Seemingly ageless Bernhard Langer is the Memorial Tournament honoree for 2027.
Langer, 68, becomes the 88th person honored at Muirfield Village Golf Club since 1976. The German native is a two-time winner of the Masters and 2001 inductee of the World Golf Hall of Fame. He won three times on the PGA Tour, but more impressively has won 47 times on the Champions Tour since turning 50, including the Charles Schwab Championship in 2024 at age 67.
“I first met and played with Bernhard in an exhibition in Munich when he was 16 years old,” Memorial host and founder Jack Nicklaus said. “He showed a lot of promise then, and I followed him as he grew into becoming a world-class player. Bernhard has had as long and as successful a record of winning as probably any player who has ever played the game. It’s fantastic to watch him continue to compete at the level he plays.”
Langer only played the Memorial twice, opting like many European players to compete in the European PGA Championship, which for decades was held the same time as the Memorial.
Langer was 15 when he turned professional, but his golf career took a turn when he suffered a back injury at age 19 while training as a member of the German Air Force. He suffered stress fractures and bulging discs from marching with a 30-pound pack and rifle and spent six weeks in the hospital.
“It was a tough time, and I remember thinking I probably wasn’t going to play golf again,” Langer said.
After eventually recovering, Langer became a teaching professional before trying his hand at tournament golf. He qualified for the European Tour (now the DP World Tour) in 1976, and it took him four years before he earned his first victory in the Dunlop Masters. He is one of five men to win tournaments on six continents, joining Justin Rose and past Memorial honorees Gary Player, Hale Irwin and David Graham. Langer’s total of 42 victories in Europe, highlighted by five wins in the German Open, is second all-time to Seve Ballesteros, despite battling the putting yips on and off in his career.
Making just his third appearance at Augusta National Golf Club in 1985, Langer won his first green jacket after shooting consecutive 68s on the weekend to post 6-under 282 and defeat Ballesteros and Raymond Floyd by two strokes. Eight years later, he broke par all four days and posted 11-under 277 en route to a four-stroke victory over Chip Beck.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ageless Bernhard Langer named 2027 Memorial Tournament honoree
Reporting by Rob Oller, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Rob Oller, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
