Two-time champion Bernhard Langer will make his final Masters start this April, the German said in a Golf Channel interview that aired on Wednesday.
The 66-year-old Langer, who missed the cut at each of the past three Masters, made his announcement in Hawaii, where the PGA Tour Champions season begins this week.
“It’s going to be my last Masters this year, I’ve already decided on that,” Langer said in the interview. “And it probably will be my last U.S. Open, too, unless some miracle happens.”
Langer has made 40 Masters appearances, and his two triumphs at Augusta National Golf Club highlight a World Golf Hall of Fame career that also includes 10 European Ryder Cup teams and over 60 worldwide wins.
“It’s exciting,” Langer said of his final Masters start. “At the same time, I am aware that I’m going to be hitting 3-irons and 2-hybrids when the guys are hitting 9-irons into the green, and that’s tough to compete against.
“But it’s a challenge, and I usually don’t shy away from challenges.”
Langer won his first Green Jacket in 1985 when he rallied from a 4-stroke deficit at the turn in the final round and birdied four of the last seven holes to beat Curtis Strange, Seve Ballesteros and Raymond Floyd by 2 shots.
He again triumphed at Augusta National eight years later when he made a decisive eagle on the 13th hole and went on to cruise to a 4-stroke victory over Chip Beck.
“I asked the [Augusta National] chairman several years ago, I said, ‘Is there an age limit?'” Langer said. “‘When do you tell people to stop playing?’
“He said, ‘Listen, Bernhard, you will know yourself when it’s time to stop,’ and I hope he’s right. I don’t want to make a fool of myself.”
This year’s Masters runs from April 11 to 14.