Bernhard Langer is in his 51st year of professional golf, and he’s as successful as ever

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Bernhard Langer has won 46 PGA Tour Champions events. The next closest active player is 28 behind.

He has six Charles Schwab Cups on his trophy shelf. No one else has more than two.

Did I mention that at 66, Langer is the oldest golfer in this week’s TimberTech Championship at the Old Course at Broken Sound? An age when many Americans are reaping the rewards of a successful career by sleeping in and checking out the early bird specials.

Especially those who live in South Florida.

But Bernhard Langer isn’t ready to spend his days sitting on the beach or floating in his pool, although he has taken up the one sport that has become a favored activity for the AARP crowd: pickleball.

“I love it,” he said. “My knees don’t love it, but I love it.”

So the man who has won golf tournaments on all six continents where the sport is played, one of five to do so, plans to continue earning those frequent-flyer miles.

“As I look at it, I have more time for golf now than I had 10, 20, 30 years ago,” Langer said Thursday. “I was busy with kids then, raising a family and being a father and a husband and all that. Now, the kids are gone. We’re empty nesters. We spend some time with the grandkids. But I have time to play golf. And I’m still pretty good at it. I still enjoy it.”

Pretty good? Langer, in his 51st year of professional golf, became the Tour Champions’ all-time wins leader at the U.S. Senior Open this summer, passing Hale Irwin with his 46th title. The man who has 122 professional wins and won $10.8 million in 326 starts on the PGA Tour has added $35.7 million in 338 events on the 50-and-older circuit.

That career also includes two Masters green jackets (1985, 1993), six Ryder Cups as a player and one as a captain.

Add Justin Leonard to long list of pro golfers who have moved to Palm Beach County area

Langer welcomes competition from Leonard, Furyk, Els, Couples

Langer was asked if the infusion of 50-year-olds, like Justin Leonard last year, and iconic names like Jim Furyk, Ernie Els and Fred Couples in the past five years, gives him that extra competitive boost.

“I don’t need an extra competitive boost,” he said from under his trademark visor. “It’s already there.”

Perhaps it comes from defeating Father Time. Langer is by no means the same man who became the first golfer to reach No. 1 in the world when the rankings were introduced in 1986. That is not possible.

The father of four children, who have given him four grandchildren, admits maintaining his game takes more work. Aches and pains now come naturally, as does a decline in distance, which he has said is the biggest difference in his game.

“My makeup is sort of that I want to do the best I can every week,” Langer said. “That’s just the competitive nature in me. But you have to have goals. I always tried to improve if that’s possible in certain areas. Obviously, the margins get thinner and thinner.”

So what’s still out there? Perhaps distancing himself even more from his peers when it comes to championships. Or even adding to the times in which he’s equaled or beat his age, which is an astounding 11 times on the Champions tour.

One thing is for sure: Langer already holds the title of the No. 1 golfer in the world in the 60-and-over division and has for six years.

“Once I won No. 46, I thought, well, let’s shoot for the moon,” he said. “Let’s go for 50. I know that huge goal is way out there, but who knows? I kind of give it a few more years and see what happens.”

Having played 25 or so annual events for the past 40 years, Langer says the time is coming when he cuts it back … to around 20.

“Can’t do what I did in my 20s and 30s. No chance,” he said. “I need some time to recuperate.”

A seventh Charles Schwab Cup will have to wait until at least 2024. Steve Stricker was so dominant this season, with six wins and five times runner-up in 16 events, that he clinched the season championship without having to play in any of three Schwab Cup playoff events. TimberTech is the second.

But that will not diminish Langer’s thirst for winning his hometown tournament for the fourth time.