Profile / Bill Elliott / 13 September 2007 / Leave a Comment

Acclaimed golf journalist Bill Elliott pays tribute to Langer, Germany's greatest ever golfer, who tees up at the Mercedes-Benz Championship today

I first met him in a departure lounge at Faro Airport in April 1979. He was wearing extremely loud check trousers, had longish blond hair and had daringly decided to couple this with a moustache so that he looked as though he was about to audition for a bit part in Starsky And Hutch.

My travelling companion, Gordon Richardson, pointed him out to me. "Take notice of this guy, " said Gordon, one of the most tenacious golf reporters of his or any other generation. "He is very, very good and with a bit of luck he just may turn out to be great. Let me introduce you to Bernhard Langer."

Six years later Bernhard and I sat down together to put together his autobiography, the first chapter of which focused on his first US Masters victory in 1986 which, given that he had been suffering the yips for several years by then, was not a bad way to open a Major account.

Now here we are in September 2007 and Bernhard is still cracking away, this week back home in Germany at the Mercedes-Benz Championship (where he opened at 36 to win). Lots has changed in between but the core stuff remains intact. Basically this amounts to me remaining a slightly crazed and confused atheist while Bernhard is still seriously devout and unfailingly polite. He is now officially The Last Man Standing from a generation that also gave us Seve, Nick, Sandy and Woosie.

Or at least he is standing properly in a world that is now inhabited by ambitious younger men who thump the ball a country mile and don't know what it is like to sleep in cheap, bug-infested hotel rooms and drive a VW Beetle around Europe hoping that most of it sticks together long enough to make the trip and earn a crust.

While the other members of the Fab Five have gone on to various achievements Langer is the one who you could still mention with regard to a Ryder Cup place without most people falling over and hysterical laughter filling the air. Of course this being Bernhard he tried recently to dismiss my assertion that this was indeed the extraordinary case. Then, as he listened further to my argument, he began to see the logic of it.

"Well, okay, I agree that I may now be the most consistent and competitive as a player. Lucky? No, I don't think so. I don't believe in luck, I believe in God's Faith and hard work. I have looked after myself as well. I don't drink much, never have, and I eat properly most of the time. Still, some of it is in the genes as well. Seve has a bad back and he can't help that, can he?" he said.

"I was 50 in August and so I have entered a new phase of my life. I am looking forward to it. How long can I go on? I don't know but I look at Gary Player and I am reassured. How old is Gary now? Seventy? ( 72 this November actually) Look at how fit he is still. I marvel at his ability to still make a 90 degree shoulder turn. He's remarkable and he's an inspiration for us all as we get older.

"It also helps that I still enjoy the game so much and that I have such good friends and family around me to support me. Vikki and I have been together a long time now and she has been wonderful. Some of the other guys have suffered divorces as we all know and, no matter what they say, these things must leave a scar of some sort."

What is certain is that between them they more or less created the European Tour as we now know it even if Bernhard attempts to dilute the impact of such an obvious thought by pointing out that "we were some small cogs in a very big wheel". Did I mention his modesty? I should have. Very good man. Great golfer.

Post a comment

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comment: