Bernhard Langer enjoyed his home comforts for the 11th time in his illustrious career when he held off the challenges of John Daly and Fredrik Jacobson to capture the Linde German Masters at Gut Lärchenhof, Cologne.
The 44 year old shot a closing round of 67 for a 22 under par total of 266 to claim the event he co-promotes for a fourth time. It was his 39th European Tour title in his 390th start and sets alongside his five German Opens, one Honda Open and one Deutsche Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe.
Langer collected a cheque for 450,000 euro (£278,712) – his largest on The European Tour – and this latest victory elevated him to third place on the Volvo Order of Merit behind the leading pair of Retief Goosen and Darren Clarke.
On a thrilling final day near Cologne, watched by a record crowd, Langer proved resilient enough to claim another win on home soil as Daly (65) and Jacobson (67) pressed him all the way. In the end, the chasing pair came up one stroke short of a play-off as Langer rode his luck at the 71st hole.
Leading by two strokes thanks to six birdies in the first 15 holes, his second shot appeared to have entered the water hazard guarding the green. Instead, the ball nestled in the wet grass short of the water and from there he chipped to eight feet and holed the crucial par putt.
Ahead of him, Daly – winner of the BMW International Open on his last visit to Europe – had gathered a head of steam, eagling the 13th and birdieing the 15th and 16th to reach 21 under par. However he was unable to make another birdie over the closing two holes to force a play-off.
Langer admitted he got lucky at the 17th. He said: "I played solid golf all day until the last two holes when I hit a couple of wayward shots. The 17th was a crucial hole. It was soft enough there to stop the ball and I made a good up and down for par.
"The grass was longer then in the past so I was very fortunate. Bad shots need to be penalised and we will cut it down and shave it next year."
The new champion added: "I never gave away my lead, which was important. Freddie eagled the third to catch me but I was never behind."
Jacobson, who picked up an eagle at the third after holing a lob wedge from 95 metres, was assisted by another chip-in with the same implement at the 16th, but his inability to pick up strokes at the par five 13th and 15th cost him the opportunity to overhaul Langer.
In the event, a bunkered approach cost Langer his only bogey of the day at the last hole, but he was able to enjoy the rapturous applause of the home fans.
Daly, who had shot 64 on the third day, admitted: “I had a slow start and a fast finish. I played the last 45 holes in 20 under par which isn’t too bad. I had a lot of opportunities and overall it’s been a good week in Germany again.
“I figured I needed to shoot eight under for the second day running to get into a play-off and that’s pretty much how it worked out. But I am happy to have shot a total of 48 under par for my two tournaments in Germany this year.”
Jacobson added: “I knew I had to go past 20 under par to have a chance of winning. Unfortunately I didn’t take advantage of the last two par fives. I’ve now been second five times so maybe one day I will get the win I want.”
