Winning doesn't get old. Neither, apparently, does Bernhard Langer.
In a year when Scottie Scheffler delivered a level of dominance not seen since Tiger Woods and Xander Schauffele won two majors, when Nelly Korda tied an LPGA record by winning five straight times and Lydia Ko got into the LPGA Hall of Fame by winning Olympic gold, Langer finished his year with a feat as impressive as any, if not more.
Winless for the first time since the 67-year-old Langer became eligible for the PGA Tour Champions in 2007, he was down to the final tournament on a Phoenix Country Club course where he had never finished within five shots of the winner.
“One more putt,” caddie Terry Holt told him on the 18th green, and Langer holed a 30-foot birdie putt for a 66 — his third straight day shooting his age or lower — for a one-shot victory in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
That makes it 18 consecutive years with at least one win on the 50-and-older circuit, where time is the greatest adversary. No other league has a shorter shelf life for success. For every year that skills deteriorate, a new batch of younger players (relatively speaking) arrive.
Consider this: The year Langer joined the PGA Tour Champions in 2007, Padraig Harrington won the first of his three major championships. Langer finished 10 shots ahead of the Irishman on Sunday.
The record for consecutive years winning on the PGA Tour is 17, held by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. They were in their 40s when the streak ended, not pushing 70.
“The commitment, the dedication and desire to compete at a high level blows my mind,” said Mark O'Meara, a runner-up to Langer in the German's first Champions win in 2007. "A lot of things happen in sport. I understand what Tiger did, what Nicklaus did, Palmer, all the greats that come before us. But what this man has done for 18 years is amazing. Forget the money. Just to have the desire and will.
“I don't see it happening again. I truly don't.”
O'Meara, who now lives in Las Vegas, wouldn't get very good odds of this record being broken.
It belongs among the untouchable record in golf, just shy of Byron Nelson winning 11 tournaments in a row on the PGA Tour in 1945, probably greater than Woods making 142 consecutive cuts over seven years.
Langer set the record for oldest winner on the PGA Tour Champions in 2021 when he was 64. He has broken his record five times since then, most recently on Sunday. He defied more than age this year.
Remember, Langer began the year by tearing his left Achilles tendon while playing pickleball and missed three months. That he missed only three months was remarkable in itself. And then there's the motivation of coming back from such an injury at this stage in life.
He already had broken the one PGA Tour Champions record thought to be out of reach, 45 career wins by the fiercely competitive Hale Irwin. Langer won his record-breaking 46th last year at no less than the U.S. Senior Open against Steve Stricker (who is 10 years younger).
Langer knew what was at stake in Phoenix. He knew it was his last chance. Langer wasn't about to let it go that easily. He forged a 54-hole tie, birdied five of his six opening holes on Sunday to build a big lead and then watched it disappear until he came to the last hole tied with Steven Alker.
Langer was in the trees, punched out and hit wedge to 30 feet. The putt was stuff of legend, perfect pace and a perfect line that slid gently to the right at the last minute into the cup. Langer dropped his putter and slung his visor to the ground, emotion rarely seen in either of his two Masters wins.
“It did just perfectly what it needed to do and disappeared,” he said. “Then all hell broke loose kind of emotionally. So it was pretty wild, yeah.”
How does he do it? It's a question Langer has been asked for the better part of the last decade, because most great players graduating to the PGA Tour Champions make their hay in the first eight years at the most, not 18.
It's actually the second time Langer has strung together 18 consecutive years of winning. His first was in 1980 on the European tour in the British Masters when he was a 22-year-old with wavy blond hair from a country with next to no history in golf. He won the German Masters for the third time at age 50 in 1997, and then the streak ended in 1998.
It's even more impressive to do it at his age. Langer spent 30 years working, grinding, winning. He turned 50 and worked just as hard with a body that doesn't cooperate like it once did.
“You can still work, but are you living it like you used to?” Curtis Strange said. “Physically, we can play pretty well. We can all beat balls. But can you be into it 25 times a year? I marvel at Bernhard. It's incredible stuff.”
Even more amazing? There's always next year.
“People say why am I still playing? Well, this is why,” Langer said after collecting his 47th trophy on the PGA Tour Champions, to go along with two Masters green jackets, another PGA Tour win, 40 wins on the European tour, victories on every continent where golf is played.
“I enjoy the adrenaline. I enjoy being in the hunt. And I still feel like I can win and be there on the leaderboard,” he said. "I've just proven that again, becoming the oldest winner again and again out here. It's been great to compete against these guys.
“It never gets old.”
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
FILE - Bernhard Langer smiles as he holds the championship trophy after winning Administaff Small Business Classic Champions Tour golf tournament Sunday, Oct. 14, 2007, in Spring, Texas. (AP Photo/Dave Einsel, file)
FILE - Bernhard Langer hits on the tenth tee during the final round of the Champions Tour Principal Charity Classic golf tournament, June 2, 2024, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, file)
