Golf Masters in Augusta: Bernhard Langer's time is running out

Bernhard Langer senses that his time as an active participant in the Masters is slowly coming to an end after forty years.

Maybe I can play another two or three years,” said the 64-year-old senior in the field after both rounds on Thursday and Friday ended with 76 strokes and a total of 152 strokes (8 over par).

The golf pro from Anhausen, who lives in Florida, missed the cut for the 28th time in his 39th participation.

After Langer completed his second round Friday midday, the mark for reducing the field to 148 strokes (four over par) was predicted.

As in the previous year, Langer is one of the pros who can only watch at the weekend when only fifty best players are allowed to play the two final rounds.

"I'll stay in Augusta until Sunday and watch the final on TV," said Langer.

Although he had to say goodbye to his favorite tournament early, the only German in the field wasn't particularly disappointed: "If I had made the cut, it would have been an amazing success." Langer is convinced that he still has what it takes to make the cut survive.

But on the first two days, his two strengths failed.

"My long game was very good," said Langer, who hit all 14 fairways on Thursday and only missed two on Friday.

"My short game just wasn't good.

Also, I putted badly.

The longest putt I've holed was from four yards," said Langer, who pushed the ball past the hole a number of times from a short distance.

But Langer knows that he has a disadvantage compared to the young players that can hardly be compensated for on the pitch, especially when a gusty wind sweeps across the pitch like on Friday.

According to statistics, he hit the ball with the driver 225 meters on the first day and 233 meters on the second.

That was over seventy yards shorter than Rory McIlroy, who hit the longest drives at 304 yards on his round of 73 on day one young players an 8 iron”, Langer explained his huge deficit in length.

No terrain for short hitters

Especially bitter for a short hitter like Langer: The club had extended three holes for the first major of the year.

The 11th hole, already one of the hardest on the course, has been extended from 462 meters to 475 meters - curious, because this makes this par 4 hole longer than the 13th hole, a par 5 of 466 meters.

The tees on two other fairways have also been moved backwards, by 18 meters on the 15th hole (par 5, 503 metres) and by 12 meters on the 18th hole (par 4, 425 metres).

The Augusta National Golf Club course now measures 7510 yards (6867 meters).

For comparison, when Langer slipped into the green winning jacket in 1985 and 1993, the course was only 6,905 yards (6,313 meters) long—an increase of more than 500 meters.

But that's not all: Fred Ridley, the chairman of the most exclusive golf club in the world, announced that the 13th hole (466 meters) will also be extended shortly.

Langer hit the green on this par 5 with a three-in-two wood on Thursday.

But he missed the birdie opportunity with three putts.

The "bombers", as they are called in American golf jargon, hit this green with short irons.

Even if the course is hardly playable for a senior like Langer, he still enjoys the game on the hilly course.

When Langer was invited to this tournament for the first time in 1982, it was love at first sight.

The 300 meter long driveway alone, Magnolia Lane with its 61 magnolia trees, made a deep impression on the then 24-year-old German: “And then the space.

I had never seen anything like this.

Back then, there was no rough at all.

The fairways went all the way into the forest,” Langer recalls.

"It was only the second shot that mattered.

Not like the US Open where if you miss the fairway you can only chop the ball out with a wedge.”

Langer had never experienced such extremely undulating greens as fast as an arrow.

"I made eleven three-putts in two days and I was eleven strokes behind the leader and missed the cut by one stroke," recalls Langer.

As a former champion, he is allowed to play as long as he considers himself competitive and receives an invitation from the club.

He last proved in November 2020 that he can still keep up on good days. At that time, at the age of 63, he was the oldest player to survive the cut, perhaps the most impressive of the many senior records that Langer holds.