Colin Montgomerie hails Bernhard Langer as golf's 'most professional professional'

Even allowing for German efficiency, Bernhard Langer is as close as you’ll get to a golfing superman. He’s just won again on the Champions Tour, with victory No 43 coming at the age of 64 years, 5 months and 23 days.

“He’s a phenomenal individual,” declared Colin Montgomerie of the man he first partnered in the Ryder Cup before playing under his winning captaincy at Oakland Hills, where the iconic clubhouse was ravaged by a fire last week, in 2004.

Langer’s latest success on the over-50s circuit came in the Chubb Classic at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, where he shot his age in the opening round then added a pair of 68s to win by three shots.

He’s now triumphed in 16 straight seasons on the Champions Tour and, having already become the oldest winner on the circuit last October, he’s now just two behind Hale Irwin for overall victories.

Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer during the 2015 US Senior Open at the Del Paso Country Club in Sacramento. Picture: Harry How/Getty Images.

“We talked about the ‘Big Five’ at the time in [Sandy] Lyle, Seve [Ballesteros], [Nick] Faldo, [Ian] Woosnam and Langer and he’s the only to have continued in that vein,” added Montgomerie.

“I am a believer in the following: can you improve over 40?A little bit possibly if you are lucky. Can you improve over 50? Probably not. Sustain, yes, but improve, no. He’s 64 and he still feels that he’s improving and learning.

“And I think that’s key for a lot of the young guys that come out here. After every round of golf, he’s learning something new about himself, about his caddie, about course conditions, about course management skills, about clubs, about the ball or whatever.

“He’s taken that with him and he’s learnt from that. He’s learnt from those, I hate to say, errors and he’s turned them into a positive note.

“And that’s why, when you talk about professionalism, my god, he’s the most professional professional that we’ve ever known.”

Both Langer, a four-time winner, and Montgomerie will be in the field for The Senior Open presented by Rolex when the R&A senior major is held at Gleneagles for the first time in July.

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