Langer was runner-up at The Open twice and third on three occasions in a career that promised more major success.
That he was unable to add a major other than his two at Augusta only intensifies his link to this fabled corner of Georgia.
In 40 appearances, he has made the cut 27 times and finished inside the top 10 nine times.
“It’s been an incredible journey, for a young man born in a village of 800 people [in Bavaria, southern Germany], where golf was nothing, to make it here,” he said.
“To get an invitation to play the Masters when it was extremely difficult for European or international players to get one, and then to win the Masters on the third go was just a dream come true.”
He was just the third non-American winner, following in the footsteps of South Africa’s three-time champion Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros of Spain, who won twice.
His win cemented belief among Europeans that success could be achieved at Augusta.
Ballesteros paved the way with his victories in 1980 and 1983, before Langer won his first two years later.
Then Scotland’s Sandy Lyle, England’s Nick Faldo (twice) Wales’ Ian Woosnam, Langer again and Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal collected six of seven titles from 1988.
Langer’s debut was in 1982, two years after Ballesteros had broken the glass ceiling.
The German’s initial experience was hardly noteworthy. He shot 77 and 78 to miss the halfway cut by one stroke after three-putting 11 times in 36 holes on unfamiliar greens that were too slick for a naive 24-year-old.
“Coming here the first time, driving down Magnolia Lane, seeing this place for the first time was an eye-opener,” he said.
“I had never seen a golf course manicured like this or a tournament run as efficiently as this has been.”
