I hope golf’s suits and lawmakers stopped planning where their next billion was coming from last week, and tuned into Bernhard Langer in Germany.
During a period in a sport that has been divided by financial warfare, a rare moment of meaning and wholesomeness was created by Langer as he holed his last putt on the European Tour in front of his people at Golfclub München Eichenried, bringing down the curtain on one of the finest careers we have ever seen and are likely to see.
Making the cut or finishing strong wasn’t important. Once again, the legendary Langer represented his country with distinction and pride with his timeless tempo. The tour hit the nail on the head by pairing him with his fellow Germans Marcel Siem and Martin Kaymer, who because of Langer have always had inspiration in a nation more known for its efficiency on the football pitch than its accuracy in the fairways.
There could have been no more perfect ending to a career on the continent that yielded 42 victories including four wins apiece at the now-extinct German Open and German Masters.
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“It’s hard to put into words,” he said after finishing on level par after two rounds of the BMW International Open. “It’s kind of been a dream come true for me, growing up in a village of 800 people where nobody knew what golf was.
“When I told my classmates that I was going to play golf they thought I was crazy, they thought I was a mini-golfer. People had no idea, it was really a strange situation.
“Even when I finished school and I tried to become a golf professional people didn’t even know what that was, it didn’t even exist as a profession in a way. So it was very difficult and complicated but it was my dream. I was able to live that dream for 50 years.
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“I have wonderful memories from all over the world, not just in Europe but Asia, Australia, Japan, America, South Africa. I was able to travel the world and meet with kings and queens.
“I played golf with all sorts of people, whether they were successful businessmen or just the average butcher or bricklayer or whatever, it was fun, it was great.”
Bernhard Langer: DP World Tour legend bids farewell to home crowd
Five years after winning for the first time on the European Tour, Langer beat Seve Ballesteros, Raymond Floyd and Curtis Strange by two shots to win the Masters. Eight years later in 1993, he beat Chip Beck by four shots to win his second Green Jacket in even more convincing fashion.
Langer was at the heart of the European contingent that flew the blue flag in the United States. He, Seve, Sir Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle and Jose Maria Olazabal all formed a core of competitiveness producing quality that eventually permeated through to the Ryder Cup.
He played in 10 Ryder Cups for Europe and felt pain before ecstasy. His side lost in 1981 and 1983 but cracked the code in 1985 and 1989. We still brandish our teeth and wince at the clip of his missed putt in the final stages of the 1991 Ryder Cup at Kiawah Island which handed America the trophy, easily forgetting the heroics that took him to that point in that match against Hale Irwin.
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Langer superbly led Europe to a complete pummelling over the US team in 2004 at Oaklands Hills. Iconic images of himself and his trusted captain’s pick Colin Montgomerie bookended a dominant week for Europe when they won the match 18.5 – 9.5.
It’s like Langer, 66, had had another career since his last win on the now-named DP World Tour in 2002. He has become the most successful player in the history of the PGA Tour Champions, proving than any sportsperson in history that age is just a number.
He has 12 senior majors to his name and is one of only two players to achieve the senior grand slam. Langer has won the most PGA Tour Champions events ever with 46. 52 years after turning professional, the man born in Anhausen bows out of his tenure in Europe as a World Golf Hall of Famer and icon not to be forgotten.
“I had lots of ups and downs in my career,” he added. “There were difficult times with the yips and other things but I had many wonderful moments.
“It was a privilege to play with the Big Five as they call them. I think we spurred each other on and I believe we probably made the Tour in the 80s and 90s what it is now, what it has become.
“It was fun playing against these guys and the youngsters now bear the benefits of that.”
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