Bernhard Langer Becomes Oldest Player to Make Cut at Masters

DISTANCE? Bringing Augusta National to its knees by hitting 340-yard drives, wedges to three feet and holing birdie putts for fun? Hmmm...try telling it to Bernhard Langer, who began the 84th Masters with a round of 68.

The two-time champion (making his 37th appearance) followed up that exceptional score with a second round of 73 to comfortably make the halfway cut - becoming the oldest player to do so in the history of the Masters Tournament.

The German is 63 years old and is the shortest hitter in the field, with the possible exception of Larry Mize, the 1987 champion, who is 62. Oh, and by the way, did we mention that Mize recorded a first round of 70? And this on a monster of a golf course with little or no run due to the huge amount of rain that fell on it on Thursday morning.

Langer had six birdies and proved once again that when it comes to scoring well at Augusta National there is absolutely no substitute for experience. Mize averaged 247 yards from the tee.

Yes, the usual suspects emerged. And yes, the big hitters such as Dustin Johnson found the course to their liking. But both Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy (and many others besides) also discovered that if you dump a 320-yard drive in the trees, you are going to be playing catch-up with Langer and Mize and their 250-yard tee shots in the middle of the fairway.

This is a golf course where you simply must put the ball in the right place, especially on the greens - and the best place to do that from is the middle of the fairway. Abraham Ancer is also one of the shortest hitters on the PGA Tour but there he was on nine under par after 36 holes - further proof that finding the short and prepared here will always be rewarded.

There were so many low scores simply because the greens were soft and holding - despite Augusta's much-vaunted sub-air system. However, it was this same system that allowed play to continue just hours after rivers of water were seen pouring down the fairways and greens.

Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography