An Interview with 2008 Ginn
Championship Winner Bernhard
Langer
March 30, 2008
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Bernhard, final round 71. One of only three
rounds under par today. It was sort of a tough day for most
everyone but an impressive 8-stroke win. You win for your third
time in 11 starts; your second time in the last three starts.
And you earned 375 Charles Schwab Cup points so puts you in
command there. Maybe just a couple general thoughts about this
victory and then we will go through your round.
BERNHARD LANGER: I played very solid this week. First day my
short game really was spot-on and then the last two days I
played some very good golf all around. And the 71 today felt
more like a 65, to be honest. It was that difficult out there.
When I saw that pin on 17, I had to laugh because -- (laughter)
-- just the worst possible pin placement for those kinds of
conditions today. But I played aggressive and pulled most of it
off. Got a little bit lucky once when -- third shot -- Was it on
6, the par 5?
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Right.
BERNHARD LANGER: Came up short and stayed on the bank, and then
I chipped it in from there. If that spins back and goes in the
water, I probably make 6 or 7. So ended up with a 4. So that was
a little bonus.
But, otherwise, I really played well for most of the day and
most of the week.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Just sort of take us through the round. You
talked about the 6th hole and Lonnie said you made a beautiful
shot out of the hazard there. Maybe just take us through the
other holes.
BERNHARD LANGER: On No. 1, I had about a 10-foot putt for
birdie, and I left it short which doesn't happen very often. But
I think the putting green was quite a bit faster than that part
of the green on No. 1 because that looked very green and the
putting green looked more -- you know, a little bit brownish,
faster. So Freddy and I both left our putts short from a short
distance.
And then made a good solid 4 on 2 where I hit driver, 5-wood
into the fringe. Actually, I stood in the bunker and had to play
like this, like the ball was here and my hand was here. So I
gripped down on my shaft this close to the head and just did a
little flick and chipped it close. So made a solid 4 there.
Had a couple more opportunities next few holes. Actually on 4 I
had left my tee shot short, misjudged the wind and chipped it
very close.
And then 6, I already told you, driver, 4-iron and then I had
actually a good shot with my 9-iron. Totally misjudged the wind
and came up short in the bank and chipped it in from there.
Played pretty solid thereafter on 8. Trying to remember what 8
is. Did I bogey that?
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Yeah.
BERNHARD LANGER: Oh, hit a really good 4-iron there and then
3-putted from 25 feet. Just hit the first one too hard and
missed the return putt.
And then hit probably two of my best shots all week on No. 9. It
was a really good drive and as solid a 3-wood as I could hit,
and I got it to the front edge of the green and 2-putted for
par. Those were two really tough shots with the wind.
And then almost made eagle on 10 when my bunker shot hit the
flag but didn't go in after hitting driver and 3-iron.
Then it was a 3-iron on 12, which I left out to the right. At
that point, I had a fairly large lead so I was playing a little
bit away from trouble, to tell you the truth. Played a little
safe. And, obviously, 12 you've got water left and bunkers so I
played it out to the right. Chipped it up and missed the putt.
And then also 14 actually hit two really good shots, great tee
shot, good 3-iron layup shot and then pulled my 8-iron a little
bit and had a horrible lie next to the green. So chipped it long
and 2-putted for bogey.
And then hit a really good 3-wood and a brilliant 9-iron into 15
to about 3 feet. That was a great birdie to make today.
And played very aggressive on 16. Hit driver when everybody else
was playing to the right. I took the bunker on and the water and
had a much better angle into that pin because that pin is brutal
on the back left. I looked at it in the practice round and said
to my caddie, "If they put the pin there, we've got to go as far
down as we can." So almost birdied that one.
Got up and made a great up-and-down on 17. Another good
up-and-down on 18.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: You hit 22 feet for your par save left.
BERNHARD LANGER: That was -- misjudged the first one. But at
that point, I was just not trying to make any silly mistakes
altogether.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Anything special about having Stefan caddie
for you this week?
BERNHARD LANGER: It is always special to play in front of your
family and to have him on the bag and ride with me all three
days. It was pretty neat. He does a great job. He stays pretty
calm and does his -- does what he has to do, and then he helped
me reading some putts, and he did a very good job with that. It
felt very good having him on my side.
Q. Speaking of your son, having him on the bag, I talked to
him a little bit after the round. How do you deal with the
caddie's fee that you would normally pay a caddie? Does it just
go into a college thing? Or does he get extra dessert tonight or
how does that work out?
BERNHARD LANGER: That's the good thing, my wife and I have been
talking about this. I would really like to pay him like I would
pay a normal caddie because that's how I normally treat people.
On the other hand, I don't want to spoil him rotten and have him
-- knowing him, that he has that much money in the bank or
somewhere, I don't want him to go crazy. So it is a fine line.
So we'll have to talk about it and see what we come up with.
I will still pay my regular caddie some money because he worked
for me -- he was here Monday and was here Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday and he only left Thursday night. So he deserves some of
that as well.
Q. Looked like Stefan was eyeballing the car there pretty
good on the 18th hole.
BERNHARD LANGER: I think he actually has a nicer car than that
one, but I shouldn't say that here.
I think one of my daughters is eyeballing it real bad. We'll see
who gets it in the end, right?
Q. Talk about from a competitor's standpoint, is it more
exciting to win a tournament when you actually have to really
battle and scrap the whole the way around as far as having
someone close to you? Would you prefer to win it like that? Or
is it just as exciting to win by 8 strokes?
BERNHARD LANGER: To me it is just as exciting. Obviously, the
playoff I had with Jay Haas three weeks was really exciting
because it was right down the wire and you never know who is
going to win. Any shot could determine the outcome.
But this one, even though it is a large margin, I really never
totally felt comfortable until about five holes to go because
there are so many tough holes out there, so much can happen.
You can rack up two or three double-bogeys so fast or worse. If
the other guy makes a birdie or two, you've lost five, six,
seven shots in a string of three holes. I heard about -- Who was
it yesterday had a horrible finish? David Edwards had three
doubles in a row. You never know in this crazy game, especially
in these conditions.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: One thing I didn't point out, when I did your
intro, is even though it didn't seem like it today, you ended in
0-for-90 victory drought as far as official events in the state
of Florida. So congratulations on that.
BERNHARD LANGER: Wow, there you go. It is about time. Played 90
times and never won here? My goodness.
Q. I know you are a little bit like Tiger this way, you feel
if you are going to show up at a tournament, you should play to
win. Given how well you played here, what will be your thoughts
going to Augusta?
BERNHARD LANGER: That's a very good question. Obviously, if I
play well, I think I might be able to contend; but it's a very,
very long golf course nowadays, very different to what it was
five years ago.
And with that in mind, I'm just -- it is going to be that much
harder for me because I'm not short, but there are many guys out
there on the TOUR who hit it 40 yards past me.
And 40 yards means 4-irons less into a green and that is huge,
especially at Augusta where the greens are -- you know, they
look big but you always have these small pockets, small
plateaus. And if you come in with an 8- or 9-iron, you can stop
the ball. If I have four more clubs, it is a 5-iron or 4-iron,
many par 4s. I won't be able to stop it.
So I have a huge disadvantage there. But, hopefully, I can make
some of that up by experience and by knowing the course very
well and with a short game and hitting it straighter, whatever.
I don't know.
Q. (No microphone.)
BERNHARD LANGER: Yep, he did terrific. Never heard of a guy not
going for any par 5s at Augusta and playing that well on the par
5s. And, you know, he's longer than me, but he's obviously a
great putter and has a terrific short game.
Q. Everybody assumed it was going to a little breezier today
but not to this extreme. When you realized how gusty it was
going to be, any initial thoughts? Happy? Sad? Indifferent?
BERNHARD LANGER: I can't say I was happy about it because if I
was -- if I would have been five shots behind the 6, I wanted
these conditions myself because that's the conditions where you
can make up stuff much easier.
You know, if you get someone to shoot 2 or 3-under today and the
leader plays more conservative and makes a few mistakes which is
easily done, you can shoot 3-over and play a great round of golf
in these conditions. It is easier to make up shots when it is
like this. So -- but at the same time, I knew it was going to be
tough for everyone else to go low.
And if I could shoot par or better, around that number, it was
going to be very difficult for anyone outside of my group, I
think, to take the lead. So I just kept an eye on Lonnie and
Freddy and tried to play the best I could.
Q. Were you prepared weather-wise? Did you have everything in
your bag that you needed? Or did you have to put anything extra
in?
BERNHARD LANGER: No, I always come prepared. I had my sweater
with me, which I didn't use until the 17th hole. And we stood
there two groups on the tee, or three. And I put the umbrella in
because I saw it might rain. That's all I really needed.
Q. You talked, I think it was yesterday, just about taking it
seriously, giving it 100%. Do you still prepare now for
tournaments and for golf the way you did maybe 10, 15 years ago?
I hear you're still in the gym all the time and that kind of
thing.
BERNHARD LANGER: Well, some stories get a little bit out of
hand. One tells it to the next, the next and the fish story gets
bigger and bigger.
But I still work out. I still prepare. I don't practice as much
as I used to, honestly, when I'm home. You know, 20 years ago I
was out there every day hitting balls, chipping, putting, that
kind of thing. Now I take a couple days off, three, four days,
don't do anything in terms of golf. And I work out but don't
practice. And then I start practicing again toward the end of
the week so I'm ready for the following week.
But I think, you know, when you get to my age, you don't need to
be beating balls. I don't need to work on my swing all the time.
My swing should be getting more grooved. I should know what I
need to do and what my tendencies are. I don't need to be
beating thousands and thousands of golf balls.
I think there's something said for more quality shots and less
quantity. My goal is just to stay healthy and fit, and the rest
will come.
Q. Bernhard, can you talk about how golf has changed the
dynamic of the Langer family history? I think you talked in the
past your father was in the German Army as a teenager. You
turned pro as a teenager yourself. Here is your son as a
teenager and he has a fancier car than the car they are giving
away.
BERNHARD LANGER: It is not his car. It is mine but he is driving
it.
Q. But your golf skill has caused a big shift in where your
family is.
BERNHARD LANGER: In the fortunes, for sure, yes. I come from a
very poor background. My father was a bricklayer. He actually
grew up on a farm, and they got kicked out overnight, had to
leave with nothing, just what they could carry basically. So he
had to start from scratch all over when he was 28, 30 years old.
No inheritance whatsoever.
And he was a bricklayer and never made a whole lot of money. I
saw -- when I was a little boy, I saw both my parents work
probably 14- to 16-hour days, seven days a week. They went to
church; but the rest was work, work, work. We hardly ever went
on vacation and all that kind of stuff.
So I grew up learning to work myself and wanted to earn some
money. I started caddying when I was 8 to earn some pocket money
and turned pro when I was 15, assistant pro. Taught for three
years and then, you know, turned -- went on TOUR when I was 18.
But hard work was a normal thing in our family. It is nothing
unusual, so I grew up with that and that's maybe why I'm still
working harder than most guys out here.
But I enjoy it. I enjoy hitting balls. I enjoy working out. I
enjoy chipping and putting, and I'm very blessed to do something
that I enjoy doing. That's great. Obviously, I try not to spoil
my kids and it is hard to do when there is so much around them.
They don't -- when I tell them story of my youth, they can't
relate to it. I don't think they can because they haven't been
through it.
Q. Did your kids ever know your parents?
BERNHARD LANGER: Yeah, my mother is still alive. She is 84. My
dad died two years ago, so they knew both of them for many
years. And they are great role models. My mother still is. They
all know that, and they agree with it. Doesn't mean that they
will be exactly like her.
Q. You're not known as a boisterous kind of guy. How does the
Langer family celebrate a victory these days? Anything special?
Anything different at all?
BERNHARD LANGER: I think it's just wonderful to have them with
me and to, you know, have their support. We're all going to be
driving home, got a 3 1/2, 4-hour drive because we're here with
cars.
Q. Stop at Cracker Barrel?
BERNHARD LANGER: Hopefully, a little better than that but we
have been there many times (laughter). That's my wife's favorite
spot, to tell you the truth. We might visit one of them on the
way home.
You know, we don't drink. We don't really drink alcohol. We're
just happy; that's all.
Q. You don't really drink alcohol. What does that mean?
BERNHARD LANGER: I tell you how that works. Every once in a
while I have a glass of wine but one glass of wine, not six or
not two bottles. And we have a drink in Bavaria which is called
radler -- in German, it is radler; and in English, it is shandi.
It is half Sprite and half beer. That's what I call not a lot of
alcohol because you can actually have 10 of those and you never
feel it.
If you give me two beers right now on an empty stomach, I will
be drunk straight away. But if I have four shandis, which is the
same amount of beer with Sprite, I don't feel it.
And it is very refreshing. I have converted eight of my -- or
six of my amateur partners this week. They all started drinking
shandis with me afterwards and they liked it.
Q. You prefer Sprite to ginger ale?
BERNHARD LANGER: For that drink, yes.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Bernhard, congratulations again.
BERNHARD LANGER: Thanks a lot.
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