Langer steady as his putter goes

AUGUSTA, Ga. >> When Bernhard Langer landed on the Big Island in late January he had so many putters with him, he needed a separate golf bag just to carry them around.

The top player on the Champions Tour brought eight on the trip not knowing for sure if he would stick with the long putter or go back to the conventional blade after the USGA rule that you could no longer anchor the flat stick went into effect.

The 2015 Schwab Cup champion did not win the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hualalai, missing too many putts along the way to remain in contention. After the Sunday round near voggy Kailua-Kona he said it was too early to tell what method he would choose, that he might even use the Matt Kuchar style that Langer said he invented and won his second Masters with back in 1993.

“Is it still a work in progress?,” a local reporter asked him at the time.

“I would think so,” Langer said, not knowing less than three months later that he would be tied for second, just one shot behind Jordan Spieth at the 2016 Masters after he walked off the 17th green during Saturday’s third round.

The stoic German needed a 7-footer to roll in at the 18th for bogey to shoot 70 in conditions better suited for para-sailing than golf. As he headed to Butler Cabin to sign his scorecard, his 2-under 70 effort was one shot shy of the best round of the day by Smylie Kaufman (69), who wasn’t even 2 years old when Langer won the Masters for the second time back in the day.

Can he do it a third time?

“I believe I can,” Langer said without hesitation. He had six birdies, including all four of the par 5s.”Obviously, it depends on how the others do. If I play my best, I can shoot 4 or 5 under, I think, if the conditions are a little bit better. But so can Jordan Spieth or any of the others on the leaderboard.”

When he tees off today, the 58-year-old will be tied for third at 1-under 215, only two shots off the pace of Spieth, who set a Masters record for having the lead here for seven consecutive rounds, breaking a mark he shared with Arnold Palmer.

It’s a story so unreal for Langer that it’s just gotta be true as he and Hideki Matsuyama will be in the next-to-last pairing of Spieth and Kaufman. After playing the third round with top-ranked player in the world Jason Day, Langer won’t be intimidated by the circumstances. Day can attest to that.

“He got the better of me, too,” said Day, who shot a 71 and begins today’s final round three shots back and tied for fifth with Dustin Johnson and Danny Willett. “I just said it’s impressive, really, really impressive to watch what Bernhard did out there today.

“Just the positions he was in compared to where I was. I mean, I can just think about 10. I had 120 yards to the pin and I’m not sure what he had. But he was at least 60 to 80 yards behind me. And he just kept going along, knowing his strengths and weaknesses.

“I had fun playing with him. I could tell how great a competitor he is. He’s a true professional in that regard. And I know he wants to compete and try to win this thing. But we’re all trying to do the same.”

Langer was as relaxed in the media room as he was on the course. Coming up 18, he received a standing ovation from the appreciative crowd, producing some emotions Langer barely could keep under control.

“It gave me goosebumps,” said Langer, who believes it’s just a matter of time before a golfer 50 years or older will win a major. “It’s just a wonderful atmosphere out there, and when the people acknowledge what you’ve just done, it’s pretty neat.”

As for the putter, well, Langer will stick with the same method he employed on the Big Island. It has worked well so far this week.

“I’ve tried all sorts of putters, different lengths, different grips,” Langer said. “I probably have 20 new putters, 25, 30 new putters at home the last three months with different grips. I tried this way, I tried that way, regular, cross-handed, and some of them work pretty decent.

“But at the same time, at this moment in time, I’m still the most comfortable by just not anchoring because I’ve done this for 18, 19 years now. Put so many hours into it, it’s difficult to change something that quick.”