Goodbyes are hard, but they can also sometimes be confusing. Especially when they are not a final goodbye, like in Bernhard Langer’s case. Heavyheartedness was not the only emotion that surrounded the German pro golfer’s lovers when he sealed the news of his retirement from the DP World Tour and remarked that the BMW International Open would be his last event on European soil. The persisting question remained: is this a final adieu from Langer’s end to the golf world?

Well, the answer to this is no. Despite putting an end to his story from where it all began that is the DPWT, Langer will still be playing in the PGA Tour Champions, reserved for talented golfers over the age of 50. “As long as they give me a golf cart,” was Langer’s rationale for continuing to tee it up and not completely closing the professional golf chapter of his life, something that will not be a problem on the Senior Tour.

Talking about his plans for a final retirement, the European golf legend recently said, “I guess I could, but I love the game of golf and I love to compete, and I’m still good enough to compete and be up there where I think I can win tournaments…When I feel like I’m going to finish in the bottom third of the field every week I compete, then it’s probably time to quit. Hopefully, I will know when that is.” 

Considering the perseverance and drive for change this pro golfer with 42 and 46 wins on DPWT and PGA Tour Champions has demonstrated throughout his 51 years of play, there seems to be a long way to his final adieu. What he thinks helps him is that he has “a healthy drive and lives a disciplined life… a great support system with coach, manager, caddie, and family.” But what were his final words after ending the DP World Tour chapter of his life?

Bernhard Langer’s teary-eyed and nostalgic goodbye to where it all began

Langer expected his last DPWT start to be “very emotional.” After all, he had not bid goodbye “to anything so far in terms of golf,” and it indeed was! In the post-round presser of the BMW International Open, his 513th and final start, Langer got teary-eyed, and the golf world shed a tear too.

“It’s hard to put into words. It’s been a dream come true for me, you know, growing up in a village of 800 people where nobody knew what golf was. Period. When I told my classmates I’m going to go play golf, they thought I was crazy and they thought I was a putt-putt golfer, mini golfer, and all that. So people had no idea and it was really a strange situation even when I finished school and I tried to become a golf professional. People didn’t even know what that was it didn’t even exist as a profession in a way so it was very difficult and complicated but uh… it was my dream and so here. I was able to live that dream for 51 years,” said the German legend.

Even though his dream of playing at the DP World Tour has come to an end, his journey has not. With many dreams left on this gentleman’s bucket, the PGA Tour Champions is set to unlock some new chapters in his life.