Tom Watson and Nick Faldo will not be the only ones making their final appearance at this year’s Open Championship with double Masters winning Bernhard Langer facing possibly his last St. Andrews Open.
Langer, 57 will be teeing up this July in his 30th Open Championship and in what also will be the prolific-winning German’s seventh on the Old Course at St. Andrews.
In fact, Langer recorded his best Open Championship finish at St. Andrews in sharing second place with Watson in 1984 behind Seve Ballesteros.
Langer was also third on four occasions including firstly in 1985 as the then Masters Champion and then for a third occasion finishing third in 1983 also having captured a second Augusta National title earlier that year.
However the former double European No. 1 has competed in just one Open Championship in the past eight years and that was in missing the cut in 2011 as the then Senior Open Champion.
Bernhard Langer and the current Senior Open Champion could be staring at his last St. Andrews Open Championship.
And it is as the current Senior Open Champion, after having stormed to a 13-shot success last year at Royal Porthcawl, thatLanger will tee-up at the Home of Golf.
But unless Langer continues to capture the Senior Open claret jug or find himself exempt into golf’s oldest major by some other means than he knows this year will could very well be his last St. Andrews Open and also his final Open Championship.
“I always have looked forward to going back to St. Andrews but then this could be my last year, and maybe my last time at the British Open,” said Langer to Reuters.
“St. Andrews and the Old Course has always been a very special place for me but after this year I won’t be exempt anymore.
“I will have to win the Senior British Open to get myself to Royal Troon next year and given it looks like the British Open won’t be held back at St. Andrews to 2021, it means I will have to win the Senior British Open again in 2020 to guarantee I will be back to St. Andrews a year later.
“If that was the case it means I will be 63 years of age in 2021 so it looks highly unlikely.
“It will be disappointing as I have so many very good memories of St. Andrews, including my best British Open finish to Seve in ’84.”
Langer was speaking ahead of teeing up in this week’s $US 2.3m PGA Champions Tour Regions Tradition in Shoal Creek, Alabama and where he will play the opening two rounds in Watson’s company
