Remember earlier this year when Bernhard Langer tore his Achilles playing pickleball?
That seems like eons ago.
At 67 years old, you had to assume that Langer would have to miss the entire 2024 golf season. A ruptured Achilles tendon takes up to 12 months to recover fully, especially for someone his age. And yet, Langer, after sustaining this injury on Feb. 1, returned to the PGA Tour Champions in early May. Since then, Langer has posted seven top-10s, including a runner-up finish at the Ascension Charity Classic in September. He lost in a playoff to Y.E. Yang, who famously defeated Tiger Woods at the 2009 PGA Championship.
Fast-forward to this week’s Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the final event of the PGA Tour Champions season, and Langer will begin the final round holding a one-shot lead. For the second consecutive day, the two-time Masters champion shot his age on Saturday, carding a 4-under 67 to grab the lead by one. He posted a 7-under 64 on Friday.
“Played pretty solid. Didn’t putt as well as the first two days, made a couple early on and then kind of didn’t get the pace. It was a little short at times and just didn’t make as many,” Langer said of his third round.
“Played very solid, hit the ball very well, gave myself a bunch of chances and pretty happy overall.”
It seems as if Langer has played “very solid” for five decades. After all, only Seve Ballesteros won more events on the European Tour than he did. But nobody has won more PGA Tour Champions events than Langer, who hopes to capture his 47th senior title on Sunday.
“[A win] would mean a great deal because of what I’ve been through this year,” Langer said.
“And also, I didn’t win this year. It’s the first time in my Champions Tour career that I didn’t win in a season. So yeah, there will be a little extra effort tomorrow.”
Should Langer go on to win, it would cap a rollercoaster season that included plenty of pain. He said he could not walk ahead of the Senior PGA Championship, yet still made the cut. The German shared similar sentiments before the Senior Open at Carnoustie, but that did not stop him. He tied for fifth that week at the end of July, a remarkable accomplishment.
But now he wants to win. So what does Langer believe he has to do to emerge victorious on Sunday in Phoenix?
“I think I’ve got to continue to play aggressive and hit as many fairways as I possibly can and as many greens,” Langer said.
“The key for me is making putts. I’ve got to try and hit 15, 16, 17 greens in regulation if I can and make a bunch of putts.”
No matter what happens on Sunday, Langer’s 2024 season will be remembered for his incredible perseverance. Even if he does fall short of winning on Sunday, he has already won in more ways than one. He looks destined to finish among the 10 in the Schwab Cup standings, something everyone would have labeled impossible just a few months ago. Yet, he defied those odds, even at 67 years old. Remarkable.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
