Bernard Langer: Comfortable In New Champions Tour Home

October 31, 2008

Bernard Langer is no different than many golfers who’ve transitioned from the PGA Tour to the Champions Tour. He hesitated, not knowing if he wanted to compete, or if the circuit on which he became one of golf’s finest international players was finally leaving him behind. What a difference a season makes.

Langer, 51, the leading money winner this season on the Champions Tour, is among the favorites in the season-ending Charles Schwab Champions event this week at Sonoma Golf Club. The annual tournament features the top-30 money winners on the Champions Tour who vie for the $2.5 million purse and the $1 million annuity for the winner of the yearly points competition in the Charles Schwab Cup.

“When I first turned 50 last year and entered my first (Champions Tour) event, I thought it could be bittersweet,” said Langer. “But once I played out here four or five events, I knew this is the place where I want to play the rest of my life or, you know, the next few years.”

Langer, the two-time Masters winner, made his Champions Tour debut in 2007 at the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, a few days after turning age 50. The week prior, Langer left the PGA Tour circuit to compete with his son Stefan at the KLM Dutch Open. He flew from the Netherlands to compete on the famed Monterey Peninsula. Langer had played in the KLM Dutch Open only five days after receiving his physician’s clearance following a kidney operation.

Langer had also withdrawn from several tournaments during the 2007 season, and nearly exited other events because of neck problems. Despite his setbacks, Langer was also in the midst of his finest PGA Tour season since 2001.

Nonetheless, via his nearly $2 million in yearly earnings and his attitude, Langer is no longer hesitating. “I’m not missing any of the other tour; I really don’t,” said Langer following a practice round the day prior to Charles Schwab Cup start. “I played against those young guys longer enough. I really look forward to playing here for the next few years, I think. There a lot of benefits out here.”

With the exception of the Masters, Langer is done with the PGA Tour. He prefers the companionship of the players he’s known for decades, and he no longer has common interests with some players less than half his age on the PGA Tour. “You seemed to spend more time together,” said Langer of his Champions Tour competitors. “You talk more. You can relate more, you know. I have four kids. Most of these guys have kids, some have grandkids. So, you know, you talk to 20 year olds, they don’t know what it’s like to have kids or to be married and all that. The daily routine now is which part of the body hurts today. A 20-year-old doesn’t know that, either. So, it’s just different. We’re at different stages of our lives.”

Born and still a part-time resident of Anhausen, Germany (he also lives in Florida), Langer has 72 career professional titles on several continents, including three Champions Tour victories this season. His three PGA Tour wins include the 1985 and 1993 Masters, and he’s claimed international wins from Germany to Argentina and Colombia to China. In 1985 Langer defeated Seve Ballesteros, Raymond Floyd and Curtis Strange by two shots to win his first major. Eight years later, he was again victorious in the Masters with a four-shot margin over Chip Beck. In 2002, Langer was the first German golfer inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, and his international golfing stature is further enhanced by his Ryder Cup longevity. He’s played in the event nine times and was the non-playing captain of the European squad in 2004.

In short, Langer traveled the globe, tournament to tournament, for more than two decades. It no longer has the same appeal. “You can plan your year a little better,” said Langer. “You’re getting home on a Sunday most of the time and come back on Tuesday or Wednesday, sometimes Thursday. Things like that, so that really improves my quality of life, too.”

Posted in Champions Tour, Global Golf News, Golf Tournaments, Golf Tribune Columns (By James Raia), Player Profiles