How Conversations With Aaron Rodgers Fueled Golf Legend After Injury

NEWPORT, R.I. — Bernhard Langer, arguably the greatest of all-time on the PGA Tour Champions, received encouragement from another star in the sports world after a devastating injury.

It was none other than quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who suffered an identical Achilles tear during the New York Jets season opener in September.

Langer expanded on his conversations with Rodgers after initially mentioning it during a PGA Tour Champions video last month.

“We were on the phone for about an hour and been texting a couple of times,” Langer said Wednesday ahead of the 2024 U.S. Senior Open at Newport Country Club.

Langer, the defending U.S. Senior Open champion who has won 46 PGA Tour Champions events, said he and Rodgers had the same Arthrex SpeedBridge repair. Hearing about Rodgers’ recovery, which was well-documented throughout the 2024 NFL season, lifted the spirits of the 66-year-old German.

“It was interesting to hear his thoughts on the rehab, what he did and what I was doing, and it was on very similar lines and similar progress as well,” Langer said.

“That was encouraging that I told me he went back on the field two months later and threw a few balls. Obviously he couldn’t play a game because you don’t want to be tackled and he couldn’t push off the way he normally would with his injured leg, but I think he should be good to go now.”

Langer’s return to the course was quick, as well. He tore his Achilles playing pickleball in February, had surgery the next day and was back competing in May. He’s played in five PGA Tour Champions events since the injury and recorded a pair of top-10 finishes.

Langer is not fully healthy. He said his leg and ankle are swollen and he cannot walk four rounds of golf. But with the help of a golf cart and some advice from one of the NFL’s best, Langer will try to defend his title at Newport Country Club this weekend.