AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - Bernhard Langer, who has been thriving on the Champions Tour against senior players, is back on the main stage with a chance to become the oldest to win a golf major after his stunning charge at the Masters on Saturday. The 58-year-old German posted a third-round 70 for a one-under-par total to surge within two shots of leader Jordan Spieth at Augusta National.
The oldest men’s player to win a major was 48-year-old Julius Boros at the 1968 PGA Championship. “It would be one for the old guys,” Langer said. “Tom (Watson) almost had it (when he lost in a playoff at the 2009 British Open at age 59), but I know almost doesn’t count. He was extremely unfortunate not to win that tournament. “It’s going to happen sooner or later. The guys are staying fit.” The slim and trim Langer has stayed fit. Even though he likes the occasional dessert, as he admitted after his round, Langer’s waistline looks the same as when he won the Masters in 1985 and 1993. He plucked his 26th win on the Champions Tour in February, and finished tied for eighth at the 2014 Masters. The gaping distance between Langer and the long hitters like world number one Jason Day, his playing competitor on Saturday, has not hurt Langer this week. “That was just so impressive to watch,” Day said. “When you consider some of the positions he is playing in from compared to where I was, it was unbelievable. If I think back to 10, I had 120 yards to the pin and he was at least 60, maybe 80 yards behind me. “He plods along and knows his strengths and weaknesses. I had a lot of fun playing with him. I could tell how gritty he is and how much of a competitor he is. He is a true professional in that regard and I know that he really wants to compete and try to win this thing tomorrow.” Not even the slick greens at Augusta National have given him problems, despite the ban on anchoring putters this year.
Langer, who only had 27 putts in the third round, still uses a long putter, but he is not anchoring it against his body. “I probably have 25, 30 new putters at home the last three months with different grips,” Langer said. “I tried this way, I tried that way, regular, cross?handed, and some of them work pretty decent. “But at this time I’m still most comfortable by just not 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.”
(Editing by Larry Fine)
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