Langer on amazing roll

MINNEAPOLIS — It might not be the most perfect golf swing on the Champions Tour, but whatever Bernhard Langer and longtime coach Willie Hoffman figured out during a phone call two weeks ago should be bottled and sold at a premium price.

Dissatisfied with some of his shots — “double-crossers,” he called them — during practice rounds at Carnoustie for the Senior British Open in Scotland three weeks ago, Langer dialed up Hoffman, a fellow German, to talk shop. They discussed a few things, Langer tried some changes on the range and — abracadabra! The rest is history.

Langer went on to win the Senior British by a shot over Corey Pavin. A week later, he won the U.S. Senior Open at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash., by three shots over hometown hero Fred Couples.

“Sometimes, you just find the right thing for the right time and it works,” Langer said. “Once you feel that it’s right, you can trust it.”

Lately, it’s been right. Six of Langer’s last eight rounds have been in the 60s, including all four at Sahalee — a notoriously narrow course referred to by some as “Sahallway.”

“You needed to play some smart golf at those two courses and he does that exceptionally well,” ESPN golf analyst Andy North said. “He just didn’t make many mistakes, and it wound up working out really well for him.”

Langer’s back-to-back major victories are the first on the Champions Tour since Tom Watson claimed the 2003 Senior British Open and JELD-WEN Tradition. Langer, who has won four times this season, has vaulted into the top spot on the Schwab Cup season-long points standings and the money list. He is aiming to become the first player on the Champions Tour to win three consecutive Player of the Year honors and money titles.

“Ideally, you want to get them both,” Langer said. “But it’s not easily done.”

“He probably doesn’t feel like he has any weaknesses in his game right now,” said Nick Price, No. 4 in the Schwab Cup race. “Golf, like any sport, is about momentum. And he’s got it at the moment. I see no reason why he won’t compete again this week.

“He’s the man we’ll all be putting our sights on and aiming at.”

With Langer being a two-time Masters champion and former Ryder Cup player (10 times) and captain, the Champions Tour would like it no other way. Originally established in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, it thrived early on with players such as Arnold Palmer, Miller Barber, Don January and Lee Trevino.

Langer’s dominance — he has won 12 times since joining the tour in 2007 — is reminiscent of Hale Irwin’s hold on the tour from 1996 to 2002, when he finished in the top three on the money list seven consecutive years.

“Bernhard’s such a gentleman, just a true great man for our game (and) the talent he has is scary,” said Champions Tour tournament director Brian Claar, 51. “He’s one of the guys out here now my group of friends remembers. Household names everybody knows. And they’re still competitive, still want to win.”

Mark Calcavecchia, who walked the first two rounds at Sahalee with Langer, called Langer “the guy to beat.”

Langer’s son, Stefan, who often caddies for him, said course management has been among the secrets to his dad’s success. “His yardage book, I don’t even understand some of it,” Stefan Langer said. “Just crazy.”

Nothing lasts forever, though. “I won’t be able to play at this level for the next 12 months,” Bernhard said.

But how about in two months, when the Ryder Cup is contested in Wales and European captain Colin Montgomerie is looking for a steady pro to fill one of his three at-large spots?

“He has my number,” Langer said with a slight grin. “But I don’t expect a call.”