Golf legend Bernhard Langer recently played his last tournament on the DP World Tour at the BMW International Open in Munich Germany, where he played professionally for the first time.

Since his debut in 1974, the 66-year-old golfer has won 42 tournaments on the DP World Tour over five decades, second only to the late Seve Ballesteros (50).

The two-time Masters winner has played 513 tournaments on Tour. He was also a member of 10 European Ryder Cup teams and was captain of the team that won it in 2004.

He will continue to compete on the over-50 PGA Tour Champions, where he has won 46 tournaments, including 12 majors.

US Masters victories, key moments of his faith

Throughout his career, the German golfer has always been very outspoken about his faith in god since he became a Christian, just days after his first big success, when he won the US Masters in 1985.

In an interview with the German newspaper BILD, right after the BMW Open, Langer recalled that at the time around that victory, he “had an emptiness in my head like never before in my life. I had won the Masters, was world number 1 shortly afterwards, and then this emptiness”.

Shortly afterwards, he attended his first Bible study, led by Larry Moody, who was chaplain for golfers on the tour as they traveled between tournaments.

Moody spoke about a story in the gospel of, John, where Jesus Christ met a senior Jewish leader, Nicodemus, and told him to ‘born again’, and Langer “felt like I had been taken by the hand. It was an instruction for life”.

The German golfer told BILD that his first major was important, but his second in 1993 was “even more decisive”, because “it was on Easter Sunday, and anyone who is a Christian knows that Christ has risen. I was very grateful”.

A change of perspective

In other interviews Langer has already said that his Christian faith changed his perspective, making him realise that this life is fleeting compared to eternity.

He also stressed that golf remained important and his faith did not diminish his competitive spirit, but the most important things in his life now are his relationship with God, with other believers and with his family, because those relationships will last forever.