Langer returns to Shaw Classic
Two-time Masters champion turned back the clock at this year’s tourney
Bernhard Langer has booked a return trip to Calgary.
Shaw Charity Classic organizers added another big name to their field Thursday, announcing the 58-year-old from Germany has committed to the Sept. 2-4 senior shootout at Canyon Meadows.
Langer teed it up at the 2014 Shaw Charity Classic but missed out last summer due to a scheduling conflict. He joins Tom Watson as the headliners announced so far for Calgary’s annual PGA Tour Champions stop.
“There is no doubt this is one of the best tournaments we play on tour and there was no way I was going to miss it again this year,” Langer said in a statement. “I enjoyed playing in Calgary two years ago. It is a very impressive, beautiful golf course. I’m an outdoors enthusiast and this part of the world is equally stunning. The fans were fantastic — some of the largest galleries we see on tour — and I am excited to get back to Canada and try to win another golf tournament.”
Langer made headlines at not-just-another-golf-tournament earlier this month, hanging around the top of the leaderboard at The Masters.
Already the owner of a couple of Green Jackets, from 1985 and 1993, Langer turned back the clock in his latest trip to Augusta National. The 58-year-old was only two strokes back heading into the final round before fading into a tie for 24th as he tried to add a third major title to his resume.
“I think it’s incredible,” said current PGA Tour superstar Jordan Spieth, sizing up Langer’s performance after three rounds at The Masters. “I would say I’m surprised, except for doesn’t he win most every tournament on the Champions Tour?” Not quite, but it sort of feels that way.
Langer, who celebrated his latest victory on Valentine’s Day at the Chubb Classic in Florida, now sits third on the PGA Tour Champions’ all-time wins list, with 26.
Only Hale Irwin (45) and Lee Trevino (29) have collected more trophies on the 50-and-over circuit.
And Germany’s only World Golf Hall of Fame inductee certainly isn’t showing any sign of slowing down.
Check the senior stats, and you’ll find Langer’s name at the top of the list in both total driving — a combination of individual rank in distance and accuracy — and greens in regulation percentage and third in putting average.
In seven starts this season, his worst week was an 11th-place showing. (His worst!)
I enjoyed playing Calgary two years ago. I’m an outdoors enthusiast and this part of the world is equally stunning.
Canyon Meadows is on the short list of PGA Tour Champions tournament sites where Langer hasn’t had much success.
In his only previous trip to the Shaw Charity Classic, he settled for a tie for 27th — an especially disappointing finish since he was just two shots back when he teed off Sunday. That was Langer’s worst result in 2014. He won five tournaments that season, including a pair of majors, and was a slamdunk for the Jack Nicklaus Trophy as the player of the year among the senior crowd.
“I think he believes he can score well here and he probably underachieved in 2014,” said Shaw Charity Classic executive director Sean Van Kesteren. “So he’s coming back with a vengeance and I think we
He’s coming back with a vengeance and I think we will probably see some low scores out of Bernhard.
will probably see some low scores out of Bernhard. It looks like his game is as good as it has been the last couple of years, so we’re certainly expecting him on the leaderboard come Sunday.”