Langer continues to amaze
Record year capped by fifth event win
ORLANDO, Fla. — Tiger Woods was an 18-year-old senior in high school when he made his first cut in a professional event at a European Tour stop in Thailand. That also was the first time he played with Bernhard Langer.
Thirty years later, the ageless Langer is still going strong.
Langer capped his memorable, record-setting year when he teamed with his son, Jason, to produce a 13under-par 59 in 30-mile-per-hour wind for a two-shot victory over David Duval and his son at the PNC Championship, which puts major champions with family members.
Langer tied the tourney record with his fifth title — three with Jason, two with older son Stefan — to join Raymond Floyd.
Woods and 14-year-old son Charlie shot 61 in the scramble format to tie for fifth, a day that included one shot so audacious that the elder Woods could only laugh. He missed the green on the ninth hole at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club well to the left, and then the son of the 15-time major champion chipped it in for birdie.
It wasn’t just the chip-in — it was the stare, the sideways walk, the raised finger point, and the fist pump. Woods watched all this and couldn’t smile any wider, especially when he looked over at Steve Stricker.
“To see his reaction . . . it happened right in front of me,” Woods said. “He got excited and I looked over at Stricks and he was shaking his head. It was great.”
The PNC Championship is geared around moments like that. Brady Duval, who plays at Coastal Carolina, hit a 6-iron to 2 feet on the final hole for eagle to lock up second place and his father, a former world No. 1, couldn’t have been more proud.
But the day — really, the year — belonged to Langer, a 66-year-old German and two-time Masters champion. He won twice on the Champions Tour to bring his victory total to 46, breaking the senior record of Hale Irwin once thought to be out of reach.
Langer and his son, who works in investment banking in New York, started three shots behind Matt Kuchar and son and played so well they had the lead after four holes and never slowed. They didn’t make par until the the par-3 eight and had 10 birdies through 11 holes.
The difference between Langer and Floyd and their PNC titles is longevity. Langer won his first PNC Championship in 2005, and 18 years later he again was wearing the Willie Park Trophy, a red leather champion’s belt.
Floyd won five of the first seven PNC Championships.
Woods knows all about the German’s longevity. He recalls the Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand, playing in his mother’s homeland, and being grouped with Langer, the reigning Masters champion.
Langer remembers a rail-thin teenager with extraordinary speed, power, and “a hunger for the game. And you just knew he was going to do more than most, and he certainly has.”