Langer survives in typical fashion

IT was the sort of discipline we have come to expect from one of the game's most consistent players. "See me on the putting green," said Bernhard Langer when he emerged from the recorder's hut, having signed for a second round of 70 which ensured Masters survival on 145.

He was joined on the short walk from the 18th green by his wife Vikki and 10 year old daughter Jackie. Both put an arm around him and hugged him warmly. But it was to be only a brief family interlude: they accepted that he had work to do.

Not for the first time, Langer had shown himself to be a player of extraordinary resilience as he attempted to avoid missing an Augusta cut for the first time since his debut in 1982. He was then a raw, 24 year old, tasting the American experience for the first time.

Three years later, he would make history by becoming not only the first German, but the first player from any nation to capture the US Masters without first having won an event in the US. And he reclaimed Augusta glory in 1993, to secure a special place in the history of this remarkable event.

"It wouldn't have been the end of the world had I missed the cut - it's happened to better players than me," he said afterwards. "But this means a lot to me. I was trying really hard to make up for yesterday." He was referring to a 75 in which most of the damage was done on a front nine of 39, including a run of three bogeys from the third.

Partnered with Tom Lehman, who shares Langer's religious enthusiasm as a born again Christian, the German hit a very impressive drive up the first - a gentle fade to the left of the infamous fairway bunker. The shot suggested that the damaged shoulder which had been a cause for such concern in the build up to the event, was not as debilitating as had been feared.

"I'm conscious of it but it doesn't bother my golf too much," he said. "It hurts when I lie on it or when I try to lift anything but I can't use it as an excuse for the way I played in the first round." That much was evident from a splendid second shot he hit to within six feet of the first hole yesterday, giving him the boost of an opening birdie.

But the course quickly recovered the stroke, with interest, when the German three putted the third and then hunkered a three iron tee shot at the 205 yard fourth. From there, however, he covered the remaining holes in three under par.

Langer's knowledge of Augusta was frequently in evidence, particularly at the long eighth where he hit a wedge to within eight feet of a wickedly difficult pin, for a birdie four. And in his play of the 485 yard 13th which featured so prominently in his surge to victory three years ago.

On this occasion, he turned the ball around the corner with a beautifully controlled hook off the tee, to the extent that he needed only a five iron to reach the green. That gave him a third successive birdie to leave him level par for the tournament and with a useful cushion over the remaining holes.

And he needed it. Facing a second shot of 235 yards at the long 15th, he declined to risk a three wood because of gusting winds. But after taking the precaution of laying up, he went on to three putt for a bogey six. Typically, there were no further errors.