Bernhard Langer said farewell to the DP World Tour Friday at the BMW International Open.
He missed the cut after he carded a 71-73 to finish at even par. Golfclub Munchen Eichenried in Munich, Germany, is a track about 45 minutes from where the 66-year-old grew up.
Langer is a two-time Masters champion, won 42 times on the formerly known European Tour and has 46 wins on the Champions Tour. After 52 years, he had one more first to experience — saying goodbye to golf, at least to the DP World Tour.
Things got emotional for him on Friday. He had to fight back tears throughout the 18th hole and while he spoke with the media after his round.
“It’s hard to put into words,” Langer said after his round. “It’s been a dream come true for me, growing up in a village of 800 people where nobody knew what golf was.”
“People had no idea, it was a strange situation. Even when I finished school and I tried to become a golf professional people didn’t even know what that was, it didn’t even exist as a profession in a way. It was very difficult and complicated, but it was my dream. I was able to live that dream for 50 years.”
Langer continued to put into words what his career and the DP World Tour mean to him.
“I have wonderful memories from all over the world, not just in Europe but Asia, Australia, Japan, America, South Africa. I was able to travel the world and meet with kings and queens,” he said. “I played golf with all sorts of people, whether they were successful businessmen or just the average butcher or bricklayer or whatever, it was fun, it was great.”
Once Langer finished, he took off his visor and received quite the cheer from the German faithful. The golf legend hugged Marcel Siem and Martin Kaymer, two fellow Germans, as they followed him.
He gave the crowd a thumbs-up, blew a kiss, and embraced his family and friends. Then he signed his scorecard.
It is a miracle to see him on the golf course after Langer tore his Achilles heel in February. He missed the Masters Tournament in March but returned in three months to play on the 50-and-over tour. The German golfer made his return at the Insperity Invitational at the end of April.
He also attempted to defend his U.S. Senior Open title at Newport Country Club in June. Langer finished T42 at 2-over.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
Fifty years after his European Tour debut, Bernhard Langer will make his final DP World Tour start this week at the BMW International Open in Munich, Germany.
It will mark his 513th start on the European circuit—the tour where he amassed 42 career titles, second only to the late, great Seve Ballesteros.
“I’ve never said goodbye to anything so far in terms of golf; this is going to be a first experience [for me],” Langer told DP World Tour media officials.
“I have a feeling it’s going to be very emotional.”
The two-time Masters champion grew up 45 minutes from Golfclub München Eichenried, the host course of this week’s tournament. His connections to this area run deeper than that, though. Langer worked as an assistant professional at nearby Munich Golf Club, which helped give him his start.
Langer then went on to win 123 times around the world.
He is a Ryder Cup legend, too, having played on Team Europe 10 times, winning six. Langer also captained the Europeans to a dominant victory at the 2004 Ryder Cup, winning 18.5-to-9.5 on American soil—one of the more impressive wins in Ryder Cup history.
He is, without a doubt, Germany’s most accomplished golfer.
So, in an ode to German golf, the DP World Tour paired Langer with fellow countryman Marcel Siem, who won last week’s Italian Open, and Martin Kaymer, who, like Langer, won a pair of major championships. Kaymer won the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits and the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
“It means a great deal just to play in front of the home crowd,” Langer added.
“Hopefully, I can make the cut, but I hear the golf course is a lot longer than it used to be, and that’s a challenge for me.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
Englishman Justin Rose will head back to The Open Championship at Royal Troon after carding an 8-under 134 at Burnham and Berrow—one of the four qualifying sites scattered across the British Isles.
It will mark Rose’s 19th appearance in golf’s oldest major, with his best finish coming in 2018, when he tied for second at Carnoustie. The 2013 U.S. Open winner also played at Royal Troon in 2016, tying for 22nd.
“Sometimes you take it for granted—you’re exempt, you turn up and play for many years, but as you get older, things get a little harder, so in some ways, it’s good to have to qualify because it makes you appreciate The Open a little more and how special it is,” Rose said after.
“Coming back to Burnham and Berrow was also special—first time back here since 1997. I was grateful to be back here and walk down memory lane.”
Rose played spectacularly, tying fellow Englishman Dominic Clemmons—an amateur—atop the leaderboard. Mexican Abraham Ancer and Swede Charlie Lindh will join these two players in The Open from Southwest England.
The four players who qualified from Burnham and Berrow, from left to right: Dominic Clemons, Abraham Ancer, Charlie Lindh, and Justin Rose.Photo by Luke Walker/R&A via Getty Images
Ancer, Lindh, and Indian Anirban Lahiri finished at 5-under, putting this trio in a 3-for-2 playoff to determine who would go to Royal Troon. But Lahiri failed to make par on the first extra hole, while the other two managed to do so, thus ending Lahiri’s bid of returning to The Open.
Miracles at Dundonald Links
Amateur Jack MacDonald, who grew up minutes from Royal Troon, drained a 25-footer for birdie on the first playoff hole to clinch a spot in the 152nd Open field. He defeated Swede Tim Widing, who has a pair of wins on the Korn Ferry Tour this season, and fellow Scotsman Daniel Young.
But that was not the only magic produced at Dundonald on Tuesday.
Ángel Hidalgo, who hails from Spain and has never played in a major championship, drained a 120-yard wedge shot for an eagle two on the par-4 9th—his final hole of the day—to leap up to 5-under overall and book a ticket to Troon. Talk about clutch.
At 26 years old, Hidalgo has never won on the DP World Tour, but he does have one victory to his name on the Challenge Tour—the European equivalent of the Korn Ferry Tour.
“I’m still shaking,” Hidalgo said of his miraculous shot.
Ángel Hidalgo reacts to his miraculous final shot that got him into the 152nd Open.Photo by Mark Runnacles/R&A via Getty Images
“The second shot was perfect distance. It was the first time all day I had a full club and at that type of moment. With nerves I prefer to have a full club. I didn’t see the ball go in but to be honest I don’t care. I just jumped and cried with my caddie, and we deserve it. We fight a lot. All this year we’ve not really had any luck so for it to finally take place in The Open would be a really good gift.”
Meanwhile, Englishman Sam Hutsby did not need any late miracles. He earned medalist honors at Dundonald thanks to a brilliant 8-under 136 over 36 holes. Hutsby finished three clear of Hidalgo and Irish amateur Liam Nolan, who hails from Galway on Ireland’s west coast. It will mark Hutsby and Nolan’s first major appearance.
“It’s hard to process the fact that I’m going to The Open,” Nolan said.
“I’m looking forward to everything: the crowds, it being in Scotland, the Home of Golf, and, yeah, I just can’t wait to go.”
Playoff at Royal Cinque Ports
Matthew Southgate set the pace and won medalist honors in Southeast England, fighting back tears after he made it to Royal Troon. But Royal Cinque Ports saw plenty of other drama unfold on Tuesday.
Australian Elvis Smylie and Spanish amateur Jaime Montojo finished at 3-under par, thus booking tickets to Ayrshire. But this serves as a full-circle moment for Smylie, the left-hander from the Gold Coast.
“Just saying that I’ve qualified for The Open gives me goosebumps,” Smylie said.
Elvis Smylie poses with an Open flag after making it to Royal Troon.Photo by Tom Dulat/R&A via Getty Images
“The last time I went to The Open was at Royal Troon in 2016, when I was 14 years old. Going there as a spectator eight years ago and now going back as a competitor—I don’t know what to say. I just can’t wait for the experience. I’ve already FaceTimed my dad, who’s back in Australia, and he said he will book a flight over. My mum is already over here commentating on Wimbledon, so everyone will come and watch me at Troon. I’m very excited.”
Both Smylie and Montojo will make their major debuts at Royal Troon.
A playoff between LIV Golf’s Branden Grace—the first man to shoot a 62 in a major championship—Jamie Rutherford and Spanish amateur Luis Masaveu determined the final spot from Royal Cinque Ports.
Masaveu won with a birdie on the second extra hole, becoming the 16th amateur to clinch a spot in this year’s Open field.
Nevertheless, a notable name did not qualify from Royal Cinque Ports: 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell. Thomas Detry also failed to finish among the top four.
West Lanchasire sends three Englishmen to Royal Troon
Sergio Garcia headlined the field at West Lancashire, and for the second year in a row, the 2017 Masters champion came up short. He will not make his 100th major championship start; he will do so at Augusta National next April instead.
So, with Garcia not making the cut, West Lanchasire saw two Englishmen finish atop the leaderboard instead: Sam Horsfield of LIV Golf and amateur Matthew Dodd-Berry.
Horsfield and Dodd-Berry finished at 6-under par.
“It’s the greatest moment of my career and everything that I’ve been working towards, even though I should have probably done it a year earlier and played at Royal Liverpool,” Dodd-Berry said.
From left to right: Sam Horsfield, Matthew Dodd-Berry, Daniel Brown, and Masahiro Kawamura pose during Final Qualifying for The Open at West Lancashire.Photo by Jan Kruger/R&A via Getty Images
“I’m really excited to get to Troon.”
Horsfield is also eager to head to Ayrshire for the 152nd Open.
“I always say to everyone that The Open is my favorite major,” Horsfield said.
“I’d never had that feeling before, the one when they call your name on the first tee—that was the coolest experience. I’m really looking forward to getting back and hopefully continuing to play well. These are the stages you want to play on.”
Englishman Daniel Brown and Japan’s Misahiro Kawamura finished their 36 holes one stroke behind Horsfield and Dodd-Berry at 5-under, thus rounding out the four spots awarded at West Lancashire.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
Englishman Matthew Southgate has been connected to the Open Championship for decades.
So it is no surprise that he displayed such emotion after qualifying for this year’s Open at Royal Troon, which will mark his sixth appearance in golf’s oldest major. Southgate carded a 6-under 136 over 36 holes at Royal Cinque Ports to take home medalist honors by three shots at the Southeast England qualifier.
“Sorry,” Southgate said, fighting back tears.
“Just reminds me of my Dad. The Open is the absolute best.”
His father, Ian, who sadly passed away in late 2020, loved The Open almost as much as his son. He grew fond of Tom Watson in the 1970s when the American began to dominate links-style golf in earnest. The elder Southgate also held a membership at Carnoustie, where Watson won his first Open in 1975. Ian Southgate knew everyone at the course and had for years, which explains why 10-year-old Matthew watched Jean van de Vedle’s infamous 1999 collapse play out from one of the most renowned places in golf.
“The marshalls called me and my friends over to sit on the Barry Burn bridge,” Southgate told the Global Golf Post at last year’s Open at Royal Liverpool.
“My legs were dangling over the water as I watched everything happen.”
Jean van de Velde stands in the Barry Burn in 1999.Getty Images
His Open championship memories as a youngster do not end there.
A decade later, when Watson held the 54-hole lead at The Open, the Southgate father-son duo got in their car on Saturday night and drove up to Turnberry. They could not miss the chance to see their favorite player make history.
Alas, Watson fell just short of Stewart Cink in a playoff. But Southgate has gone on to make plenty of Open memories since then.
He first qualified for The Open in 2014 at Royal Liverpool, where he missed the cut. But two years later, he tied for 12th at Royal Troon. Then he tied for sixth at Royal Birkdale, which saw Jordan Spieth win the Claret Jug. He earned an invite back to The Open in 2018—held at Carnoustie—but tied for 67th. At least he made the cut.
But that would be the last Open his father would see him play.
Matthew Southgate during 2024 Final Qualifying for The OpenPhoto by Tom Dulat/R&A via Getty Images
Southgate did not qualify for The Open at Royal Portrush in 2019, and then, one year later, the R&A canceled their marquee event because of the pandemic. Southgate also missed out on 2021 and 2022, but he joined the Open radio commentary team for the 150th Open, lending his perspective about what played out at the Old Course.
Funny enough, this year, after qualifying, he joked about his broadcasting experience.
“That’s why I tried so hard over the last five holes; I didn’t want to work it again,” Southgate said, which drew plenty of laughs on The Open radio broadcast.
It’s tears for an emotional Matthew Southgate. This is how much The Open means to him.
Listen to the heartfelt moment as Southgate expresses his passion and determination in his journey.
“No, I can’t wait to see everybody. Troon is a magical golf course.”
Southgate also qualified for The Open last year at Royal Liverpool and played well. He tied for 23rd.
But the Englishman has not been at his best throughout 2024. His best finish came at the ISPS Handa Championship in Japan in April, when he tied for 18th. He has not made a cut on the DP World Tour since then.
“I have had such a tough time the last couple of months, but I played really well today,” Southgate said.
“It has been disaster after disaster, so to finally get something to go right just means everything.”
Now, he will play in The Open at Royal Troon for the second time, the course where Watson won his fourth Claret Jug in 1982. So, perhaps Southgate—like Todd Hamilton and Ben Curtis earlier this Millenium—can continue to play as well as he did in qualifying, shock the world, and win The Open as an ultimate longshot.
Regardless of what happens, his father will smile down upon him with great pride, knowing that his son has already accomplished so much.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
Before some of the world’s best professional golfers converge upon the Home of Golf in Scotland, the PGA Tour heads to the Quad Cities for the John Deere Classic, and the DP World Tour will stage the BMW International Open in Munich, Germany.
LIV Golf’s Patrick Reed, currently the 101st-ranked player in the world, highlights this week’s field in Bavaria. Reed is eligible to play in DP World Tour events, unlike other LIV Golf players, because he has no outstanding fines or sanctions. The same applies to Thomas Pieters, who narrowly missed out on winning the Soudal Open in his native Belgium in May. Pieters finished one stroke behind 37-year-old Nacho Elvira of Spain.
Reed came up short last week, too. He hoped he could contend at the Italian Open, which awarded two spots into this year’s Open Championship field via the Open Qualifying Series, but he came up short. Tom McKibbin, who lost to Marcel Siem in a playoff, and American Sean Crocker earned those two invites to Royal Troon instead.
The 2018 Masters Champion is not currently listed among the entrants for next week’s Genesis Scottish Open, the final event of the Open Qualifying Series. That could change, however, should Reed win this week in Germany.
The R&A will invite the top three finishers—not otherwise exempt—to join The Open Championship at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick next week.
Other notable players in the BMW International Open field include Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, who left LIV Golf at the end of 2023, former U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer, and Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald. PGA Tour Champions stars Bernhard Langer, Thomas Bjørn, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and Alex Cejka will also compete this week, fresh off the U.S. Senior Open at Newport Country Club, where LIV Golf’s Richard Bland won his second consecutive senior major.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
The DP World Tour has officially awarded Marcel Siem as the ‘Comeback King,’ and rightfully so. The 43-year-old Siem underwent hip surgery in February, roughly one year after winning the Hero Indian Open, which marked his first title since 2014.
He subsequently missed three months, returning to the Soudal Open in late May, where he missed the cut. Siem said he felt old that week because of his hip, a far cry from the emotions he felt on the 18th green on Sunday. The German defeated Tom McKibbin of Northern Ireland in a sudden-death playoff, making an 8-footer for birdie on 18 to clinch his sixth career victory on the DP World Tour.
“Holing that putt on 18 was one the coolest moments in golf for me, and doing it again in a playoff was fantastic,” Siem said.
“I love this sport, and these moments, I work really hard for them. When you get rewarded like this, it’s a very special moment. I think it’s the second-oldest trophy in mainland Europe. So I’ve got the French Open and this one now. I’m so proud of that. My journey is just beginning, it feels like.”
Siem looked in control of the tournament after birdieing the par-3 8th, as he went on to card a 3-under 32 on the front to make the turn at 13-under overall.
But the train veered off the tracks for Siem on his second nine. He bogeyed the par-4 11th, thanks to a terrible lie he faced to the right of the green. He then went on to bogey the 14th, 16th, and 17th holes, dropping him to 9-under-par for the championship and in a dire situation.
While Siem faltered down the stretch, McKibbin, who carded a 6-under 65 earlier in the day, waited in the clubhouse at 10-under-par. The 21-year-old from Belfast looked unflappable on Sunday, making six birdies to zero bogies. He posted the lowest round of the day at the Adriatic Golf Club Cervia—located on the Italian coast about 100 miles south of Venice. He waited three hours to see if he would make a playoff, but it was almost good enough for the victory.
Marcel Siem celebrates his Italian Open victory.Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images
Meanwhile, Siem, who has a penchant for bouncing back, did just that on the 72nd hole. He holed a 22-footer for birdie to match McKibbin and force a playoff, which he wound up winning.
Now, the German has two goals in his career: to play in the Ryder Cup and make it to the Masters. He has never played at Augusta National before. But if he can secure another victory this year on the DP World Tour and shoot up the season-long rankings, perhaps he will earn his PGA Tour card in December through the top 10 eligibility rankings.
Beginning last year, the top 10 players—not otherwise exempt—in the final DP World Tour standings received invitations to join the PGA Tour. Matthieu Pavon took full advantage of this opportunity—the Frenchman earned his PGA Tour card in December and then won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in January, which booked his ticket to Augusta.
Maybe Siem can follow a similar blueprint, but he still has some work to do. His win propelled him 95 places in the Race to Dubai standings, yet he sits in 31st.
Nevertheless, he had already qualified for the Open Championship at Royal Troon, so perhaps the ‘Comeback King’ can make some noise there.
The same mantra applies to McKibbin, who, as a consolation prize, earned a trip to Royal Troon via the Open Qualifying Series. The R&A invited the top two finishers from the Italian Open—not otherwise exempt—to join the field of 156 in Scotland in three weeks. Sean Cocker of the United States received the other invite.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
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