The Masters’ oldest player taught the youngest a valuable lesson

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Noah Kent stayed away. That’s really all his game plan was late Friday afternoon at Augusta National Golf Club. This was Bernhard Langer’s stage, and he didn’t want to intrude.

Langer, the two-time Masters champion, wasn’t supposed to make the cut at this year’s Masters, his final one, not at age 67 and not in his 41st appearance here. Father Time is undefeated.

But Langer never got the memo. He approached the par-4 18th green at 5:10 p.m. on Friday to a raucous ovation, his playing partners Kent and Will Zalatoris hanging back. Langer missed his last three Masters cuts — 2021, 2022 and 2023 — so a couple of days earlier it was all but assumed that Friday, right now, would be his swan song. But here we are, late in the day with long shadows, and Langer needs to get up and down from off the green to save par and make the weekend.

Langer took off his visor, waved to the patrons and walked onto the 18th green for the 136th time of his Masters career.

***

Kent, a sophomore at Florida, earned his Masters invite via his runner-up finish in the U.S. Amateur last summer. At 20, he’s the youngest player in the field, and somehow he was grouped with Langer, who at 67, is the oldest. Kent knew today had the potential to be Langer’s final Masters round. When the groupings were announced earlier in the week he even asked his coach, Claude Harmon III, how to handle the 18th-hole situation come Friday, if by chance Langer wouldn’t make the cut.

“He knows how important the game is and know how cool this experience is,” said Kent’s mom, Trisha, walking with the group on Friday. “When he got this pairing he thought it was really cool, and the first thing he asked was, ‘How do I respect him going up on the 18th?’ if that situation came up. That’s what he wanted to know. He just wanted to do what was right. He’s a kind kid.”

It showed impressive maturity and self-awareness for a 20-year-old amateur. His mom says he’s somewhat of a golf historian — she calls him an “old soul” — and he has a core group of mentors that includes former U.S. Am winners John Cook, Jay Sigel and John Harris. He likes watching old YouTube videos of Ben Crenshaw and older golfing generations. He understands the importance of golf’s rich history, so of course he understood the significance of playing with Langer.

In a way, Zalatoris and Kent were lucky. They had front-row seats to something others would pay for. Surely they’d sign up for Langer’s Hall-of-Fame career — two majors, 10 Ryder Cups, more than 100 professional wins and worldwide admiration — in a heartbeat. Whether Langer’s Masters ended Friday or Sunday, they got to be a part of his final one. That counts for something.

Last year was supposed to be Langer’s last Masters, but when he tore an Achilles and missed most of the golf season that final act got pushed to this year. Langer had missed his last three cuts here, but five years ago he tried for 29th at age 62. Just last fall, he won a PGA Tour Champions event. He wasn’t about to leave limping down Magnolia Lane.

Langer opened with a 74 Thursday; Kent was somewhat surprised how much they talked. Langer made his Masters debut in 1982, 22 years before Kent was born. On the 15th hole, Langer patted Kent on the back and said, “you gotta finish strong.” (Kent later joked that he did not.)

On Friday, Langer played as if he wasn’t prepared to go home, turning in one under and a shot inside the cut line. Kent raved about Langer’s course management and called the driver off the deck into the 11th green “probably one of the best shots I’ve ever seen.” Langer birdied the 12th and was even for the tournament with four holes left to play. The weekend was well within reach.

That was until he spun his approach off the par-5 15th green into the water, leading to a double bogey. Langer hit a good shot into 16 and narrowly missed the birdie try, and on 17 he two-putted for 33 feet for par.

One hole remained.

***

When Langer got to 18 with the crowd roaring, the massive leaderboard off the green posted his score, and it posted the cut line. Langer chipped to 11 feet and needed to make that for par, for the weekend. He knew it; everyone else knew it. Kent and Zalatoris had already missed the cut. They were invested in Langer now.

The patrons were silent as Langer drew the putter back and swung it forward. It tracked toward the hole — it looked good halfway there — but it caught the right lip and stopped a few inches away. The patrons gasped. Langer put his head down in disbelief. Zalatoris crouched down and Kent flung his head back — they looked like they were about to be sick.

“I don’t have any words for it,” Kent said. “You want it so bad for him because it’s his last Masters and he played unbelievable.”

Langer handled the bogey gracefully. He shook hands with his playing partners and then waved to the patrons, who were still clapping. Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley was on the green to congratulate him.

Kent goes back to college now and more amateur tournaments. He wants to be on the PGA Tour someday, but for now that will wait. His journey is just beginning. He said he learned a lot from Langer, about how he needs to have more patience, to let things come to you, to know when to press and when not to. He said he admired the way Langer carried himself, about how to fought to the end.

Truth is, this story was supposed to be about a young, promising amateur getting a front-row seat to a legend’s final Masters curtain call. Turns out it became one about learning to never quit.