Bernhard Langer remembers his saviour Seve Ballesteros as the Open Championship concludes
While Darren Clarke and most of the European entourage celebrated another feather in the European cap at the Open Championship last week at the Royal St. George’s, the legendary German golfer, Bernhard Langer brought back soggy memories of the late Seve
Ballesteros.
Langer recalled the intimate moments the duo shared some 31 years ago at Sunningdale, when Ballesteros, the reigning Open Champion at that time, walked all the way to him and gave him, what Langer regards, as the most invaluable advice he ever received in
his life.
“Seve gave me a great putting tip before a tournament at Sunningdale (on the outskirts of London) and I remember it vividly,” said the 53-year-old Langer, who is regarded as the most successful German golfer of all times and has won the Masters twice in
his stellar career.
Langer recalled of how he was engulfed in a terrible run of bad putting when Ballesteros eventually decided to walk all the way to him and took his putter, trying to get to the bottom of the problem. He weighed and swung the putter a couple of times and
handed it back to Langer, before walking away saying, ‘Terrible, terrible’.
Langer, who apparently could not understand what was so terribly wrong with his putter, asked Ballesteros to at least tell him what was wrong with it.
“I said, ‘Hang on a minute, why is it terrible?’. Seve had already won the Open in 1979, I hadn't done a whole lot at that point, so I wanted him to explain what was wrong with the putter. ‘It's too light and doesn't have enough loft’. So I contemplated
what Seve said and I thought he might be right.”
Langer then went over to the equipment shop and bought a new putter for him and went over to finish third in the event. He posted a runner-up finish in his second European Tour appearance and won his maiden title on the tour at the Dunlop Masters at Chepstow
in Wales. The 53-year-old Langer considers it as one of the greatest tips he ever got from any of the golfers, one which helped him soar to new heights in his career.
Ballesteros died a few months ago fighting a long raging battle against brain tumour and is one of the most revered and celebrated European golfers of recent times. His contribution for European golf has been hailed by many of his compatriots and he is considered
as the one who brought the sport to continental Europe.
Langer has won a staggering 84 professional events in his professional career, most of them coming on the European Tour. He admitted that in his earlier days, golf was more of an indulgence for the rich and it was considered an expensive affair for the sportsmen.
He lamented the lack of facilities and proper coaching in those times which caused him to suffer in his earlier days and was only able to survive owing much to the tips of the great golfers including Ballesteros.
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