Life and work

Langer was born in Anhausen near Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. He turned professional in 1976 and has won many events in Europe and the United States, among them The Masters in 1985 and 1993. He was the inaugural World Number 1 when the Official World Golf Rankings were introduced in 1986, and he became a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001. He ranks second in career wins on the European Tour, with forty and has also played regularly on the U.S. based PGA Tour, especially in the late 1980s and since 2000. He has shown great durability, finishing in a tie for fifth at The Open Championship the month before his forty-eighth birthday and regaining a place in the top hundred of the rankings three months before his fiftieth birthday. He played on 10 Ryder Cup teams (1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2002) and was non-playing captain of the victorious European team in 2004.

Through much of his career, Langer has battled the "yips", a term used to denote a strong tendency to flinch or twitch during putting. He has changed his grip on the putter numerous times in an attempt to cure this problem; while he has been mostly successful, this tendency has colored his career. Langer is remembered nearly as much for one particular missed putt as he is for his titles. In the 1991 Ryder Cup, Langer missed a five-foot putt that would have tied the Ryder Cup and allowed the European team to retain the trophy.

Langer has been married to his American wife Vikki Carol since 1984. They have four children: Jackie, Stefan, Christina, and Jason. They maintain homes in Langer's birthplace of Anhausen and in Boca Raton, Florida. Langer is known to be a devout Christian.

Professional wins (73)

European Tour wins (40)

1980 (1) Dunlop Masters
1981 (2) German Open, Bob Hope British Classic
1982 (1) Lufthansa German Open
1983 (3) Italian Open, Glasgow Golf Classic, St. Mellion Timeshare TPC
1984 (4) Peugeot Open de France, KLM Dutch Open, Carroll's Irish Open, Benson & Hedges Spanish Open
1985 (2) Lufthansa German Open, Panasonic European Open
1986 (2) German Open, Lancome Trophy
1987 (2) Whyte & Mackay PGA Championship, Carroll's Irish Open
1988 (1) Epson Grand Prix of Europe
1989 (2) Peugeot Spanish Open, German Masters
1990 (2) Cepsa Madrid Open, Austrian Open
1991 (2) Benson & Hedges International Open, Mercedes German Masters
1992 (2) Heineken Dutch Open, Honda Open
1993 (2) Volvo PGA Championship, Volvo German Open
1994 (2) Murphy's Irish Open, Volvo Masters
1995 (3) Volvo PGA Championship, Deutsche Bank Open TPC of Europe, Smurfit European Open
1997 (4) Conte Of Florence Italian Open, Benson & Hedges International Open, Chemapol Trophy Czech Open, Linde German Masters
2001 (2) The TNT Open, Linde German Masters
2002 (1) Volvo Masters (shared with Colin Montgomerie)

PGA Tour wins (3)

The Masters did not count as a European Tour event until 1997.

Other wins (26)

1974 German National Open Championship (as an amateur)
1975 German National Open Championship
1977 German National Open Championship
1979 German National Open Championship, Cacharel Under-25s Championship (by 17 strokes)
1980 Colombian Open
1983 Casio World Open (Japan Golf Tour), Johnnie Walker Tournament
1984 German National Open Championship
1985 Australian Masters, German National Open Championship, Million Dollar Challenge (South Africa)
1986 German National Open Championship
1987 German National Open Championship
1988 German National Open Championship
1989 German National Open Championship
1990 German National Open Championship
1991 German National Open Championship, Hong Kong Open, Sun City Million Dollar Challenge (South Africa)
1992 German National Open Championship
1996 Alfred Dunhill Masters (Hong Kong)
1997 Argentinian Masters
2005 MBNA WorldPoints Father/Son Challenge (with son Stefan)
2006 Del Webb Father/Son Challenge (with son Stefan), WGC-World Cup (with Marcel Siem)

Note: the German National Open Championship is a different event from the German Open listed five times in the European Tour wins section. That event was open to all comers, German and non-German. The German National Open Championship is "open" to German golfers whether they are amateur or professional.

Champions Tour wins (3)

European Seniors Tour (1)

2008 Casa Serena Open

Major Championships

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin	Runner(s) Up
1985	The Masters	2 shot deficit	-6 (72-74-68-68=282)	2 strokes	Seve Ballesteros, Raymond Floyd, Curtis Strange
1993	The Masters (2)	4 shot lead	-11 (68-70-69-70=277)	4 strokes	Chip Beck

Results timeline

Tournament	1976	1977	1978	1979
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	CUT	DNP	CUT	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
The Masters	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	T31	1	T16	T7	T9	T26
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	CUT	T8	T4	CUT	T59
The Open Championship	T51	2	T13	T56	T2	T3	T3	T17	69	80
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T32	CUT	T21	CUT	T61

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Masters	T7	T32	T31	1	T25	T31	T36	T7	T39	T11
U.S. Open	CUT	CUT	T23	CUT	T23	T36	DQ	CUT	CUT	DNP
The Open Championship	T48	T9	T59	3	T60	T24	WD	T38	CUT	T18
PGA Championship	CUT	CUT	T40	CUT	T25	DNP	76	T23	DNP	T61

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
The Masters	T28	T6	T32	CUT	T4	T20	CUT	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	CUT	T40	T35	T42	DNP	T33	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	T11	T3	T28	CUT	DNP	T5	CUT	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	T46	CUT	T23	T57	T66	T47	CUT	DNP	DNP

DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
DQ = Disqualified
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

Ryder Cup: 1981, 1983, 1985 (winners), 1987 (winners), 1989 (tied - retained trophy), 1991, 1993, 1995 (winners), 1997 (winners), 2002 (winners), 2004 (non-playing captain - winners)
World Cup (representing Germany): 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1990 (winners), 1991, 1992, 1993 (individual winner), 1994, 1995, 1996, 2006 (winners)
Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1992, 1994, 2000
Four Tours World Championship: 1985 (captain), 1986 (captain), 1987 (captain), 1989 (captain), 1990
Hennessy Cognac Cup: 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982 (captain)
Seve Trophy: 2000 (winners)
UBS Cup: 2001, 2002