Two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer has announced this year’s tournament will be his last as a competitor—and he plans to go out in style.
To honor his Masters career, Langer’s equipment sponsor, Tour Edge, created a commemorative staff bag and headcovers, which his son, Jason, will carry during the tournament while serving as his father’s caddie.
The custom bag features a golden bag tag engraved with the years of his 41 Masters appearances, while his 1985 and 1993 victories are highlighted with azaleas on the base of the bag. His headcovers will prominently feature the number 41 as well.
“We are extremely excited to celebrate Bernhard’s final Masters,” said Tour Edge CEO David Glod. “I’ve admired Bernhard for decades, ever since he won his first Masters, around the same time I started Tour Edge. It’s an honor to recognize his remarkable career, his lasting legacy and his incredible success at Augusta.”
A competitor through and through, Langer is eyeing an equipment change for the Masters. In addition to his full set of Exotics irons that have been a staple in his bag, Tour Edge’s director of tour operations and fitting accounts, Duffy Callahan, worked with Langer over the last few PGA Tour Champions events on a higher-lofted hybrid with the Masters in mind.
The club is an Exotics E725 5-hybrid to accommodate some specific yardages Langer needs to hit at Augusta National.
“I just started testing the E725 hybrid, and it was very promising the first couple of times I’ve hit it and continue to test it, but it looks like it’s going to be in the bag, especially at Augusta,” Langer said. “I have a lot of long irons from side hills, hanging lies, sometimes a [downhill] lie, like on No. 10 or 11, or many other holes, actually. I need the ball to go really high and come down soft with a lot of spin. In my testing, I get about 6,000 rpm backspin, while my 4-iron has more like 4,000 of spin. So, I get a lot more spin and I get a higher ball flight, which means the ball should stop much quicker, much faster on these firm and often fast greens.”
Perhaps the most visible tribute, however, might be Langer’s threads. On Thursday, Langer plans to don an all-red outfit that matched his attire from the final round of his 1985, and he’ll follow it up with the yellow shirt, green pants look he wore during the final round of his 1993 victory.
As we said, going out in style.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
