Bad back nine dooms Bernhard Langer's chances for 3rd title

Timing can be everything sometimes, and it certainly was for Bernhard Langer.

At the start of the week, Langer readily admitted he would have been satisfied with a tie for 25th at this week’s Masters Tournament. As the oldest player in the field at 55 and coming off six consecutive missed cuts at the tourney, that’s pretty much a given.

But once Langer made the cut and vaulted into contention, Sunday’s finish was somewhat of a downer for the two-time champion. Entering the final round tied for ninth at 2-under, Langer surged early and sputtered late.

His 4-over 76 dropped him all the way to 25th at 2-over 290, tied with nine others.

“What we all play for is to be in contention,” Langer said. “It’s no fun finishing 50th or 60th or whatever. We all want to be in the hunt, and I felt I was. All week, my goal was to be in contention atop the leaderboard and I was there for a while. Then it just went the other way.

“It was still a good week. … But the way things went, especially with my start, I was hoping for better.”

Langer couldn’t have scripted a better start Sunday. Figuring he needed to post “6- or 7-under to have a realistic chance” at his third Masters title, Langer was halfway there through three holes.

With birdies on the first three holes, Langer moved to 5-under to get within striking distance of the leaders, who were at 7-under and yet to tee off. But once a mid-afternoon rain set in for the day, Langer couldn’t recapture the early magic.

He made only one birdie the rest of the day, at No. 14, and by that time his round had already turned for the worse.

“The greens got really slow,” Langer said. “I totally lost the feel for the greens. I couldn’t get the ball near the hole anymore, couldn’t even get it close.”

After making bogey at Nos. 6, 7 and 10, Langer had lost the ground he’d built up early. The round completely got away with back-to-back double bogeys at Amen Corner.

On No. 12, Langer’s tee shot landed short on the bank and trickled back into Rae’s Creek. He bounced back with a solid drive on No. 13 and hit what he called “probably the best shot of the week” on his approach, but it clipped a tree branch and went straight left, leaving him with an unplayable lie.

“Those two holes cost me five shots right there,” Langer said. “I hit that ball (on No. 13) perfect and it was going left of the flag. If it hadn’t been for that twig, I’d been putting for eagle or birdie.”

Langer’s finish was his best since 2005, when he tied for 20th.