Getty Image / Ezra Shaw / Kevin C. Cox
Aaron Rodgers famously tore his Achilles tendon on just the 4th play of the 2023 NFL season, his first with the New York Jets, and making a rapid recovery he has now paved the pathway for other professional athletes like 2-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer to make speedier returns to competition.
Bernhard Langer was one of the best golfers of his generation. He won The Masters in 1985 and 1993. He’s finished 2nd twice at the Open Champion. Langer was the European Order of Merit winner (money list) in 1981 and 1984 and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. As recently as 2023, Bernhard won the U.S. Senior Open beating Steve Stricker by 2 strokes and at 66 years old he has the most PGA Tour Champions wins of any golfer ever with 46.
His career seemingly took a step back when Langer tore his Achilles tendon back in February while playing pickleball but he followed the path of Aaron Rodgers and underwent the ‘SpeedBridge’ surgery within just 20 hours of his injury. According to the Post, Langer used a surgeon in Miami while Rodgers’ surgeon was in LA but the similarities are striking.
Just three months after rupturing his Achilles, Bernhard Langer will tee it up this week at the PGA Tour Champions’ Insperity Invitational held at The Tournament Course at the The Woodlands Country Club in Texas. Coincidentally, I interviewed fellow European golf legend Colin Montgomery days after the Insperity Invitational last year, those two have played a LOT of golf together over the years.
2-Time Masters Champion Bernhard Langer Calls Aaron Rodgers ‘An Inspiration’
Bernhard Langer spoke about his Achilles injury, surgery, and subsequent recovery as well as how Aaron Rodgers impacted his journey:
Two months after tearing his achilles, @BernhardLanger6 is making a return.
The 66-year-old plans to tee it up next week @InsperityInvtnl.
A look inside his miraculous comeback journey ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/aBjzCWn9jO
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) April 26, 2024
Bernhard Langer told Mark Cannizzaro at The Post about speaking with Aaron Rodgers after his surgery. He said “I am a football fan, I follow it and I was aware of Aaron’s injury. I would have liked to talk to him, but it wasn’t that simple. I was in a hurry. I was told it’s better to do surgery quickly and not wait two or three weeks.”
Speaking about Aaron Rodgers, Bernhard Langer added “I was able to talk to Aaron about it two weeks ago. We talked for about almost an hour. He loves golf. I told him I follow him and football and he said he follows me, too. We talked about the rehab and doing certain exercises and what he went through and what I’m going through.”
Langer says it really ‘lifted his spirits’ hearing about Aaron Rodgers’ swift return to throwing the ball and said it was a major point of inspiration for him. They are only 26 years apart in age, after all, Rodgers being 40 and Langer being 66. Bernhard is at +3500 to win the Insperity Invitational in Texas this week only 3 months after tearing his Achilles. That is WILD.