Two weeks after celebrating his 50th birthday, Bernhard Langer will return to Germany as host of the Mercedes-Benz Championship aiming to become the oldest winner in European Tour history.
Langer, who has won the tournament four times in three different decades, will endeavour to eclipse Des Smyth’s record of 48 years and 34 days when he tees up at GC Gut Lärchenhof in Pulheim, near Cologne, from September 13-16.
His previous successes in the tournament - in 1989, 1991, 1997 and 2001 - are among the many highlights of an exceptional career that has brought 42 European Tour victories, including two Masters Tournament triumphs at Augusta National.
A fifth victory would sit alongside his five German Open titles, 1992 Honda Open and 1995 Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship of Europe triumphs. In June he came close to adding to his remarkable record of 11 wins on home soil when he finished joint runner-up behind Niclas Fasth in the BMW International Open.
“Any victory would mean something special at this age as time is running out, so to win my own tournament would be an unbelievable feat,” said Langer, who finished joint third in The KLM Open at Kennemer Golf and Country Club on Sunday, the day before this 50th birthday on August 27.
His four wins may be immensely satisfying but it is the tournament’s role in the development of golf in Germany over the past two decades that gives Langer the greatest sense of pride. Following his victory in the Masters Tournament in 1985, Bernhard and his brother Erwin, co-promoter of Langer Sport Marketing, came up with the concept of a masters tournament in Germany, and so the German Masters was born in 1987.
“It all started after I won the Masters in 1985, when we had the idea to have a masters tournament in Germany,” said Langer. “We had only one tournament at the time, the German Open, and we approached some of my sponsors and they were excited about having another event with me. We all did it together and it was a great success. It helped to promote golf in Germany. We always gave free entrance to youngsters so they could come whenever they wanted and that’s what we needed. Now we have three tournaments in Germany, as well as three Challenge Tour events and things are moving in the right direction.
“There is a still a lot of room to improve. Golf used to be a very exclusive sport for the minority and we need to have more public courses. Gradually it is happening but it is taking a long time.”
The tournament also marks the return of Mercedes-Benz as a title sponsor on The European Tour International Schedule for the 20th anniversary of Langer’s tournament.
“It is great to see Mercedes-Benz back,” said Langer. “They were title sponsors and sponsors in the early years and it proves we have a good product and we look forward to working with them as partners for the next few years.”
The Mercedes-Benz Championship will comprise a starting line-up of 78 players, those eligible being winners of European Tour Order of Merit events in the 2007 season up until September 10, 2007; players ranked within the top 75 of the Official World Golf Ranking at August 13, 2007; the leading 60 players from the Order of Merit as of September 3, 2007; and five invitations. There will also be no cut.
Adding further interest to the €2 million event is the fact that it is the second counting event towards automatic qualification for The 2008 European Ryder Cup Team who will be aiming for a record fourth successive victory over the United States at Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, Kentucky from September 19-21, 2008.
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