Nothing says happy new year like Bernhard Langer’s arrival at a media center at a senior event in Florida, and there Langer was recently, 68 years old and still very much going strong, answering questions about the state of his game ahead of the Chubb Classic presented by Servpro at Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, a two-hour drive across the state from Langer’s home in Boca Raton.
I won’t be there this year, but I have been there in the past and if you like quiet and controlled golf tournaments, let me say this: The Chubb Classic presented by Servpro at Tiburón Golf Club in Naples will never be confused with the 2025 Ryder Cup on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, NY
The last question asked of Langer was a doozy, a classic example of a category we like to mention Only at Golf.
Tiger Woods turned 50 and this year he can compete with you. Do you see yourself trying to beat him?
Langer: “I try to beat everyone. It doesn’t matter who comes here. The goal is to win. If you want to win, you have to beat him. So yeah, that would be the goal.”
“But my goal is not to play against Tiger Woods. My goal is to play the golf course and myself and get the lowest score and then see if anyone can match that. If Tiger Woods is better, so be it.”
“I’m sure we’ll have some good games. I hope he comes out. I hope he’s healthy enough. No one knows. He won’t let us know until a few weeks before. That’s how he normally works.”
“But it would be great to play against him again.
“We had a great time about a year and a half ago playing the PNC Championship together on Sunday when he played with Charlie, his son, and I had Jason, my son, and we spent a Sunday together. We had a great time and enjoyed each other’s company.”
Three brief comments.
Born and raised in German, I. Langer speaks perfect and precise English without wasting a word.
II. Langer is far too gracious to note that he and Jason defeated the father-and-son Woods team in a one-hole playoff.
III. It is conceivable that Langer and Woods could play in the same senior event and that Langer could finish ahead of Woods despite the 18-year age difference. But probably not.
For a completely unscientific comparison, I looked at the eleven major events in which Woods and Langer have played on the same courts since Langer turned 50 in the summer of 2007.
The secret of Bernhard Langer’s success comes down to 3 little words
By means of:
Michael Bamberger
For example, in April 2008, Langer missed the cut at the Masters and Woods finished in a tie for second place.
In 2018, Langer — at age 60! – had a T38 finish at Augusta and a T24 finish at the British Open. But Woods, in one of his many comeback trips that year, went T32 and T6 respectively at the same events.
Langer is 1-for-11 in this strange comparison. In 2020, he had a T29 finish at the Masters and Woods, while the defending winner had a T38 finish when he made a famous 10 at the par-3 12th hole on Sunday.
Could it happen? Could Langer finish ahead of Woods in (for the sake of argument) a 72-hole senior major, the senior events he would likely play? Naturally. Will it happen? It would be fun to see.
In the meantime, two quick images that tell something about these two World Golf Hall of Famers.
When Woods won the 2019 Masters, there was a line of players from Congo waiting for a high five, a fist bump and a bro hug to the winner on the way to the scoring room. Langer was the last person to see Woods before he ducked into the clubhouse, scorecard in hand. They shook hands in a way that Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer would have recognized.
When Langer was attempting to win the 2024 PNC and secure a father-son victory, Tiger and Charlie Woods, as far as I know, said this to Langer: “Bernhard? You’re the best. You’re the best, dude. Awesome.”
Well, that was Tiger at a glorified exhibition. A US Senior Open is something completely different.
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com
#68yearold #legend #beat #Tiger #Woods #find