Andres Romero, the young Argentine who came within a whisker of landing The 136th Open Championship at Carnoustie, will offer German golf fans a glimpse of his prodigious talent this week when he contests the Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship of Europe.
The 26 year old came close to emulating countryman and 2007 US Open Champion, Angel Cabrera, when he led The Open with two holes remaining before eventually finishing one shot outside a play-off – just as Cabrera had done at Carnoustie in 1999.
However Romero, who produced some exhilarating golf during his final round back nine, tees up at Gut Kaden Golf Club in Hamburg with his sights fixed on his first victory on The European Tour International Schedule.
The tournament in north Germany will see defending champion Robert Karlsson and three more of Europe’s 2006 Ryder Cup victors – fellow Swede Henrik Stenson, England’s Paul Casey and Ireland’s Paul McGinley – competing as rivals.
Karlsson shot four rounds in the sixties to record a four shot victory over Charl Schwartzel and Lee Westwood, a victory which led to his Ryder Cup debut at The K Club last September.
The Ryder Cup players are joined in a high class field by fellow countrymen Niclas Fasth and Retief Goosen of South Africa in an outstanding line-up for the Tour’s second of three scheduled visits to Germany in 2007. Fasth, in fact, won the title in 2005 and with Karlsson succeeding him, the Swedes appear the nation to beat this week.
A number of players from the US PGA Tour have elected to remain in Europe this week, with JB Holmes, Matt Kuchar and Brett Wetterich of the United States being joined by South African Rory Sabbatini and Australian Rod Pampling.
No German golf tournament would be complete without the country’s most successful player, Bernhard Langer, who returned to top form on both sides of the Atlantic recently when he narrowly missed out on Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, losing a sudden-death play-off to Sabbatini, before coming joint second behind Fasth in the BMW International Open in Munich last month.
Martin Kaymer, Marcel Siem and Sven Strüver will help to bolster the home challenge in attempting to take the title from defending champion Karlsson.
