Strange Decision Gives Langer a Victory in Masters

In East Germany, on the other side of the Iron Curtain from Bernhard Langer’s West German home, golf is frowned upon because it is considered a game for capitalists.

Langer showed just how capitalistic it can be Sunday at Augusta National, earning $126,000 for his first victory in the United States.

The fact that the tournament was the Masters is no small footnote.

Four shots behind with only nine holes to play, Langer had four birdies in a six-hole stretch to finish the round with a four-under par 68.

That gave him a four-round total of 282, six under par and two strokes better than the second-place finishers, Curtis Strange, Seve Ballesteros and Ray Floyd.

Jay Haas was alone at 285, while Jack Nicklaus and Craig Stadler were in a group at 286. Tom Watson and Lee Trevino were in a group at 287.

The low amateur was USC junior Sam Randolph Jr., who finished in a tie for 18th at two-over par 290.

In his first year as a regular on the PGA tour, Langer, 27, called the victory a dream come true.

The Masters obviously means more to him than anyone else from West Germany, where there is only one public golf course. He is the only West German on the tour, either here or in Europe.

Asked to predict the reaction of sports fans in West Germany, Langer said: “I really can’t tell you. I hope there is a reaction.”

As well as Langer played in the final two rounds, this, nevertheless, probably will be remembered as the Masters that Strange lost.

It would have been one of the most phenomenal stories in the tournament’s 49-year history if Strange had come back to win after shooting an 80 in the first round.

After the first round, he made plane reservations to go home after the second round in case he missed the cut. He was behind 74 players at that time.

But, after shooting a 65 in the second round and a 68 in the third, the tour’s leading money winner this year was in second place, one stroke behind Floyd.

Strange days.

Two holes into Sunday’s final round, Strange had tied for the lead. Two holes later, he had it to himself.

Playing his best golf of the tournament, he shot four under par on the front nine and had a four-stroke lead over Langer, Ballesteros and Gary Hallberg. Floyd had lost two strokes on the front nine and was five behind.

He faltered a bit on No. 10 by three-putting for a bogey, only his third since the first round. He had gone 26 straight holes without a bogey.

But he regained the stroke with a six-foot putt for a birdie on the par three No. 12.

Two-thirds of the way through the Amen Corner, he still had a three-stroke lead.

“At that time, I had everyone else thinking about second place,” Strange said. “But, gosh, it always happens here.”

He meant that the leader always seems to find a way to self-destruct on the final nine holes at Augusta National.

Self-destruct, Strange did.

Trying to avoid hooking his second shot on the par-five No. 13 into a valley below the green, Strange hit a metal four-wood that went far right, right into Rae’s Creek.

Putting on his rain togs over his shirt and slacks, Strange waded into the water with his wedge and hit his third shot onto the bank, only to watch in a stupor as it rolled back down into the creek.

He got the next shot from there onto the green but two putted for a bogey six on one of the easiest birdie holes on the course.

Langer birdied No. 13, cutting Strange’s three-stroke lead to one.

In hindsight, Strange probably should have laid up in front of the green on his second shot from 208 yards out instead of taking a chance with the creek.

He had done that the first day and parred the hole, but he had gone for the green the next day with a similar lie after his tee shot and birdied it.

Strange said he never thought about not going for the green.

“It’s not in my blood to lay up like that,” he said. “I’m thinking that if I can make four, I’ll increase the lead. If I had made four, this golf tournament would have been a different story.

“It wasn’t a difficult shot at all. I just hit it right. But that’s not where I lost the golf tournament.”

He lost it two holes later at No. 15, another par-five that is supposed to be a pushover.

Still leading by one, Strange was 200 yards away from the pin after his drive.

He judged the wind and decided to try a four-iron to the green.

But as he went into his backswing, the wind stopped.

His club wasn’t long enough.

His shot went back into Rae’s Creek.

“Right now, I don’t understand it,” Strange said. “If I went back out there right now, I’d hit the same shot and hope that I hit it as well. My caddy said the wind died a little bit. But I was standing there after I hit it, thinking I’d make four at the worst.”

Instead, he took another six, while Langer made another birdie at No. 15 and took a one-shot lead.

When Strange thinks back on this tournament, he will curse the par-fives. In four rounds, he was two-under on the par-fives. Langer was nine under.

Strange days indeed.

“Anytime you make bogies on par-fives, you’re not playing smart golf,” Strange said.

Small in stature but strong off the tee, the blond, blue-eyed Langer was not intimidated by the par-fives.

But while the birdies on No. 13 and 15 were important, Langer thought the one on the par-three No. 12 was the one that gave him momentum. He had been stuck on par for seven straight holes.

His other birdie on the back nine came on No. 17, a 14-foot putt giving him a two-stroke lead over Strange. Langer had come a long way since being four strokes over par after six holes Saturday.

He threw his putter into the air, beginning a celebration.

On the 18th tee, Ballesteros, his playing partner, patted him on the back.

Then, Langer hit his second shot into a bunker and bogied for the first time since the second hole. His lead was cut in half.

Realizing he had to have a birdie on No. 18 to force a playoff, Strange hit a good tee-shot, but his four-iron second shot was just short of the green on the right side.

He was left with a near-impossible shot, but those have been made before on the final day at the Masters.

As Langer’s Louisiana-born wife, Vikki, buried her head in his shoulder, afraid to watch, he looked on expressionless.

Strange charged the hole with his chip shot, but it never had a chance as the ball went 10 feet past. He bogied for a final-round 71. His playing partner, Floyd, shot 72. Ballesteros joined them at 284 with a 70.

“I guess the Miracle of ‘85, or whatever you want to call it, didn’t happen,” Strange said.

If he had triumphed, he would have been the first player since 1911 to shoot an 80 in a round and still win a major tournament.

This is the kind of disappointment the intense Strange would have had difficulty dealing with a year ago, but he seemed resigned to it in the interview room.

He said he hasn’t changed, that he was holding in the frustration.

“I’ll go home and hit my head against the wall just like I would have a couple of years ago,” he said. “Then, I’ll really get upset about it.

“We sit here and talk about it and joke about it. But tomorrow, deep down, it really will hurt.

“It would have been something to win here after shooting 80. I don’t know if Augusta National was ready for it, but I was.”

Langer thought he would never be ready for Augusta National after he played here for the first time two years ago.

Believed to be the youngest professional ever cursed with the putting yips, Langer three-putted 11 greens that year and missed the cut.

“I knew this wasn’t my type of golf course,” he said.

But after developing a cross-handed putting style, he shot two-over par here last year and finished tied for 31st.

He had only one three-putt green in this tournament.

A native of Anhausen, West Germany, 40 miles northwest of Munich, he lives at least half the year in Fort Pierce, Fla.

Having won 16 tournaments since joining the European tour at age 19 in 1976, he played eight U.S. tournaments in 1984 and had three Top 10 finishes.

Becoming an official member of the PGA tour this year, he had played in 10 tournaments before the Masters and finished in the Top 10 three times.

If Langer had any notoriety on the tour before this tournament, it was for his slow play.

He was fined two week ago in the Tournament Players Championship, which motivated him to buy a watch.

It didn’t help Sunday. Nicklaus complained in a television interview about Langer’s deliberate pace.

“I’m not going to get into a situation where I’ll be fined again,” Langer said. “But as long as the group I’m in doesn’t fall behind, I’ll take as much time as I feel is necessary.”

If there were any other negative thoughts about Langer, no one expressed them. He is an affable man, who speaks excellent English and makes friends easily.

When the tournament was over, defending champion Ben Crenshaw welcomed Langer to the club, fitting him for a green jacket.

To Langer, this was the Miracle of ’85.

THE MASTERS

THE TOP NINE FINISHERS

Bernhard Langer 72-74-68-68--282

Seve Ballesteros 72-71-71-70--284

Ray Floyd 70-73-69-72--284

Curtis Strange 80-65-68-71--284

Jay Haas 73-73-72-67--285

Jack Nicklaus 71-74-72-69--286

Gary Hallberg 68-73-75-70--286

Craig Stadler 73-67-76-70--286

Bruce Lietzke 72-71-73-70--286