Bernhard Langer

Bernhard Langer (born August 27, 1957) is a German professional golfer.

Life and work

Langer was born in Anhausen near Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. He turned professional in 1976 and has won many events in Europe and the United States, among them The Masters in 1985 and 1993. He was the inaugural World Number 1 when the Official World Golf Rankings were introduced in 1986, and he became a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001. He ranks second in career wins on the European Tour, with forty and has also played regularly on the U.S. based PGA Tour, especially in the late 1980s and since 2000. He has shown great durability, finishing in a tie for fifth at The Open Championship the month before his forty-eighth birthday and regaining a place in the top hundred of the rankings three months before his fiftieth birthday. He played on 10 Ryder Cup teams (1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2002) and was non-playing captain of the victorious European team in 2004.

Through much of his career, Langer has battled the "yips", a term used to denote a strong tendency to flinch or twitch during putting. He has changed his grip on the putter numerous times in an attempt to cure this problem; while he has been mostly successful, this tendency has colored his career. Langer is remembered nearly as much for one particular missed putt as he is for his titles. 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. Langer is known to be a devout Christian.

Professional wins (73)

European Tour wins (40)

*1980 (1) Dunlop Masters
*1981 (2) German Open, Bob Hope British Classic
*1982 (1) Lufthansa German Open
*1983 (3) Italian Open, Glasgow Golf Classic, St. Mellion Timeshare TPC
*1984 (4) Peugeot Open de France, KLM Dutch Open, Carroll's Irish Open, Benson & Hedges Spanish Open
*1985 (2) Lufthansa German Open, Panasonic European Open
*1986 (2) German Open, Lancome Trophy
*1987 (2) Whyte & Mackay PGA Championship, Carroll's Irish Open
*1988 (1) Epson Grand Prix of Europe
*1989 (2) Peugeot Spanish Open, German Masters
*1990 (2) Cepsa Madrid Open, Austrian Open
*1991 (2) Benson & Hedges International Open, Mercedes German Masters
*1992 (2) Heineken Dutch Open, Honda Open
*1993 (2) Volvo PGA Championship, Volvo German Open
*1994 (2) Murphy's Irish Open, Volvo Masters
*1995 (3) Volvo PGA Championship, Deutsche Bank Open TPC of Europe, Smurfit European Open
*1997 (4) Conte Of Florence Italian Open, Benson & Hedges International Open, Chemapol Trophy Czech Open, Linde German Masters
*2001 (2) The TNT Open, Linde German Masters
*2002 (1) Volvo Masters (shared with Colin Montgomerie)

PGA Tour wins (3)

*1985 The Masters, Sea Pines Heritage
*1993 The Masters

The Masters did not count as a European Tour event until 1997.

Other wins (26)

*1974 German National Open Championship (as an amateur)
*1975 German National Open Championship
*1977 German National Open Championship
*1979 German National Open Championship, Cacharel Under-25s Championship (by 17 strokes)
*1980 Colombian Open
*1983 Casio World Open (Japan Golf Tour), Johnnie Walker Tournament
*1984 German National Open Championship
*1985 Australian Masters, German National Open Championship, Million Dollar Challenge (South Africa)
*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, Hong Kong Open, Sun City Million Dollar Challenge (South Africa)
*1992 German National Open Championship
*1996 Alfred Dunhill Masters (Hong Kong)
*1997 Argentinian Masters
*2005 MBNA WorldPoints Father/Son Challenge (with son Stefan)
*2006 Del Webb Father/Son Challenge (with son Stefan), WGC-World Cup (with Marcel Siem)

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.

Champions Tour wins (3)

*2007 Administaff Small Business Classic
*2008 Toshiba Classic, Ginn Championship Hammock Beach Resort

European Seniors Tour (1)

*2008 Casa Serena Open

Major Championships

Wins (2)

DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
DQ = Disqualified
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

*Ryder Cup: 1981, 1983, 1985 (winners), 1987 (winners), 1989 (tied - retained trophy), 1991, 1993, 1995 (winners), 1997 (winners), 2002 (winners), 2004 (non-playing captain - winners)
*World Cup (representing Germany): 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1990 (winners), 1991, 1992, 1993 (individual winner), 1994, 1995, 1996, 2006 (winners)
*Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1992, 1994, 2000
*Four Tours World Championship: 1985 (captain), 1986 (captain), 1987 (captain), 1989 (captain), 1990
*Hennessy Cognac Cup: 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982 (captain)
*Seve Trophy: 2000 (winners)
*UBS Cup: 2001, 2002

ee also

*Golfers with most European Tour wins

External links

* [http://www.europeantour.com/publish.sps?syndicatorguid=&rmasiteinstanceguid=&pagegid=%7B20E6AA6B-0225-4C71-BD89-2ACBEE615D69%7D&playerid=103 Profile on the European Tour's official site]
* [http://www.pgatour.com/players/00/16/66 Profile on the PGA Tour's official site]
* [http://www.bernhardlanger.de Langer's German Website]
* [http://www.bernhardlangerstory.com Bernhard Langer's Audio Life Story & Transcript]
* [http://golf.about.com/od/golfersmen/p/bernhard_langer.htm Profile on about.com]