The explanations being offered make me wonder how Bernard Langer became such a great golfer. He grew up in a place with about zero golf tradition, almost no courses, less-than-ideal weather, where football (soccer) was every boy's dream. Here is part of brief bio I saw on him...
"Langer grew up in a small rural community in the mountainous area of Bavaria. Although his father, Erwin, was a bricklayer, the family still struggled to make a decent living. In his autobiography, Langer recounts that he cannot remember ever being given pocket money. Indeed a shortage of cash was a constant factor in Langer's life until he finally made a name for himself in golf.
Langer's introduction to golf came when he was just 8. In order to earn some spending money, he followed in his brother's footsteps by caddying at the Ausburg Golf and Country Club, 5 miles from his home. Once he began earning money, he spent more and more time at the club. During slack times, he practised behind the caddy shack with a few old clubs and soon demonstrated a natural talent. He spent so much time at the club that he must have been considered one of the fixtures. When he turned 14, Langer was set to leave school when opportunity knocked. He managed to secure the position of assistant professional at Munich Golf Club. Even luckier was the real opportunity to train and become a true professional under the guidance of club professional Heinz Freiburg. Suddenly Langer was a professional golfer.
Eventually Langer was faced with the decision of pursuing a career of a club professional or a playing professional. Of course, he chose the latter and won his first tournament, the German National Open, in 1974. With sponsorship from Jan Brugelman, then a golf enthusiast, Langer began the hard slog of establishing himself playing tournaments around Europe, living out of a suitcase, and travelling on a shoestring budget. Langer had the motivation that golf was the only way of making a career for himself..."