Planet Golf — 18 August 2021 by GW staff and news services
Langer, Els talk about Boeing chances

With the Boeing Classic returning this week for the first time in two years, two of the Champions Tour headliners, Bernhard Langer and Ernie Els, talk about their games, life on Tour and the Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Course.

BERNHARD LANGER

Q. Obviously you’ve had good success here, had success at a lot of places, but what
about this course do you like?

BERNHARD LANGER: I like everything about it. It’s got a lot of undulation. You can play
aggressive at some holes and sometimes you’ve got to play smart, take your chances when
you can. When I was a little longer, those par 5s were a little bit easier, but right now the
fairways are soft, the greens are firm, which is good for the guys that hit it far off the tee and
hit it high with a lot of spin coming into the green.
Q. Did you believe at 50 years old you could be this good at almost 64?
BERNHARD LANGER: No, I didn’t. I couldn’t dream of any of this really. Where I grew up
in Germany, golf was nothing and I was just trying to scrape a living at the beginning and
here I am literally 45 years later when I started the Tour and I’m still competitive and still
enjoying the game. This is more than a dream come true.
Q. At age 50 did you have any expectations on how you’d do on this tour?
BERNHARD LANGER: Yeah, I had some expectations. I had a very good, probably better
than average career on the PGA TOUR, European Tour, played the Ryder Cups and all that
kind of stuff, was successful for many, many years. So I had expectations coming out here,
but I think I exceeded my expectations, let’s put it that way.
Q. You weren’t thinking in your mid 60s you would still be in the Schwab Cup
standings?

BERNHARD LANGER: Well, I was hoping, but you never know about this game. Things
can happen in a heartbeat, you get hurt or something happens and you’re done, or you’re
just not who you used to be.
Q. So when the next one happens, you’ve had so many chances, will that one mean
more to you being the oldest guy to win out here? Will that one be even more special?

BERNHARD LANGER: It would be special because it’s not easy; otherwise, many would
have done it. But it’s hard to do when you’re in your 60s, to win period, and the statistics
show it, too, because you have all these young guys coming up like Ernie Els and Retief
Goosen and many others that hit it 30, 40, 50 yards further than I do and I have to make that
up somehow to show up on the leaderboard. That’s not easy, but it’s a challenge and I enjoy
challenges.

Q. Obviously you’ve got to hitting your irons pretty well, right?
BERNHARD LANGER: You’ve got to do everything well.
Q. Pretty good group of people out here in the last year and a half, Furyk and Els.
How much different does that make it for you to stay atop the leaderboard?

BERNHARD LANGER: It makes it a lot harder because we didn’t just have the guys we
talked about, we had Mike Weir, Alex Cejka, who immediately won two majors, and
Mickelson came out and won a couple. So these young guys that had a great career or very
good career on the PGA TOUR, they come out here and they win a few, which means
somebody else is not going to win. I’m not going to get younger, so things are getting
definitely harder every year.
I keep saying this may be the hardest tour to get onto because we only have 78 players
week by week. That’s about half of the players they have on any other younger tour and it’s
the only really big tour for seniors worldwide. So everybody’s here from Taiwan, from
Europe, Australia, wherever, South Africa. They all want to play on the PGA TOUR
Champions. Well, for the younger guys, they have the PGA Tour, they have the European
Tour, they have the Asian Tour, the Japanese Tour, so it’s very tough to get even a start on
this tour. That means if it’s hard here, it’s going to be really hard up on top as well.
Q. You’ve had so many top-10s since your last win. Is it frustrating not to win or are
you just happy to be in contention every week?

BERNHARD LANGER: Well, it’s frustrating not to win when you’re used to winning, which
I’ve been spoiled, I guess, I’ve won my share. You’d like to continue that winning feeling and,
like I said, it gets harder and harder every year, no doubt about it. I’m aware of it. I have to
play close to flawless golf if I want to lift the trophy at the end of the week.
Q. Any idea how much longer you’ll play?
BERNHARD LANGER: No idea. As long as I’m healthy and enjoying the game, you’ll see
me out here.

ERNIE ELS

Q. So you’re out here, you’re later than planned. I know you came out here for the
skins game. How is it to be out here and playing this time?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, the last couple years coming as a Boeing ambassador, I played the
pro-am I think twice and then we played that skins game a couple years ago, Freddie and
Bernhard and Retief. So I know the course, but I’ve never actually came here to officially
play until now. I’m officially now at the right age to play. Loving it.
Q. How much are you enjoying this tour compared to the PGA TOUR?
ERNIE ELS: I really enjoy it here obviously. We’re playing a lot of courses that are a little bit
different, the courses that we kind of played back in my day, my prime on the PGA TOUR.
With length now on the regular tour, you know, golf courses are a little bit different. It’s nice
to go back to things that I remember and playing with the guys that I’ve always competed
against for so many years. I really feel comfortable and I really like it out here.
Q. Have you met your expectations on what you thought you’d do out here?
ERNIE ELS: You know what, this year I haven’t played really to my own expectation, to be
honest with you, so I’m looking forward to having a nice kind of end-of-the-year stretch here.
You’ve got 10 or 11 events left, so I’d love to really get into the mix. I have had a lot of
top-10s this year, but I haven’t had a win yet, so I’m looking forward to getting into contention
and competing properly.
Q. Do you see Phil (indiscernible) 50th PGA. Does that mean you can do another
British Open?

ERNIE ELS: Absolutely. I mean, Phil, he’s really changed the game for us guys at 50 and
so forth. We get the right conditions, right golf courses, if you’re on your game, I think you’ve
got a chance against any field. Phil’s really proven that. I love links golf. I didn’t have a great
British Open, but I feel on those type of courses I can still compete against those guys.
Q. How’s this course set up for your game?
ERNIE ELS: It’s a great layout, lot of elevation change, the greens are running really
smooth. You can take on the par 5s. Par 3s are very strong on the golf course, and there’s a
lot of left-to-rights and right-to-lefts so you’ve got to shape the ball a little bit, so I really like
that type of golf.

Q. Were you expecting that Bernhard would still be one of the top players when he
got out here?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, to be honest with you, yes. I’ve seen him play and I expected him
obviously to still keep going, but at 62, 63, whatever he is now, he’s just amazing, amazing,
one of the best ever Champions Tour players I think the Tour’s ever seen. Obviously there’s
been Hale Irwin and Gary Player, Lee Trevino, those type players, but his record can stand
the test of time against anybody. To compete against him, you know, he’s one of my idols
from early on, so it’s great to play with him.
Q. Do you have those kind of aspirations, to play this long and keep your game at
that level for that many years?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I mean, why not? I think if you keep yourself in good shape, you have a
hunger for the game, a love for the game, why not? You can go whenever. We’ve always
said golf is a game for life. You start playing at 4 or 5, whenever you started playing, I’m 51
now, I still enjoy playing and I love competing. Why not? When you still like it, go as long as
you can. Bernhard’s proving that, a lot of players are proving that. I’ll keep going.

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