Two-time Masters winner says goodbye. But not before 1 final driver off deck
Bernhard Langer

Bernhard Langer, with a driver, hits his second shot on Friday on the 18th hole.

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Bernhard Langer, after two Masters wins, after 42 wins on the formerly named European Tour, after a record 46 wins on the over-50 circuit, after 52 years as a professional, was experiencing a first. He said he wasn’t sure how he’d react.

After all, Langer said he’s never said a golf goodbye.

“I have a feeling,” the 66-year-old told the DP World Tour website, “it’s going to be very emotional.”

Of course it would be. Despite play suggesting otherwise — maybe something other-wordly, perhaps something robotic — he’s human. And things did eventually turn teary Friday at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried in Munich, Germany, about 45 minutes from where Langer grew up. Earlier, he said this week’s BMW International Open would be his last on the Euro circuit, after 512 previous starts, and after rounds of one-under 71 and one-over 73, Langer missed the weekend by three shots.

Afterward, he doffed his visor on 18, and the faithful cheered. He hugged playing partner Marcel Siem, a fellow German. He hugged playing partner Martin Kaymer, another fellow German. They’d followed him. Langer gave a thumbs-up to the crowd. He gave a wave. He blew a kiss. He greeted family and friends. He signed his card.

They then asked what the tour meant to him, and how he thought this week would go then happened.

“It’s hard to put into words,” he said in front of the Golf Channel cameras.

“Um, it’s kind of been a dream come true for me, you know, growing up in a village of 800 people where nobody knew what golf was. When I told my classmates I’m going to go play golf, they thought I’m crazy and they thought I’m a putt-putt golfer, mini-golfer and all that. So people had no idea. And it was really a strange situation even when I finished school and I tried to become a golf professional, people didn’t even know what that was, didn’t even exist as a profession in a way, so it was very difficult, complicated, but it was my dream.”

Here, Langer stopped. He took a second. He apologized. He continued.

“Yeah, I was able to live that dream for 50 years, 51 years now. Wonderful memories all over the world, not just in Europe, but over in Asia, Australia, Japan, America, really everywhere, South Africa. Able to travel the world, meet with kings and queens and play golf with all sorts of people, whether they’re successful businessmen or just the average butcher or bricklayer or whatever. It was fun. It was great. Yeah, I had lots of ups and downs in my career. There were difficult times with the yips and other things, but I’ve had many wonderful moments.