The 66-year-old played in par on the first 10 holes, starting with the 10th, before recovering from a bogey on the par-3 second hole to make consecutive birdies on the fourth and fifth holes to finish with a one-under 71.
“The atmosphere was incredible,” Langer said
“I tee off at 7:40 a.m. so we were able to tee off at 7:30 a.m. and it felt like there were thousands of people and the atmosphere was great the whole time. It was awesome and we really enjoyed it.
“It was great playing with Marcel (Simm) and Martin (Kaymer), and you know, I said this might be the last time we play golf together, and it is. So it was a great day.”
Former Dubai Desert Classic champion Thomas Bjorn, who is also competing this week, had high praise for the two-time Masters champion, praising him for reaching an untapped audience.
“My point about Bernhard is that as a Northern European, when you look at the game of golf and the history of golf, the UK, Ireland and Spain are the leading regions for golf in Europe,” Bjorn said.
“Here’s a guy who wasn’t from there, but represented a different (geographic) demographic in the game of golf, who gave a lot of hope to a lot of players from other countries, who was a trailblazer for the best players in the world, and he came from a place where people didn’t expect golfers to be born at the time.
“Bernhard has done wonders for golfers all over the world.”
David Micheluzzi led the German Open with a six-under 66, with Ewen Ferguson, Casey Jarvis, Frank Kennedy and Patrick Reed one shot back in second.