Langer seeks tour record

After Eduardo Romero threatened to beat him to it, Bernhard Langer is aiming to become the oldest winner in European Tour history in his own tournament this week.

Two weeks after celebrating his 50th birthday, Langer returns to Germany as host of the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Cologne aiming to win the event for the fifth time in three different decades, eclipsing Des Smyth’s record of 48 years and 34 days.

Romero was third after the opening round of the Omega European Masters and eventually finished eighth in Crans-sur-Sierre in Switzerland, and at 53 years old would have set a record that even the seemingly ageless Langer would struggle to beat.

But with Romero now returning to life on the seniors tour in the United States, the way is clear for Langer to add to his 11 wins on home soil.

The former Ryder Cup captain has finished second and third in the last two European Tour events in Munich and Holland, despite spending a month of the time in between recovering after surgery to remove kidney stones.

“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 in Zandvoort the day before his 50th birthday.

“It all started after I won the US Masters in 1985, when we had the idea to have a masters tournament in Germany.

“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 at Gut Larchenhof will feature just 78 players, those eligible being European Tour winners in 2007, players ranked in the top 75 in the world on August 13, the leading 60 players from the Order of Merit on September 3 and five invites.

There will be no halfway cut and further interest stemming from the fact it is the final qualifying event for the Seve Trophy between Britain and Ireland and Continental Europe at the end of the month, with the last four places from the European Tour Order of Merit Points list up for grabs.