During World War II, a German bricklayer named Erwin was arrested as a war prisoner. The man almost got killed, but by a stroke of luck, he somehow fled from a labor-camp bound train and then also miraculously survived the flying gunshots for a few weeks. His wife, Walburga, on the other hand, had her own story of survival. The woman already had two children, and she was told that a third pregnancy might be fatal for both the mother and the child. Yet, Walburga conceived and gave birth to a boy in 1957. Once again, miraculously, she did not die. And neither did her child, whose birth itself seemed unlikely at one point. Erwin and Walburga named him Bernhard Langer, who would become the face of golf in a country where the sport was an alien back in those days, to say the least. So, the journey had to be bizarre.

That journey started at eight. Yes, you read that right, at 8, Langer went to caddie at the Augsburg GC, a 9-hole track, some eight miles away from his home at Anhausen. At the club, he would stare at a poster of Jack Nicklaus’s swing sequence for hours. No wonder when he would say, “I built my swing similar to how my father built our house: brick by brick, trying to make sure everything was straight.” As he grew up, it became clearer to him that he has golf in his heart. Can you imagine how unusual that was in Germany back then? Read this.

After finishing school at 15, Langer went for a job placement interview, and he mentioned that he wanted to be a golf professional. The interviewer’s response was, “What’s that?” Langer tried to explain drawing parallels with tennis, a more popular sport at that time. But the interviewer, after some research, ruled, “No such recognized profession existed in Germany!” Plus a suggestion: “I would recommend you choose a more decent profession.” How astonishing it is that the teenager did not step aside from his dreams on hearing this? Instead, he gradually started to climb the ladder, playing his first season on the European Tour at 18. Langer had once recalled, in that Tour “I slept in my car many times because I couldn’t afford a hotel.”

But Langer truly rose to fame in 1982 when he received the invitation to play at Augusta National for the first time. That moment, as he recalls, was life-changing. That life is set to come to a full circle when he makes one last appearance at the Augusta National Golf Club in April 2025. It’s hard not to reflect on the incredible journey, and the 67-year-old did not hold back in an interaction with Tour Edge.

“At the Langer house, when I got that little letter, you know, in early spring, that I get to be invited to play in the Masters in 1982. People really had no clue about the game. It just wasn’t popular, it wasn’t televised, it was just a minority sport,” he shared on his video shot for TourEdgeGolf. For him, the thought of playing at Augusta felt almost surreal. Back then, golf was often seen as a game for the rich and elite. But here was Langer, about to break into that world.

He continued, “Boris Becker won Wimbledon the same year I won the Masters, and so that got quite a bit of coverage in the German media. And in Germany, golf always had that label of being a rich man’s game. Only the very elite could afford golf, and here you have a son of a bricklayer who couldn’t afford to be a member at any of the clubs winning the Masters tournament.

“So this was a totally different Twist of golf; it’s not just for the rich and the famous; it’s also, you know, for anybody and everybody. So it certainly helped change the image of golf.” Nostalgia indeed strikes Langer in his final outing. But maybe because of his upbringing, he is practical and realistic about the upcoming appearance.

Langer’s last appearance in Augusta was supposed to be in last year. But a torn Achilles in February jeopardized that. He has yet to recover fully but is good enough to play. Interestingly, he knows his limitations and does not come up with any lofty dreams. “So I’m not going in there with a mindset of winning anymore. That train has passed,” said Langer. “But trying to still perform and show some good shots and hopefully be there on the weekend.” But Langer still believes that he is capable of playing in the PGA Tour Champions. Well, one can’t dispute that, looking at his second-place finish at the season-opening Mitsubishi Championship in Hawaii.

“I was surprised in Hawaii, which is really a bomber’s golf course nowadays because they changed the fairways and there’s hardly any rough. I was surprised I finished second there to Ernie (Els), who won in the end. You never know. If my game is on, even with my lack of distance compared to the younger guys, I can still compete at the highest level,” Langer said. As revered as his resume might look, nothing can probably beat Langer’s victory in 1985 Masters. And the Hall of Famer still remembers that fondly.

Langer’s first victory was nothing short of cathartic

When Bernhard Langer won his first Masters in 1985, it wasn’t just about the trophy—it was the result of years of hard work, discipline, and a deep belief in himself. And honestly, it was no easy feat. The pressure was on, but Langer stayed calm and kept his eyes on the winning.

The final round was nothing short of thrilling, with Langer trailing Curtis Strange, who was four strokes ahead. “In 1985, I was trying not to watch the leaderboard, which is difficult to do, because they’re everywhere,” Langer recalled. “But on one occasion, as I come off the ninth green, I took a quick glance to the right, and I saw this big leaderboard, which was right on 18 green. And I could just see the two top nines, and it was Curtis Strange. He was maybe 12 under, and I was 8 under, and I was thinking to myself, God, you’re four shots behind. You’ve got to do something.”

With everything on the line, Langer knew he needed to make a move. So when he stepped onto the 10th tee, he made a bold decision: “My mindset was just to be as aggressive as possible. And I just felt red was an aggressive color. It was, you know, like Ferraris are in red. And I felt good in that color. I thought, yeah, you know, I’m going to wear that today and, you know, play the most aggressive golf I can.”

That boldness, combined with his confidence, paid off. Langer didn’t let the leaderboard or external pressure distract him. He played his game, and by the end of the round, he had secured the win with a score of 282 (-6), two shots ahead of Curtis Strange and Raymond Floyd. That victory was the defining moment of his career and the start of his lasting legacy in the world of golf.

When you look back, Langer’s victory wasn’t just about his skill with a golf club. It was about his mental toughness and his ability to rise to the occasion. From growing up in Germany to becoming a two-time Masters champion, Langer’s story is all about perseverance, self-belief, and proving that anything is possible if you keep pushing forward. As he heads to Augusta one last time, his legacy from that first Masters win will undoubtedly continue to inspire the next generation of golfers.