Bernhard Langer Returns to Royal Porthcawl

Bernhard Langer returns to Royal Porthcawl in southern Wales this week for the Senior Open, where he won by a record 13 strokes three years ago

Bernhard Langer returns to Royal Porthcawl in southern Wales this week for the Senior Open presented by Rolex, where he won by a record 13 strokes three years ago.

At the age of 59, Germany’s Langer remains the man to beat in senior golf and he leads the Schwab Cup standings on the PGA Tour Champions by a massive margin.

Twice the Masters champion - in 1895 and 1993 – Langer has already secured a pair of senior major titles in 2017, to take his senior majors total to a record nine, eclipsing the previous record of eight held by Jack Nicklaus.

“I feel excited to return to Porthcawl,” starts Langer in an exclusive interview. “It is a great venue and a great championship golf course.

“You never know what the weather will be like but whatever it is the championship is going to be a tough test.

“Three years ago that was certainly some of the best golf I have played in my life, over those four days. The golf course was burned out that week, very firm, bouncy and very difficult and we had to deal with wind.

“To shoot the scores I did, I was on top of my game all around, from long game to short game to everything, it was a lot of fun and you don’t experience that kind of a lead many times in your career. I have great memories.

At the 2014 Senior Open Langer shot 65-66-68-67, leaving Colin Montgomerie in second place by 13, a record margin for the Senior Open and for the PGA Tour Champions as a whole.

“It was hard to believe,” says Langer. “It just seemed like everything went my way. I managed to keep the ball out of the pot bunkers and I remember a very enjoyable last 10 holes, when I could really enjoy my lead, enjoy the surroundings and the people and take it all in.”

Langer begins his 2017 Senior Open campaign at 2:10 on Thursday, playing with John Daly and Ian Woosnam.

Bernhard Langer is a brand ambassador for Mercedes-Benz