Langer defies age at the Masters

Augusta, Ga. – Bernhard Langer owns two green jackets that are older than Jordan Spieth.

Sunday, long after many people his age have finished their early-bird dinners, the 58-year-old will finish playing in the Masters. He plans to become the oldest major champion by a decade.

"See you tomorrow," Langer said after being interviewed by Jim Nantz in Butler's cabin Saturday night.

The only way Langer would see Nantz on Sunday would be if he won.

"I believe I can," he said later. "It would be one for the old guys."

On a windy day featuring browning greens on one of the greenest spaces in America, Langer shot a 70 to move into third place while making this tournament look like the 3M Championship. If he finishes in the top 10, he would become the oldest by five months ever to do so.

He's giving Old Guy Golf a good name, hitting it straight, finessing woods into par-4s and making putts.

He won his first Masters 31 years ago. The oldest player to win a major was Julius Boros, who was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA.

Langer, who was the No. 1 player in the world when the World Golf Rankings were invented, beat the current No. 1, Jason Day, by a stroke.

"On 14, he made about a 70-foot putt," Langer said. "I chipped in right on top of him. We high-fived and fist-bumped."

"He got the better of me," Day said. "It's really, really impressive — to watch what Bernhard did out there today. Just the positions he was in compared to where I was."

On No. 10, Day thinks Langer was 60 to 80 yards shorter than him off the tee. On No. 2, Langer said he hit a 3-wood into the green and Day hit a 7-iron.

For Langer, age is not just a state of mind. It's a state of body. He's as lean as a putter shaft, meaning he looks just like he did when he won the 3M Championship at the TPC in Blaine in 2012.

Langer looks remarkably like he did, from the hairline down, when he won his second major, the 1993 Masters.

Few older players win, but contending at an advanced age is not unprecedented. Tom Watson came within one putt of winning the British Open at 59. Jack Nicklaus finished sixth in the Masters at 58 in 1998. In 2014, Langer tied for eighth in the Masters.

Asked if he's playing a different game than those younger than him, Langer smiled and said: "Yeah, we are. But the scorecard doesn't show it always. There's different ways of getting there."

Langer was forced to use a different putting approach by golf's ruling bodies, which banned "anchored" strokes. Langer survived a bout of the yips earlier in his career by using a long putter anchored to his sternum. He still uses the long putter but can't fix it to his body anymore.

Saturday, Langer's adjusted stroke helped him beat Jordan Spieth by three shots, meaning he'll enter the final round just two strokes out of the lead.

"We're not playing tennis or soccer or football where it all comes down to speed and strength," Langer said. "Golf is a lot more about knowing yourself."

In that way, time, if not age, is on Langer's side.