Bernhard Langer is about to one-up Aaron Rodgers.
When he tees it up in Friday’s opening round at the PGA Tour Champions Insperity Invitational, the 66-year-old Langer will make his return to tournament golf a mere three months removed from rupturing his left Achilles tendon.
Langer tore the Achilles while playing pickleball in February and underwent the same “SpeedBridge’’ procedure Rodgers, the Jets’ quarterback, did in an effort to expedite his return.
Much like Rodgers, who tore his Achilles just four plays into the 2023 season, Langer had surgery just 20 hours after the injury. His surgeon, based in Miami, was not the one Rodgers used in L.A.
Langer said he wanted to reach out to Rodgers, whom he called “an inspiration’’ to him, before the surgery but there was no time.
“I am a football fan, I follow it and I was aware of Aaron’s injury,’’ Langer told The Post over the phone. “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.’’
Langer, though, did speak to Rodgers two weeks ago thanks to two-time U.S. Open winner and ESPN golf analyst Andy North, a close friend of Rodgers, giving Langer Rodgers’ number at the Masters last month.
“I was able to talk to Aaron about it two weeks ago,’’ Langer said. “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.’’
He said his first thought after the injury was, “What does this mean? How long will I be out? Will I ever be back?”
Langer said Rodgers’ speedy recovery “lifted my spirits, hearing he was back on the field throwing the ball after eight or nine weeks. That encouraged me that I may do something similar.”
The biggest difference in their respective comebacks?
“I’m not going to get tackled by a 300-pound guy,’’ Langer said.
Asked what Friday will be like for his return, Langer said, “I think it’ll be maybe slightly emotional. I just hope I don’t shank it into the woods.’’
This week will be Langer’’s 342nd start on the senior circuit. He’s the only player in history to have won all five senior major titles, and last year he broke Hale Irwin’s record with his 46th title at the U.S. Senior Open.
“I think I can still be very productive for a few more years,” Langer said. “I still think I have a lot of good golf left in me. Statistically, they say that guys win the most tournaments from age 50 to 55 on the PGA Tour Champions, and then they kind of drop off. I’m trying to continue to prove them wrong.”
That statement sounded a lot like Aaron Rodgers.
