Langer takes home four trophies at annual dinner

text size

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- World Golf Hall of Fame member Bernhard Langer was honored Thursday night at the Champions Tour's annual player awards dinner for receiving the following 2008 awards: Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Arnold Palmer Award and Byron Nelson Award. The dinner was held in conjunction with the Allianz Championship at the Broken Sound Club in Boca Raton, Fla.

Badz/PGA TOUR

Bernhard Langer won multiple awards for his stellar showing in 2008.

Related

2008 Charity of the Year
2008 Volunteer of the Year
Langer named Player of Year
Photos: POY dinner

When Jay Haas was presented with his 2008 Charles Schwab Cup Champion's award at the same event, he quipped, "Welcome to the Bernhard Langer hour." Haas' second Charles Schwab Cup -- he also won in 2006 -- was the one award out of five that Langer failed to claim in 2008.

Haas, gracious as always, could have easily said, "Welcome to the year of Bernhard Langer," after Langer's stellar 2008 season. Langer became just the third player in 29 seasons of the Champions Tour to earn Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors in the same season, joining Lee Trevino (1990) and Bruce Fleisher (1999).

The native of Germany became eligible for the Champions Tour on his 50th birthday in August 2007. After immediate Champions Tour success in 2007 -- he earned one win in his first five starts -- Langer collected three wins in 2008.

Langer won the Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach, Calif., and also captured the Ginn Championship in Palm Coast, Fla., and the Administaff Small Business Classic in Houston. He also had two runner-ups, including a second at the Senior PGA Championship, and a total of 14 top-10s in 20 starts last season. He contended for the Charles Schwab Cup race as well, finishing in third place and 96 points behind Jay Haas.

Of his multiple trophies, the Byron Nelson Award is for the Champions Tour's scoring leader, which Langer won by one one-hundredth of a point at 69.65 (to 69.66 for Haas). The Arnold Palmer Award honors the Champions Tour's leading money winner, with Langer being the only player to go over $2 million dollars for the season ($2,035,073).

It's a good thing that Langer lives close by in Boca Raton so he could cart all of his trophies home, because he was also the recipient of the Jack Nicklaus Trophy. He was given that based on a voting from the Champions Tour members for the 2008 Player of the Year.

His peers also selected him as the Rookie of the Year. Langer was eligible for that award because Tour regulations stipulate that players competing in fewer than six events after turning 50 are still considered "rookies" the following year.

Langer's 2008 exploits weren't confined to just the Champions Tour. He also won on the European Senior Tour at the inaugural Casa Serena Open and finished tied for sixth at the UBS Hong Kong Open on the European Tour in November. The two-time Masters Champion missed the cut at Augusta on the PGA TOUR last season, but finished an impressive T15 at the PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

The annual player awards dinner is traditionally held at the first full-field event of the season so players can receive their awards with an audience of their peers.

And who knows -- Langer might experience déjà vu in 2009. He picked up right where he left off in the first event of '09 and won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai for his fifth Champions Tour title in just 26 starts.