From Augusta, Ga. — He was playing with a partner less than half his age.
“He outdrove me by many, many yards,” said a smiling Bernhard Langer, 58.
“He just kept going along,” said an awestruck Jason Day, 28.
He was playing in front of four children who screamed in increasing disbelief.
“My father has won here before, but never while I was alive,” said 16-year-old Jason Langer.
He was playing in front of fans who mostly ignored him in the manner that old folks in sports are often ignored, all the cheers for the muscular and top-ranked Day, few for the small guy with the graying hair stuffed under a visor, But then when Langer approached the 18th green at Augusta National late Saturday afternoon, and it became suddenly clear he was one round from making history, those fans leaped to their feet and gave him the day’s loudest standing ovation, everyone rocking to the oldies.
“You get goose bumps,” Langer said.
Those bumps might be weathered and wrinkled, but they could be stronger than ever Sunday if Langer continues his unlikely march toward golf immortality.
On the 30th anniversary of Jack Nicklaus becoming the oldest winner in Masters history at age 46, Langer has a chance to beat that mark by a dozen years after shooting a two-under-par 70 to enter Sunday trailing leader Jordan Spieth by just two strokes. He would also become the oldest player to win any major tournament by 10 years, beating the record held by Julius Boros, who was 48 when he won the PGA championship in 1968.
“Well, it would be one for the old guys,” Langer said, and would it ever.
Adorned in an old-school blue sweater and white shoes, Langer used his ancient wits to survive wind-blown conditions that turned most of the tour’s hipsters into slick wreckage, In doing so, he moved into a third-place tie with Hideki Matsuyama, creating a Sunday pairing that will just add to some already amazing numbers.
Langer is older than both his weekend partners combined. Langer is older than the two guys he is chasing — Spieth and Smylie Kaufman — combined.
Langer, who is from Germany but lives in Boca Raton, Fla., has two Masters victories, the second one in 1993. He missed the cut in seven of the last nine Masters in which he has played. He’s considered a star on the senior Champions Tour, but he hasn’t won an event on the PGA or European tour in 14 years.
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Danny Willett of England walks along the 15th hole during the final round of the Masters on Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Jordan Spieth gathers his thoughts on the 18th green before finishing the final round with a one-over 73.
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Jordan Spieth presents Danny Willett the winner’s green jacket Sunday evening at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Augusta National chairman William Porter Payne presents American Bryson DeChambeau with the trophy for being the top amateur at the Masters during the awards ceremony Sunday evening.
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Masters champion Danny Willett gives the thumbs-up sign to fans after the awards ceremony at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Jordan Spieth gets a pat on the back from caddie Michael Greller on the 18th hole after finishing second at the Masters.
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Jordan Spieth takes a second drop on the 12th hole after one of the two times his shots landed in Rae’s Creek while hitting approach shots there during the final round of the Masters tournament.
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Jordan Spieth plays his second shot on the 11th hole from the trees during the final round of the Masters on Sunday.
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Danny Willett reacts after making a putt at No. 14 on Sunday during the final round of the Masters.
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Hideki Matsuyama of Japan chips onto a green during the final round of the Masters on Sunday.
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Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot out of the bunker during the final round of the Masters.
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Lee Westwood of England reacts after making an eagle on the 15th hole during the final round of the Masters.
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Jason Day of Australia reacts after playing a shot Sunday during the final round of the Masters.
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Patrons leave Augusta National Golf Club after the third round of the Masters.
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Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot onto the 16th green during third round of the Masters.
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Bernhard Lange tips his cap to the crowd after putting out at No. 18 during the third round of the Masters on Saturday.
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Jordan Spieth walks out of the trees along the 18th fairway after hitting a recovery shot during the third round of the Masters.
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Jordan Spieth hits out of the rough along the 17th fairway Saturday during the third round of the Masters.
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Hideki Matsuyama of Japan plays his second shot on the 12th hole during the third round of the Masters.
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Rory McIlroy reacts to a missed birdie putt on the 17th green during the third round of the Masters.
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Sergio Garcia of Spain lines up a putt on the 13th green during the third round of the Masters.
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American Scott Piercy creates a splash of sand as he hits out of a bunker during the third round of the Masters.
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Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his shot from the 17th tee during the first round of the 2016 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy hits out of a bunker on the 18th green during Round 1 of the 2016 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Ian Poulter, of England, reacts after missing a putt on the first hole during the second round of the 2016 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Danny Lee, of New Zealand, hits a drive on the second hole during the second round of the 2016 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Mike Weir of Canada hit out of a bunker on the second hole during the second round of the 2016 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Jason Day, of Australia, watches his drive on the second hole during the second round of the 2016 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Charl Schwartzel, of South Africa, hits out of a bunker on the fourth hole during the second round of the 2016 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Patrons walk along the first fairway before the start of play during the second round of the 2016 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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A scorekeeper peers through a hole from behind a board during Round 1 of the 2016 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Martin Kaymer of Germany down the fairway on the fifteenth hole during the first round of the 2016 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Australia’s Steven Bowditch putts on 1st hole during Round 1 of the 80th Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in April. (DON EMMERT / AFP/Getty Images)
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Rickie Fowler hits out of the rough off the first fairway during the first round of the 80th Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club.
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Jordan Spieth hits on the second fairway during the first round of the 80th Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club.
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Victor Dubuisson of France and caddie Leonard Francois walk up the third fairway during the first round of the 80th Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club.
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Amateur Bryson DeChambeau tees off on the third hole during the first round of the 80th Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club.
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Jordan Spieth lines up a putt on the first hole during the first round of the 80th Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club.
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A scorekeeper places numbers on a leaderboard during the first round of the 80th Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club.
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Jack Nicklaus waves before hitting a ceremonial first tee shot before the first round of the 80th Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club.
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Steven Bowditch of Australia celebrates after chipping in a birdie on the first hole during the first round of the 80th Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club.
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Lee Westwood of England chips on the second hole during the first round of the 80th Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club.
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A sign bearing the names of the honorary starters Gary Player of South Africa, Jack Nicklaus of the U.S. and Arnold Palmer of the U.S. before they ceremonially open the first round of the 80th Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club.
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Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player together on the first tee at the ceremonially opening of the first round of the 2016 Masters Tournament.
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Patrons wait for the gates to open near the first fairway before the start of the 80th Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club.
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Patrons file onto the course after the gates are opened near the first fairway before the start of the 80th Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club.
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Spectators line a fairway to watch the first round of the 80th Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club.
(David J. Phillip / Associated Press) It was thus understandable that he looked around the Masters’ news conference room early Saturday evening like he had landed on Mars.
“Hello everybody!” he said brightly. “It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”
Only in golf, right? Only in golf, it seems, can a 58-year-old not only seriously compete, but do so in its most prestigious event.
Can you imagine Darryl Strawberry coming off the bench to pinch-hit for the New York Mets in last year’s World Series? How about John Elway running down from the front office to guide the Denver Broncos in this year’s Super Bowl?
Some say golf is less of a competitive sport because age doesn’t matter. Langer argues that the age equation makes it an even more competitive sport.
“We’re not playing tennis or soccer or football where it all comes down to speed or strength,” Langer said. “Golf is a lot more about knowing yourself and technique, just thinking your way around the golf course, and then execution.”
Langer, who began playing this tournament in 1982, estimates he has played about 200 competitive and practice rounds here. So while Day would routinely drive the ball 60 yards past him, Langer made up that yardage by playing just the right angles, continually striking perfect approach shots that kept him out of trouble, which was more than enough on this windy day of destruction.
His highlight was a chipped-in birdie on No. 14 that followed a long birdie putt by Day, leading to an ageless celebration between the two different eras.
“We gave each other a high-five and a fist pump and all that kind of stuff,” explained Langer, as only an aging dude could explain it.
If Langer remains in the chase today, it won’t be all cheers. There undoubtedly will be grumbling from serious golf fans that he is skirting the new rules against anchoring a putter against the body. He has long had an anchor putting stroke, he still holds his putter near his chest like he’s anchoring, and he comes pretty close to doing exactly that. But sorry, folks, this old golfer isn’t learning new tricks.
“I probably have 20 new putters … with different grips …I tried this way, I tried that way,” he said. “But at this time ... I’m still the most comfortable [nearly anchoring] because I’ve done this for 18, 19 years now. Put so many hours into it, it’s difficult to change something that quick.”
This free-for-all Masters could do much worse than be anchored by the old guy, who did an appropriate old-guy thing following his round. You know how all the young stars leaving the course usually hand their golf balls to children? Langer handed his ball to a giddy middle-aged man.
To Bernhard Langer right now, everyone is young and everything is possible, even a musty old green jacket, the kind you see at an early-bird special, one that would fit him just perfect.
Follow Bill Plaschke on Twitter: @billplaschke
