Bernard Langer was scheduled to play in his final Masters tournament this week. He first played there in 1982 when he was cut, and has only missed the 2011 Masters due to a thumb injurysince he won his first in 1985.
This year’s event would be a farewell speech for a player who, at the age of 66, had also won the tournament in 1993 and had been in the final as recently as 2020, when he finished tied for 29th. That put him one stroke ahead of Bryson DeChambeau, then the reigning United States Open champion, who consistently beat Langer by about 100 yards all week.
Instead, the perennially fit Langer was felled by something that likely brought down a number of his Florida neighbors who aren’t two-time Masters champions: a pickleball injury.
It could have been worse, he said in an interview in March. A neighbor who is a foot and ankle surgeon ran over when he saw Langer fall to the ground and sent Langer for an MRI. He had torn his Achilles tendon, and the doctor put him in a stabilizing boot so he wouldn’t injure his foot further.
“Three days after the surgery I started rehabilitation,” he said.
It’s a tough way to ride a great wave. But the most remarkable achievement might be that Langer lasted so long at this level. While older rockers like the Rolling Stones can continue to repeat their hits, golfers must continue to produce exceptional shots against players a third their age.
He’s done it at the Masters. He’s done it on the PGA Tour Champions, where players in their early 50s tend to dominate when they first start playing after the PGA Tour. He’s won more tournaments on the Champions Tour than any other player; he also holds the record for most senior major titles, with 12.
How was he able to last so long at such a high level?
“I was always into fitness,” he says. “When I was younger, I did more cardio and other sports that kept me in good shape. When I moved to America in the 1980s, I got used to going to gyms, lifting weights, etc. In my generation, we weren’t all great athletes. A lot of players spent more time in the bar after a round than on the range or putting green.”
As he got older, his workouts changed, and his focus shifted more toward maintaining his flexibility and strength. But that’s not to say he always enjoyed them: “Workouts are a lot of boring time,” he said.
In addition to staying fit, Langer said he has also continued to work on the mental side of his game. Part of that involves knowing what he can do and what he can’t.
“I have to play a game that Bernhard Langer can play,” he said. “I have to know my strengths and weaknesses. I can’t hit a 1-iron 250 yards in the air and have it stop in one hit. I have to play my game.”
He credits this to the fact that he was able to remain competitive during the Masters against younger players with a longer swing, such as Tiger Woods.
“They said Tiger was intimidating when he first came out,” Langer said. “I didn’t find him intimidating as a person. I found his size intimidating, but I always played on the course. It’s not about who you’re playing against. You’re really playing against yourself or the golf course.”
While Langer’s contemporaries marvel at his dedication, some also join him in the fitness trailer.
“Longer is timeless,” he said Scott McCarron58, another high among Champions Tour players. McCarron was fit in his prime and has since become stronger and more muscular on the over-50 tour. That has paid off. When he won the Senior Players Championship in 2017, he received an invitation to play in the Players Championship on the PGA Tour.
“The fitness scene on the Champions tour has skyrocketed,” he said. “Almost every man is exercising. There are so many more guys working out and stretching than ever before. On the PGA Tour you don’t think about the end. On the Champions tour you know it’s coming to an end. Is it 55 or 58?”
Although the Champions Tour events have three rounds instead of four like the PGA Tour, the players still work hard.
“We still play 27 weeks a year, and I still hit balls,” McCarron said. “The old thing where you go out afterwards and play and drink beer, that’s not it anymore.
“At 58, I’m hitting the ball further than I ever have,” he added. “Some of that is equipment-related, but I’m in better shape and swinging the club faster, which is not equipment-related.”
Some older players, such as Stewart Cink, Steve Stricker and Padraig Harrington, are also hitting the ball as far as they ever have and also occasionally compete on the PGA Tour.
Langer’s dominance on the Champions Tour has been the result of fitness, competitive determination and the ability to consistently hit shots under pressure, but he has been playing against many players much younger than him.
At the Masters, his success also comes from knowing the course for 40 years. “In the hundreds of rounds I’ve played there, I’ve learned a lot about the course,” he said. “I know where to go and where not to go. I know I have to miss it here and there. I’ve learned it from other people or from playing it before. That keeps me from getting a really high score.”
But Langer, who will be attending this year’s Champions Dinner for former Masters winners, added: “Where I used to hit an 8-iron, I now hit a 3-iron. [a club that hits the ball lower and farther]. The course is much longer. I hit much longer clubs in every hole. I enjoy the challenge.”
Langer does not want to say whether next year will be his last performance. “I haven’t decided yet,” he said. “We will come to that decision in some time.”
