Bernhard Langer says goodbye to DP World Tour

Bernhard Langer says the goodwill of both players and fans will make for a “very emotional” farewell performance on the DP World Tour at the BMW International Open in Germany.

The European great, the most successful German player of all time, makes his 513th and final appearance on Golf’s Global Tour this week at Golfclub München Eichenried.

Since making his debut in 1974, Langer has won 42 titles on the DP World Tour in five decades – a feat only surpassed by the late, great Severiano Ballesteros.

The two-time Masters champion is still successful on the PGA TOUR Champions, the circuit for players aged 50 and over, at the age of 66, but his 23rd appearance in Germany’s most historic professional golf tournament marks the end of this chapter in his illustrious career.

“I don’t know yet (how I’ll react),” said Langer, who arrives in Germany after playing in the U.S. Senior Open last week. “I’ve never said goodbye to anything in golf, this is going to be a first experience and I have a feeling it’s going to be very emotional.”

Langer was scheduled to play in the Masters Tournament for the last time in April, but that plan was postponed for a year after he tore his Achilles tendon during a pickleball game in February.

Less than three months later, he was back playing on the PGA TOUR Champions, where he has won a record 46 titles.

“I feel much better,” he said. “It’s been five months today since my surgery and it’s getting better and better.

“So I’m starting to walk more and more. Sometimes it’s still difficult, but golfing is no problem.

“I can rotate pretty well. I can shift the weight. I’m just a little weak, my calf muscle is much smaller on my left leg than on my right leg. My balance is not quite right yet, but we’re going to work on it.”

Langer last played at the BMW International Open, where he finished runner-up five times, more than a decade ago in 2012. He expects a tough challenge on a demanding course as he competes in a regular DP World Tour event for the first time since 2018.

“It means a lot to play in front of a home crowd. And hopefully I’ll make the cut, but I hear the golf course is a lot longer than it used to be, and that’s a challenge for me.

“I’m getting smaller and the track is getting longer and that’s not a good combination.”

The feeling that this is a fitting end to Langer’s DP World Tour is heightened given that the host this week is close to where he took his first steps in the game.

“I grew up about 45 minutes from here,” he explained. “I worked as an assistant pro 30 minutes from here at Munich Country Club.

“I have a lot of friends, some family members and just people who have been with me for many, many years and supported me in golf, and of course I have played in this tournament many times.

“It’s the only one I haven’t won in Germany yet. So it was always difficult, but I’m happy to be back.”

Langer will play alongside fellow countrymen Marcel Siem, who last week won his sixth DP World Tour title at the Italian Open presented by Regione Emilia-Romagna, and fellow two-time Major winner Martin Kaymer