?

“The game is the same, I have lost about ten meters long compared to my thirty years and at my best time, but I think I had gained something in other sectors, I know my game better, I can think better, I have more experience, I can still improve the approaches, the Putt or the bunker, this is the interesting part of golf, not like other sports like football, basketball or tennis where you have to be very fast, professional sports that are at forty. In golf you can still improve a lot at 50 or 60 years old.

Two green jackets in the closet, 1985 and 1993. How do you face the Augusta National going forward with age?

“Here the Green are among the hardest in the world and on different levels, you have to stop the ball very quickly to leave a Putt short, for this reason it has become so difficult for me to be competitive. I arrive in green with a 2 or 3 iron when the longest play 9 or pitch, difficult to stop the ball. This field of 6,900 meters has become very complicated for me, also considering the position of the ball often uphill. My latest Masters. I know I can’t win it and if I can’t be in competition it doesn’t make sense.

So his magical touch around the Green is no longer enough.

“In reality, all these young champions have an excellent touch today, they are good in every aspect of the game; if you want to become one of the best in the world you must be good in everything and they are, so yes, I have a good touch, imagination and everything else, but the others pull the ball 30-60 meters longer than me”.

Last July he played his latest event of the DP World Tour (513 departures, 42 wins) and summarized his long career saying: “I was able to live my dream”. The Masters who is about to play a last time, the 41st, has certainly played an important role in this dream. What will you miss more than this tournament, between the environment, holes, pressure, perfection everywhere, big play …?

“There are many things that I will miss. The mere fact of participating in the tournament is truly unique. But I am not saying goodbye to the Masters forever, I still intend to be there in the coming years, to participate in the Champions Lempions’ Dinner and to play the Par-3 Contest. But what I will miss will be out there to compete with the others, inside the ropes, because I am not used to being in the audience, it will not be very different. that you love, but I think it is the right time to do it, the decision is taken. Shot, the excitement that you can create on the sidelines.

What did you learn from Masters?

“Many things, such as the importance of having a good strategy to attack every hole, because the Green are so difficult and complex that you must have a great strategy and rely on your shots to put the ball exactly where you want it to be. Ultimately, you have to be very precise in Augusta. Even half a meter can make the difference between a great score and a disaster. And some times also be lucky”.

What do you expect this year?

“The main objective is to overcome the cut, but I know it will be very difficult, the probability are definitely against me because of the field so long, but I hope to enjoy my last Masters as a player. I am trying to get emotionally preparing to face the moment, when I saw my whole family, children, grandchildren, friends and my sponsors of many years, out beyond the ropes to cheer for me, I will be very exciting and I will be very exciting.”

Bernhard Langer is synonymous with regularity. By playing the American Champions Tour since 2017, on 358 tournaments he missed only one cut (in addition to having won 47 times). Where does this constancy of performance?

“It is very difficult to be constant in this game because the fields are different, such as herbs, atmospheric conditions, bunkers and everything else. Everyone is looking for solidity and constancy of performance, very difficult to achieve. I have been constant for most of my life (on the European tour I have won for 17 years in a row), I would say especially in the last 40 years: I think it is a reliable swing, a good technique, a good short game for Keeping the focus on the game, without getting too distracted by what is out of the field. I am a very loyal person with those around me. All this serves to put you at ease and to produce good results “.

Seve and Bernhard (two Masters each), great champions and opponents for a life, with completely different personalities, characters and behaviors.

“We were like salt and pepper, on the contrary in many things: he showed the most intimate emotions openly, he was a spavaldo player, while I was more introverted and closed in myself. What I have learned over the years is that you must be faithful to yourself, we are not the same, we have different personalities and different ways to produce our best results. If I said to Lee Trevino, who speaks continuously, to be silent for eighteen, He would play very well, because he has always eliminated his nervousness in the field talking to people.

In his Palmarès there are also six wins in the Father and Son Challenge, four with his son Jason and two with Stefan. Do we have to expect another super family champion?

“I would say no, now they are great and they have understood that that of the Pro is not an easy life if you are not really good and therefore they deal with anything else, investment banking and asset management. But that tournament is very special, one of the favorites of our family where everyone participates, even those who do not play, who come to act as a Caddie or as a spectator, is a beautiful family event just before Christmas”.