By Dale M. King
BOCA RATON – Bernhard Langer doesn’t like change.
“I’ve been married to the same woman for 27 years,” he said. He’s had the same coach and manager for nearly as long, and the same caddy for 24 years.
The 53-year-old German won the Allianz Championship golf tournament last year at the Old Course at Broken Sound in Boca Raton – and he hopes that won’t change in 2011.
Bernhard Langer
Heading into the competition that begins Feb. 7, Langer said, “I felt a little rusty four days ago. So, I took some time off, went skiing and I really enjoyed it. I played [golf] yesterday and today” and he said he feels prepared to take on the field, he told reporters at a recent news conference in the Old Course clubhouse.
Langer, who never heard of golf until he joined his older brother working as a caddy in their native Anhausen, Germany, has three PGA tour victories, 42 European tour wins and 13 championship tour honors. He took home the green jacket for winning Master’s at Augusta, Ga., in 1985 and 1993.
Langer’s early childhood was marred by several serious illnesses; in fact, twice before age 5, his life was considered in jeopardy. Growing up poor in Germany, born just 12 years after the end of World War II, he said he caddied for the money, not because he enjoyed the game. But he spent hours at the golf course, learned to play – and play well.
It was as a caddy, he said, that “I fell in love with the game.”
First, though, he had to choose between pursuing soccer or golf. He said it was a decision his mother urged him to make, as she felt he didn’t have time to develop both.
Golf, he said, “came pretty naturally. I was a pretty good athlete at whatever I did.”
Ironically, when he told the people at the Institute of Job Placement in Germany that he wanted to be a golfer, he was told that “golf was not a recognized job.” But it didn’t stop him.
Langer is considered the greatest golfer ever to emerge from Germany. He is known for his dedication to the game, his work ethic and his deliberate pace of play.
He turned pro at age 15 in 1972. Just two years later he won his first professional tournament, the 1974 German National Open Championship. He won the German National again in 1977 and 1979. Over the years, Langer would win the German National a total of 13 times.
Langer started playing on the European Tour in 1976, but his Euro Tour career was interrupted by 18 months in the German Air Force. He earned his first tour win at the 1980 Dunlop Masters. From that point on, he was among the best players in Europe and among the better players in the world.
The German is perhaps best known for his Ryder Cup experiences. Along with Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo, Langer helped revitalize European fortunes in the Ryder Cup.
He played for the European side 10 times, winning 24 points over the years. But it is the half-point Langer didn’t win that he was most remembered for prior to 2004. At the 1991 Ryder Cup – the famous “War by the Shore” – Langer missed a 6-foot putt on the final hole of the final match against Hale Irwin, halving the match and allowing the U.S. to retain the Cup.
In 2010, Langer won five times including the British and U.S. senior opens. He was named to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002. He has homes in Germany and in Boca Raton.
The fifth annual Allianz Championship will be played Feb. 7-13 at the Old Course at Broken Sound. With a purse of $1.7 million, it is the Champions Tour’s first tournament of the early-season Florida swing. The Golf Channel will telecast live all three rounds of the competition.