Bernhard Langer may celebrate Jack Nicklaus anniversary in style
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Jack Nicklaus winning the Masters at the age of 46, making him the oldest winner of a major. Germany’s Bernhard Langer might make that a footnote today.
The 58-year-old, who already has won twice at Augusta National Golf Club, was one of five players to shoot an under-par round Saturday at the Masters and is only two shots behind Jordan Spieth entering the final round. Langer, who would be the oldest major winner of all time, is 1-under and will play in the next-to-last pairing with Japanese 24-year-old Hideki Matsuyama.
“I believe I can (win),” said Langer, who shot 2-under 70. “Obviously, it depends how the others do. If I play my best, I can shoot 4- or 5-under (Sunday), I think, if the conditions are a little bit better, but so can Jordan Spieth or any of the others on the leaderboard, so it all depends how the rest of the other 15 guys are in contention or 20 guys, how they do. So I can only play my game and see how that holds up.”
Spieth, who’s 3-under for the tournament, wasn’t alive for either of Langer’s previous Masters wins – 1985 and 1993.
“I would say I’m surprised except for doesn’t he win most every tournament on the Champions Tour?” Spieth said. “We watch him all the time on TV and he’s a guy that certainly knows how to close, and close here. He’s a force to be reckoned with, and you can’t think of it being his age or that this is – from my perspective, you can’t think of this as an amazing story or this is his age.”
Langer has played 113 competitive rounds at Augusta National. The other six players within three shots of the lead going into the final round – Spieth, Smylie Kaufman, Matsuyama, Jason Day, Irmo’s Dustin Johnson and Danny Willett – have played a combined 83.
“Plus probably, I don’t know, 80 or 90 practice rounds, so I must be getting close to 200 rounds out here. So I know the place well,” Langer said. “But is that a real advantage? Well, only to a few, because the other guys have played plenty of times, as well. They know the place. The caddies spend a lot of time out there. That’s really the only advantage. And you know, I’m just trying to have fun, enjoy my last few years as a professional golfer and do the best I can.”
Langer showed up Monday at Augusta, straight out of Gulfport, Miss., where he finished tied for sixth in a Champions Tour event last week. Langer has won 26 Champions Tour events, the third-most in the history of the senior tour.
“He’s just another competitor who’s fully capable of shooting a really solid round and winning this tournament again, which would be something afterwards, but while it’s happening, I’ve got to expect that he’s going to come back tomorrow and play a strong round,” Spieth said. “I think it’s really cool what he’s doing, but again, I find it hard to say that it’s surprising.”
Langer received a standing ovation as he approached the 18th green Saturday.
“It’s just such a wonderful atmosphere out there, and when the people acknowledge what you’ve just done, it’s pretty neat,” he said. “The patrons here are very, very knowledgeable about the game of golf. Many of them come year after year. They know the history of the tournament and of the game. Yeah, it gives me goose bumps at times.”
Nothing like he might have Sunday though.
This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 8:51 PM with the headline "Bernhard Langer may celebrate Jack Nicklaus anniversary in style."