Bernhard Langer bracing for emotional Masters farewell

This week's Masters will be the 41st in Bernhard Langer's long and storied career, as well as his last -- and don't be surprised if Langer gets emotional about it.

"Usually I'm pretty good compartmentalizing, so when I'm inside the ropes, my mind switches to being a competitor, play golf and take care of the task in front of me," Langer told reporters Monday as Masters week got underway at Augusta National Golf Club. "But I might get a bit emotional looking around (at) the spectators, seeing my family, my kids, my grandkids, my brother and other friends that are going to be supporting me this week."

Langer, 67, won green jackets in 1985 and 1993, the only two major titles of his World Golf Hall of Fame career. He stormed back from four strokes down to pass Seve Ballesteros, Curtis Strange and Raymond Floyd at the 1985 Masters, and in 1993 he won by four.

He has played the Masters every year since 1984 except 2011, when he was recovering from thumb surgery, and 2024 when he was dealing with an Achilles tendon tear.

Born and raised in Germany at a time when golf was not widely popular, Langer said he got interested in the game while helping his older brother caddie at a local course.

"It's been an incredible journey," Langer said, "for a young man being born in a village of 800 people in an area where golf was nothing, to make it here, to get an invitation to play the Masters first time around when it was extremely difficult for a European or international players to get an invitation, and then to win the first Masters on the third go-around was just a dream come true. It's just incredible."

In November 2020, a 63-year-old Langer became the oldest player to make the cut in Masters history. He finished inside the top 10 as recently as 2014, when he tied for eighth at age 56.

When asked how he's managed to keep his career going for more than four decades, Langer compared the game of golf to the stock market.

"It's so fragile. It's so volatile. ... It just comes and goes. You hear major winners one day, and then you don't hear about them two years later for some reason," Langer said.

"It's a difficult thing. I guess God has blessed me with tremendous talent and being a great competitor, but there's many other things that are important. You need to be healthy. You've got to have a great support system, a good caddie, a good coach, on and on, the list goes on. You've got to be willing to sacrifice, as well, because it's not always easy."

Having already gotten visibly emotional during the press conference, Langer said he expects some more of those tears on the course this week.

"I'm not ashamed of it. My dad was the same way and he was my hero, as well. There's nothing wrong with it. There's many things that are worth crying about," Langer said.

"Hopefully I can control myself until the 18th, but there's no guarantees."

--Field Level Media