Bernhard Langer
My first favorite German
I can remember watching part of The Masters in 1990 or 1991 at my grandparents house. My grandmother was not a golfer, my grandfather had sworn off of it, but they liked to watch sports. I can remember my grandmother telling me that she was pulling for Bernhard Langer because his wife had grown up in my hometown. I can remember this feeling weird for a few reasons. First, was my realizing that people leave and go off to other places and you never know where they might show up. Also, realizing that it was “ok” to cheer for a German person. I mostly knew Germans from The Sound of Music and Indiana Jones so the cognitive dissonance between hearing the accent and trusting the speaker took a little time. (I am not saying it’s right, I am just saying that was where I was as a kid).
So I filed Bernhard in my brain as one of the good guys. I kept an eye on him as much as one could during those days, when the only time you saw anything about golf was during the majors, on random Sunday afternoons, or if you caught “Inside the PGA Tour” on ESPN during the day. 1
The most impactful moment that I recall from watching Bernhard’s career came up several times this week (April 2025). He was asked about his interviews after his Masters wins(‘85 and ’93), the second of which was on Easter Sunday. He recalls being asked about the significance of winning on Easter Sunday since he was a “religious person.” What I have not been able to find anywhere was what I recall2 during an interview during the ‘93 tournament. I believe it must have been after the 3rd round (Langer led by 4). He was asked what it would mean for him to win on Easter Sunday.
Langer responded in the most matter of fact, sensible, confident and credible tone, something to the effect of “Easter Sunday is always meaningful, it is about the Resurrection of Jesus, that is everything”
I wish I could find a clip of this. He repeated something similar after the tournament win and even referred to it during interviews this year. BUT I am (almost) sure that this statement was in my mind as he was going on to win in 1993.
We often hear famous athletes respond to questions in their moments of success, thanking God or their “Lord and Savior”, or saying how they were able to endure the ups-and-downs of the season because they knew that “God had a plan for this team” or how much their faith carried them. Sometimes we even hear people say that “win or lose”, they know that “God is in control”. Their references are always in the context of what is going on with them at that moment, and to be fair, those are the moments when the microphone is in their face, and those are the questions that are being asked.
But I will never forget the way that Langer answered the question about his faith. “Easter is about the Resurrection of Jesus. Nothing matters more than that, Easter is always special” (or whatever exact words that he used). It was the tone and the certainty with which he responded, and it was the way that he seemed to be drawn to the truth, as opposed to explaining how the truth applied to him. It is one thing to respond to a question like that and take the opportunity to explain yourself in light of your faith, but what seemed to happen in that moment was that Langer thought about Easter, thought about the Resurrection, and just sort of examined it, marveled at it, and considered what it meant, and invited anyone else to consider what it means as well.3
1 Peter 3:15 “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”
I always love to hear people marvel at the Gospel. At the end of the day it is about what happened and how that shapes everything else. Why is winning a golf tournament on Easter meaningful? Because of The Resurrection. Why is getting out of bed every morning meaningful? Because of the Resurrection.
During my time in college ministry, I got to know a student-athlete for whom the gospel finally “clicked”. Having been chased down and hounded by the Holy Spirit for as long as he could remember, it finally made sense to him that he needed what the Holy Spirit had been prodding him about. He would say that he became a Christian then. Soon thereafter he began getting well-intentioned encouragement from so many people locally (and from back home) who had heard about this ‘awakening’, which he was honest and humble about. They told him how happy they were for him, but also talked about “what a ‘platform’ he now had to share his faith!” He was even asked to have dinner with a family who sponsored the scholarship for a “Christian Athlete.” He called me one day and told me that he had gotten in a fight at football practice4 and that he was feeling conflicted about how he was supposed to be acting, and what the guys thought about him, and what he thought about himself.
“What am I supposed to say to these people?
What is this platform that I am supposed to have? I don’t have a platform. I just know that I was messed up and that apparently I still am, and that Jesus loves me and that I need his forgiveness, and that I want to change, that is all that I know”
Me: “THAT!”
Him: “What?”
Me: “That is what you say to these people, that is what you tell them”
I can remember around that time thinking back to Bernhard Langer at the Masters saying, “Easter is about The Resurrection of Jesus, that means everything”
What are we holding on to? What matters? Why is Easter (and every Sunday for the last 2000+ years) worth celebrating? Because after loving his disciples to the fullest in washing their feet, after instituting the Lord’s Supper with them by breaking the bread and explaining the New Covenant in his blood, after asking for the cup of God’s wrath to be taken from him, Jesus went to the Cross and received in his body what was due to us. But, Jesus did not remain in the tomb, because the accomplishment of our salvation was all bound up in his taking our punishment and then establishing victory for himself and us in Him through his resurrection. The Resurrection means everything.
Maybe I am projecting this on Bernhard Langer but it almost seemed like he was caught off guard the first time that he heard them ask about the significance of winning on Easter, like the question that they were asking about him wasn’t about him at all.
So this past week as I watched The Masters and I thought about Bernhard Langer and his wife from Louisiana, and my grandmother telling me that she was rooting for him, and how not all Germans (or Russians) were bad guys despite all of the movies from my childhood, and as I watched him make his last competitive loop around Augusta National, I thought about The Resurrection.
In interviews this week when asked how he would like to be remembered he said “as a Christian.” For what its worth, when I think about Bernhard Langer, I think about how “The Resurrection means everything5.”
Sometimes that was my favorite part of being home “sick” from school.
This could be a false memory that I have made up by conflating two interviews, but my memory is that he went on to win after I heard him say this - and we all know that they ask the same questions over and over again.
I was reminded today about a powerful moment of someone (Tim Keller) marveling at The Resurrection
This is very normal in college football and often not really even considered a bad thing within reason.
1 Corinthians 15:12-19
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.