Langer was tied for the lead after a first round 64 bettered his age and led by just a just a single stroke after a second round, 70. He matched his age on Sunday with a 65. His 17-under-par resulted in a 3-stroke victory margin, but the historic win wasn’t that easy. Playing ahead of Langer on Sunday, Fred Couples, Padraig Harrington and Dicky Pride all took a turn at leading the tournament, but Langer prevailed with five birdies in his final seven holes to grab the historic win. Langer garnered 42 wins on the European Tour, plus two Green Jackets, winning the Masters in 1985 and again in 1993. In 1986, he became the very first player to be the No. 1 player on the Official World Golf Rankings. “My whole life has been an improbable story,” Langer said after the celebrating had died down. “I should have died as a kid when I had an extremely high fever. Doctors told my mother not to have a child, but she got pregnant anyway. They told her to abort me, but she decided not to take a chance of killing herself and me. We both survived.” Then came golf. “I was just a German kid from a village of 800 who started as a caddie,” he said.“Nobody started a career in golf in Germany. They thought I was crazy. Just to earn a living at it was incredible. Maybe someday we can make a movie about it.” It may take a while to do that, because at the young age of 65, Langer has no plans to cut down his playing career any time soon.
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