PHOENIX — For the first time in forever (OK, actually 2007), Bernhard Langer is not a participant in the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship. And it's not just any tournament to end the year.
Only the top-36 golfers in the season-long points race make the Schwab, and Langer played at a high level for so long that he qualified time and time again. Except this year.
The 69-year-old has been Mr. Consistency, and not just on the golf course. His workout regimen is second-to-none, and his commitment to his family and faith is well documented. With him absent from Phoenix, many of his fellow pros who are there were asked about him.
Zach Johnson
He's a stud in all senses of it. I consider him a role model on and off the golf course. His resume speaks for
himself. I don't know if the numbers he's acquired out here will ever be attained. Maybe at some point but probably not in my lifetime. He has amazing records. If he didn't get injured, it would be more. You know what, I think he can still win out here. He's 69 now I think?
I played with him a handful of times out here, he can still win out here because he does everything well. What does he not do well? He and I are probably, we don't hit it very far but that's about it with him, that's it. Like, he hits it straight, he knows where not to go, great course management, great short game. He's amazing.
Off the golf course, again, a role model. So I appreciate how he works. When it's golf time, it's golf time. When it's family time, it's family time. He has his priorities, from my vantage, certainly what I'm seeing in line and appropriate. Christian faith is important. Number one, family, important.
I'm just grateful that I have somebody like that I can look to. I can call him for anything. Whatever formula or recipe he has, it works. I know in the big picture that with Bernhard, he just likes to compete. Obviously winning is fun as a competitor, but that's not what defines him. He just, he does it the right way.
Strange and surreal that he's not here. ... Bernhard is a guy I admire deeply.
Stewart Cink
The terms funny and Bernhard just don't really exist in the conversation that much (laughs). He's not really a comedian or anything.
He's just a guy that you want to just watch and follow and take notes on. The way I describe Bernhard's golf, when anybody asks me about him, and almost everybody I talk to asks me about what's it like on the PGA Tour Champions and what's Bernhard Langer like. The way I describe it is like you don't stand behind Bernhard for five shots on the range and think, oh, my gosh, this guy has to have won 100 tournaments around the world. No, you have to walk around and watch him, the way he attacks a course.
I don't think Bernhard even knows how to hit a flop shot. He's never had to hit a flop shot. He's never out of position.
Of course he hits the ball in play a lot, he doesn't hit it out of play, but he's always on the strong side of the hole, never has to take on any unnecessary risk. It's just like a textbook way to play competitive golf. It's incredible the way he continues to do it.
Steven Alker
I was really nervous playing with Bernhard Langer the first time, and even after that, even now, I'm still like, 'you know, maybe try and stay out of his way. That was the thought I had when I first played. And you know, I'm just trying to try and focus on my game because it was really hard. It's hard to focus on my game, but since then we've become good friends. I feel like we have a good relationship with some teams events, and I constantly learning from the guy, and I'm glad I've got to know him and made a relationship because I can kind of pick his brain a little bit it certainly helped my game for sure. ... He's still competitive. I know he's still competitive, you know, he gets the juices is flowing. He's still working at it. I know he's got that grind.
I got a story about a couple of years ago. We played in a team event, [Steve] Stricker's event is now a team event. ... and he asked me team up and I said, 'yeah, sure, that'd be great.' We get out to the practice round on Tuesday, and we get out on the golf course and we're halfway around and I'm like 'he's seen this golf course like four or five times, why is he working so hard?' So I said to his caddie, Terry, I said, 'come over here, I want to see your yardage book, what's going on in there? What have you got?' And I open up the book and there's notes everywhere, there's arrows, and there's crosses and I'm, like, oh my goodness, I said, 'what's going on here?' and he said, 'well, Bernard likes to know where everything is, he likes to know where there's a bunker, like 50 yards off the tee, something you wouldn't even think about, and they've got everything and the greens, like, there's notes and arrows and squiggles and Terry's got it and he's got it in his book as well and he says 'yea, he just likes to know where everything is.' He's always playing practice rounds, he's seen this course so many times, but it's just what he does.
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This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Fellow pros rave about Bernhard Langer, absent from the Charles Schwab Cup for the first time
