Bernhard Langer (; born 27 August 1957) is a German

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf p ...

. He is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, he became the sport's first official number one ranked player following the creation of the OWGR. Langer is one of five golfers who have won professional golf events on all six continents where golf is played. He has victories on all the premiere

tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

, with 42 wins on the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

( 2nd most all-time), three on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

, and numerous international victories; including wins on the

Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour ( ja, 日本ゴルフツアー機構) is a prominent golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006 it offers the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after t ...

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for Wo ...

, Australasian Tour, and the

Tour de las Américas The Tour de las Américas (TLA) was the principal men's professional golf tour throughout Latin America and the Caribbean from 2000 through to 2012 when it was superseded by PGA Tour Latinoamérica. History Top level tournament golf in Latin Ame ...

. The highlights of Langer's career are his two major championships. His first major win came at the 1985 Masters Tournament, where Langer won by two strokes over runners-up

Seve Ballesteros Severiano Ballesteros Sota (; 9 April 1957 – 7 May 2011) was a Spanish professional golfer, a World No. 1 who was one of the sport's leading figures from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. A member of a gifted golfing family, he won 90 inte ...

Raymond Floyd Raymond Loran Floyd (born September 4, 1942) is an American retired golfer who has won numerous tournaments on both the PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour, including four majors and four Senior major golf championships, senior majors. He was inducted ...

and Curtis Strange. His second major came at the

1993 Masters Tournament The 1993 Masters Tournament was the 57th Masters Tournament, held April 8–11 at Augusta National Golf Club. Bernhard Langer won his second Masters championship, four strokes ahead of runner-up Chip Beck. Heavy rains on Friday afternoon caused ...

with a four-shot victory over

Chip Beck Charles Henry "Chip" Beck (born September 12, 1956) is an American golfer who was a three-time All-American at the University of Georgia. He has four victories on the PGA Tour and twenty runner-up finishes. He spent 40 weeks in the top 10 of the ...

. Langer has also finished runner-up on two occasions at

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later t ...

( 1981 and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

). In 2020 Langer became the oldest player in Masters history to make the tournament cut, at age 63. After turning 50, Langer has established himself as the most successful player in the history of the

PGA Tour Champions PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many year ...

. He has won a record 11 senior major championships, been the money leader in a record 11 seasons and a record 7 times in a row. He has the second most PGA Tour Champions career wins and is one of only two players who have achieved the career ''Senior Grand Slam'' (winning each of the five major championships at least once during one's career). He has won the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

and 2019 Senior Open Championship, the 2010 U.S. Senior Open, the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

and 2017 Regions Tradition, the 2014, 2015 and 2016 Constellation Senior Players Championship, and the 2017 Senior PGA Championship.

Life and work

Langer was born on 27 August 1957 in the village of Anhausen, which today is a part of Diedorf municipality, near

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

, Bavaria, Germany. He turned professional in 1972 and has won many events in Europe and the United States, including

The Masters The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first ma ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and 1993. He was the inaugural World Number 1 when the Official World Golf Rankings were introduced in 1986. He was elected to the

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 go ...

in 2001 (but deferred his induction until 2002).Profile at the World Golf Hall of Fame
/ref> He ranks second in career wins on the

(42) and has also played regularly on the U.S.-based

, especially in the late 1980s and since 2000. He finished in a tie for fifth at

the month before he turned 48, and regained a ranking in the top 100 three months before he turned 50. Along with Gary Player,

David Graham David Graham may refer to: Authors and intellectuals * David Graham (American poet), American writer and poet *David Graham (author) (1919–1994), pen name of British writer Robert Hale * David Graham (Canadian academic), Canadian academic admini ...

Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin (born June 3, 1945) is an American professional golfer. He was one of the world's leading golfers from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He is one of the few players in history to win three U.S. Opens, becoming the oldest ever U.S. Op ...

and

Justin Rose Justin Peter Rose, (born 30 July 1980) is an English professional golfer who plays most of his golf on the PGA Tour, while keeping his membership on the European Tour. He won his first major championship at the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Golf C ...

, Langer is one of only five players to have won official tournaments on all six continents on which golf is played. He played on ten

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

teams (1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2002), winning five times, and was the non-playing captain of the victorious European team in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

. Langer has battled the yips, having a strong tendency to flinch or twitch during putting. He has changed his putter grip numerous times in an attempt to cure the problem. In the 1991 Ryder Cup, Langer missed a five-foot putt that would have tied the Ryder Cup and allowed the European team to retain the trophy. Langer has been married to his American wife Vikki Carol since 1984. They have four children: Jackie, Stefan, Christina, and Jason. They maintain homes in Langer's birthplace of Anhausen and in

Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

. Langer is known to be a devout Christian. In 2006, in recognition of his contribution to the sport of golf, Langer was appointed as an honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE). In his native Germany, Langer has received multiple honors, including the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

and the Silver Laurel Leaf ('' Silbernes Lorbeerblatt''), which is the highest German sport award. In July 2016, he was inducted into Germany's Sport Hall of Fame.

Senior career

In 2015, Langer became the first player since Arnold Palmer (1984–85) to win the Constellation Senior Players Championship in back-to-back years. It was also the last year that Langer was allowed to anchor the long putter, a technique which the USGA banned effective 1 January 2016. At the 2016 Masters, Langer was in the second to last group in the final round only two shots back, but fell to a tie for 24th. In 2016, Langer claimed the Regions Tradition title for his sixth senior major championship. He won by a six-stroke margin over Olin Browne. This was his 100th professional win and the first time Langer had won the title. His capture of the 2017 Senior PGA Championship completed a career Grand Slam. The Regions Tradition title had also made him only the second golfer, after

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tou ...

, with wins in four different senior major championships. Later in 2016 he wrote history by becoming the first three-time winner of the Constellation Senior Players Championship and wins it for third straight year. The result also meant that only Nicklaus had won more senior majors than Langer. In November, he won his fourth Charles Schwab Cup and his third in a row. In January 2017, US president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

used an incorrect story about Langer's failed attempt at voting in the United States to justify an investigation of voter fraud in the

2016 US presidential election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...

. The story was covered in several media outlets. Since Langer is a citizen only of Germany, he was not eligible to vote. Langer won three more senior majors in 2017 to become the most decorated player in the senior ranks of all time. In total, he won seven titles – but he did not win the season-ending Schwab Cup. Instead, Kevin Sutherland, who was fifth in the Order of Merit heading into the final event of the season, won that to lift the trophy in what was his only win of the season. Langer subsequently called the playoff process 'unfair'. In September 2018, Langer received the

Payne Stewart Award The Payne Stewart Award is an award given by the PGA Tour and presented by Southern Company since the award's inception in 2000. The award, given annually the week of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, is in honor of World Golf Hall o ...

. In November 2018, Langer won his fifth Charles Schwab Cup. This brought his lifetime earnings in the Charles Schwab Cup to $7,000,000. In July 2019, Langer won his fourth Senior Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club. This marked his eleventh victory in a senior major championship. In March 2020, Langer won the

Cologuard Classic The Cologuard Classic is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour Champions. It debuted in 2015 at the Catalina Course of Omni Tucson National, in Tucson, Arizona. The Tucson Open was a fixture on the PGA Tour for over six decades, from ...

for his 41st victory on the

. In October 2021, Langer won the

Dominion Energy Charity Classic The Dominion Energy Charity Classic is a professional golf tournament in Virginia on the PGA Tour Champions, played at Country Club of Virginia in Henrico, Virginia. The inaugural edition was in November 2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, Fro ...

in a playoff over

Doug Barron Doug Barron is a Scottish former professional footballer and actor who played as a defender. Born in Edinburgh, he played over 300 matches in the Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional ...

. This made him the oldest man to win a PGA Tour Champions event at 64 years, 1 month and 27 days. In November 2021, Langer won his sixth Charles Schwab Cup for the combined 2020–21 season. The Cup was awarded for play over two seasons due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Langer's total career earnings through 2021 on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions were more than US$42 million. In February 2022, Langer won the Chubb Classic for the fourth time. At 64 years, 5 months, 23 days he broke his own record for oldest winner on the

and won for the 16th straight season. This win left him two behind

for the career PGA Tour Champions record. In November 2022, Langer won the

TimberTech Championship :''There was also a tournament by the same name now called the Principal Charity Classic'' The Boca Raton Championship is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour Champions. Since 2007, it has been played at the Old Course at Broken Sound Club in Boca R ...

for the third time. This was his first win as a 65-year-old and his 44th win on

Professional wins (120)

PGA Tour wins (3)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

European Tour wins (42)

''*Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to rain.''
*Ballesteros and Langer agreed to share the 1986 Trophée Lancôme after failing light caused play to halt after four holes of a playoff.
*Langer and Montgomerie agreed to share the 2002 Volvo Masters Andalucía after failing light caused play to halt after two holes of a playoff. European Tour playoff record (8–6–2)

Japan Golf Tour wins (1)

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (0–1)

Asian Tour wins (1)

¹Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (2)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

Asia Golf Circuit wins (1)

South American Tour wins (2)

Other German wins (13)

*1975 German National Open Championship *1977 German National Open Championship *1979 German National Open Championship, German PGA Championship *1984 German National Open Championship *1985 German National Open Championship *1986 German National Open Championship *1987 German National Open Championship *1988 German National Open Championship *1989 German National Open Championship *1990 German National Open Championship *1991 German National Open Championship *1992 German National Open Championship Note: the German National Open Championship is a different event from the German Open listed five times in the European Tour wins section. That event was open to all comers, German and non-German. The German ''National'' Open Championship is "open" to German golfers whether they are amateur or professional.

Other wins (12)

Other playoff record (2–0)

PGA Tour Champions wins (44)

*''Note: Tournament shortened to 36 holes due to weather.'' PGA Tour Champions playoff record (7–9)

European Senior Tour wins (7)

European Senior Tour playoff record (0–2)

Other senior wins (1)

Major championships

Wins (2)

Results timeline

''Results not in chronological order in 2020.'' WD = Withdrew
DQ = Disqualified
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
NT = No tournament due to

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 8 (1994 Masters – 1996 Masters) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (three times)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

¹Cancelled due to

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament

Senior major championships

Wins (11)

Results timeline

''Results are not in chronological order before 2021.'' CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to

Team appearances

* World Cup (representing Germany): 1976,

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

(winners),

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

, 1993 (individual winner),

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

(winners) *

(representing Europe): 1981, 1983,

(winners), 1987 (winners),

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

(tied – retained trophy),

, 1993,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

(winners),

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

(winners),

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

(winners),

(non-playing captain – winners) *

Hennessy Cognac Cup The Hennessy Cognac Cup was a biennial team golf tournament contested from 1976 to 1984. The contests in 1976, 1978 and 1980 were between teams of professional male golfers; one team representing Great Britain and Ireland, the other team representi ...

(representing the Continent of Europe): 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982 (captain) * Four Tours World Championship (representing Europe): 1985 (captain), 1986 (captain), 1987 (captain), 1989 (captain), 1990 *

Alfred Dunhill Cup The Alfred Dunhill Cup was a team golf tournament which ran from 1985 to 2000, sponsored by Alfred Dunhill Ltd. It was for three-man teams of professional golfers, one team representing each country, and was promoted as the "World Team Championshi ...

(representing Germany):

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

* Seve Trophy (representing Continental Europe):

(winners) *

UBS Cup The UBS Cup was a team golf tournament contested by the United States and a team representing the "Rest of the World" which ran from 2001 to 2004. In 2001 and 2002 it was called the UBS Warburg Cup. Six golfers on each side had to be 50 or over, and ...

(representing the Rest of the World): 2001, 2002, 2003 (tie), 2004 *

Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge The Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge was an unofficial golf event held in November at the Rio Secco Golf Club in Henderson, Nevada. The tournament was a unique stroke play event, and, as the name suggests, pitted three teams, with three members per team, fr ...

(representing Champions Tour): 2010, 2012, 2013

Notes and references

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Langer, Bernhard German male golfers European Tour golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Winners of men's major golf championships Winners of senior major golf championships World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Ryder Cup competitors for Europe Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from Augsburg (district) Sportspeople from Swabia (Bavaria) Sportspeople from Boca Raton, Florida 1957 births Living people

Life and work

Senior career

Professional wins (120)

PGA Tour wins (3)

European Tour wins (42)

Japan Golf Tour wins (1)

Asian Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (2)

Asia Golf Circuit wins (1)

South American Tour wins (2)

Other German wins (13)

Other wins (12)

PGA Tour Champions wins (44)

European Senior Tour wins (7)

Other senior wins (1)

Major championships

Wins (2)

Results timeline

Summary

Results in The Players Championship

Results in World Golf Championships

Senior major championships

Wins (11)

Results timeline

Team appearances

See also

Notes and references

External links