Langer takes dead aim

It might not be the most perfect golf swing on the Champions Tour, but whatever Bernhard Langer and longtime coach Willie Hoffman figured out during a phone call two weeks ago should be bottled and sold at a premium price.

Dissatisfied with some of his shots -- "double-crossers," he called them -- during practice rounds at Carnoustie for the Senior British Open in Scotland three weeks ago, Langer dialed up Hoffman, a fellow German, to talk shop. They discussed a few things, Langer tried some changes on the range and -- abracadabra! The rest is history.

Langer went on to win the Senior British by a shot over Corey Pavin. A week later, he won the U.S. Senior Open at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash., by three shots over hometown hero Fred Couples. He enters Friday's first round of the 3M Championship at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine as not only the defending champion but the hottest thing the Champions Tour has seen in some time.

"Sometimes, you just find the right thing for the right time and it works," Langer said. "Once you feel that it's right, you can trust it."

There is little doubt about that. And after an exhausting jaunt through a pair of majors, Langer is refreshed and ready to rock and roll again. He arrived in the Twin Cities on Monday, played a quick 18 holes Tuesday and spent Wednesday relaxing with family.

"I was tired 10 days ago," Langer said. "But that won't be on my mind. What will be on my mind is to play the best golf I can play once I'm out there."

Lately, he's done just that. Six of Langer's past eight rounds have been in the 60s, including all four at Sahalee -- a notoriously narrow course referred to by some as "Sahallway."

Langer's back-to-back major victories are the first on the Champions Tour since Tom Watson claimed the 2003 Senior British Open and JELD-WEN Tradition. Langer, who has won four times this season, has vaulted into the top spot on the Schwab Cup season-long points standings and the money list. He is aiming to become the first player on the Champions Tour to win three consecutive Player of the Year honors and money titles.

"Ideally, you want to get them both," Langer said. "But it's not easily done."

However, his current hold on each will likely only improve this week with Fred Couples and Tom Lehman, Nos. 2-3 in the Schwab Cup standings, absent.

"He probably doesn't feel like he has any weaknesses in his game right now," said Nick Price, No. 4 in the Schwab Cup race. "Golf, like any sport, is about momentum. And he's got it at the moment. I see no reason why he won't compete again this week.

"He's the man we'll all be putting our sights on and aiming at."

Langer's dominance -- he has won 12 times since joining the tour in 2007 -- is reminiscent of Hale Irwin's hold on the tour from 1996 to 2002, when he finished in the top three on the money list seven consecutive years.

"Bernhard's such a gentleman, just a true great man for our game [and] the talent he has is scary," said Champions Tour tournament director Brian Claar, 51. "He's one of the guys out here now my group of friends remembers. Household names everybody knows. And they're still competitive, still want to win."

Mark Calcavecchia, who walked the first two rounds at Sahalee with Langer, called Langer "the guy to beat."

Beating him at the TPC Twin Cities course is going to require some low scores, most likely. Of the 25 events in 2009, the 3M Championship home course ranked as the ninth- easiest with 69 sub-70 rounds.

"But you still have to make good shots," cautioned Langer, who chipped in for eagle on the final hole last summer at the 3M to finish at 16 under par. "There's going to be a lot more wind here, a lot of water and tough holes. It's not a gimme because it's a little more open."

Nothing lasts forever, though. "I won't be able to play at this level for the next 12 months," Bernhard said.

But how about in two months, when the Ryder Cup is contested in Wales and European captain Colin Montgomerie is looking for a steady pro to fill one of his three at-large spots?