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Masters notes: Bernhard Langer won his first Masters in 1985. He’s in contention again. | Masters notes: Bernhard Langer won his first Masters in 1985. He’s in contention again. |
(about 1 hour later) | |
AUGUSTA, Ga. — You might imagine the person who slipped the green jacket over Jack Nicklaus’s shoulders in 1986 — at the end of what still stands as the most memorable Masters of them all, Nicklaus’s sixth and final victory, at the age of 46 — would be getting up in years himself by now. And you would be correct. | AUGUSTA, Ga. — You might imagine the person who slipped the green jacket over Jack Nicklaus’s shoulders in 1986 — at the end of what still stands as the most memorable Masters of them all, Nicklaus’s sixth and final victory, at the age of 46 — would be getting up in years himself by now. And you would be correct. |
Bernhard Langer is 58 . He won his first green jacket in 1985 — when his nationality was listed as “West Germany” — and his second in 1993, about three months before Jordan Spieth was born. | Bernhard Langer is 58 . He won his first green jacket in 1985 — when his nationality was listed as “West Germany” — and his second in 1993, about three months before Jordan Spieth was born. |
And on Sunday, Langer, these days a mainstay on the Champions Tour, will start the final round of the Masters with a chance to win. A score of 2-under-par 70 on Saturday left him at 1 under for the tournament, just two shots off Spieth’s lead. He will be in the second-to-last pairing of the day. He is more than a decade older than the oldest man in history to win a major title — Julius Boros, who won the 1968 PGA Championship at 48. | |
[Spieth falters down the stretch but still leads after 54 holes] | |
“For a 58-year-old, it’s fun to be in this position and play with the best in the world,” Langer said. “But when I play really, really good — when I bring my ‘A’ game — I can still compete, and even on a very long golf course like this. [A win] would be one for the old guys.” | “For a 58-year-old, it’s fun to be in this position and play with the best in the world,” Langer said. “But when I play really, really good — when I bring my ‘A’ game — I can still compete, and even on a very long golf course like this. [A win] would be one for the old guys.” |
Even if he doesn’t win, Langer could make history as the oldest man to finish in the top 10 of a major; he is five months older than Nicklaus was when he tied for sixth in 1998. | Even if he doesn’t win, Langer could make history as the oldest man to finish in the top 10 of a major; he is five months older than Nicklaus was when he tied for sixth in 1998. |
“It’s impressive — really, really impressive — to watch what Bernhard did out there today,” said Jason Day, the world’s No. 1 player and Langer’s playing partner on Saturday. “Just the positions he was in compared to where I was. [On] 10, I had 120 yards to the pin and I’m not sure what he had. But he was at least 60 to 80 yards behind me. And he just kept going along.” | “It’s impressive — really, really impressive — to watch what Bernhard did out there today,” said Jason Day, the world’s No. 1 player and Langer’s playing partner on Saturday. “Just the positions he was in compared to where I was. [On] 10, I had 120 yards to the pin and I’m not sure what he had. But he was at least 60 to 80 yards behind me. And he just kept going along.” |
Billy Horschel had perhaps the day’s most exasperating moment, when he chipped onto the 15th green and watched in horror as a gust of wind kicked in and blew the ball — which was stationary a moment earlier — back off the green and into the water. Instead of having an eight-footer for birdie, he had to scramble just to make bogey. | Billy Horschel had perhaps the day’s most exasperating moment, when he chipped onto the 15th green and watched in horror as a gust of wind kicked in and blew the ball — which was stationary a moment earlier — back off the green and into the water. Instead of having an eight-footer for birdie, he had to scramble just to make bogey. |
“I knew that once the ball starts rolling, you have to play it from where it finishes, and obviously I didn’t have my scuba gear to play it from the water,” Horschel said, after carding a 73 on Saturday. “I took a light jog up there because I knew what could happen if it kept going. The ball was in a little flat spot, eight feet below the hole. I had an uphill putt, you can’t ask for anything more. And the wind just gusted.” | “I knew that once the ball starts rolling, you have to play it from where it finishes, and obviously I didn’t have my scuba gear to play it from the water,” Horschel said, after carding a 73 on Saturday. “I took a light jog up there because I knew what could happen if it kept going. The ball was in a little flat spot, eight feet below the hole. I had an uphill putt, you can’t ask for anything more. And the wind just gusted.” |
Horschel appeared to have an animated discussion with a rules official, but he said he was merely venting his frustration over his awful luck and what he saw as a questionable course setup that skirted the line between tough and unfair. | Horschel appeared to have an animated discussion with a rules official, but he said he was merely venting his frustration over his awful luck and what he saw as a questionable course setup that skirted the line between tough and unfair. |
“I just expressed that I thought that it was just a little, you know, the course is on a fine line,” he said. . . . | “I just expressed that I thought that it was just a little, you know, the course is on a fine line,” he said. . . . |
[Boswell: DeChambeau has ideas that could change golf] | [Boswell: DeChambeau has ideas that could change golf] |
Bryson DeChambeau, the 22-year-old NCAA and U.S. Amateur champion seeking to become the first amateur in history to win the Masters, double-bogeyed the 15th hole on his way to a 5-over 77 that he described as “pathetic.” He dropped from a tie for fourth, three strokes off the lead, at the start of the day, to eight shots back heading to Sunday’s final round. | |
“I misclubbed all day,” he said. “That’s ultimately why I didn’t execute. . . . And I wasted so many shots in putting that it’s sickening.” | “I misclubbed all day,” he said. “That’s ultimately why I didn’t execute. . . . And I wasted so many shots in putting that it’s sickening.” |