Bernhard Langer's Final Masters: A Storied Career Comes to an End

In 1985, Bernhard Langer won his first green jacket at Augusta National, using Jesus' name in vain in his champions' interview at Butler Cabin, then had an awakening days later at a Bible study in Hilton Head, South Carolina. In 1993, he won his second Masters on Easter Sunday at the mother church of American golf. Langer's longevity survived a golf equipment revolution: Langer is the last player to win a major playing with a persimmon driver. Friday marked the end of one of the most storied careers in Masters history. His first win came when the 27-year-old from a village of 800 people became just the third international champion after South Africa's Gary Player and Spain's Seve Ballesteros, followed by a second green jacket eight years later in 1993. There were seven top-10 finishes, including one in 2014, and he finished under par as recently as 2020, tying for 29th at 3-under. Langer's playing partner, the amateur Noah Kent, averaged 322.6 yards off the tee Thursday and Friday. Langer, on the other hand, averaged 253.3 yards per drive. Not exactly pole position. To compete, Langer had to miss in all the right spots and get up and down again and again, using all the lessons he'd learned over his 41 years of competition on Alister MacKenzie's masterpiece. But he managed to do that well. So well, in fact, that as he played his rounds, he questioned if he'd made the right call in deciding not to return next year. But now, he says, he's at peace. He came off the 18th green, with his son Jason on his bag, to greet his wife, his four kids and two of his grandkids. 'There were lots of emotions flooding through my mind the last two days as I was walking down the fairways,' he said. 'Friends from all over the world, literally, were walking a few holes with me. It meant a great deal.' An old friend in Mexico could relate. Wood's 'Last Supper' tribute to Langer was also his own proverbial Last Supper. 'That was the last persimmon golf club that I personally made,' Wood said. 'I didn't know that at the time. That's the way life is, though.' Wood watched every shot of Langer's on Friday, saying he couldn't recall being more invested in a round of golf. 'This is it,' Wood said afterward. 'The end of our era.'