Bernhard Langer will return to the European Senior Tour for the first time since his stunning victory in the Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex when he makes his second appearance in the WINSTONgolf Senior Open next week.
Langer broke all sorts of records when he powered to victory at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club by 13 shots, which marked the largest winning margin in the history of Senior Major Championship golf.
Runner-up Colin Montgomerie labelled it “one of the greatest performances in the history of golf”, and the galleries at WINSTONgolf will be hoping the home hero can produce a similarly dominant display when he returns to Vorbeck, near the city of Schwerin, next week.
“I’ve always said that I love playing in Germany and that if it was at all possible, I would come back to Schwerin,” Langer said. “So I’m looking forward to this tournament in my home country.”
Jenny Elshout, Director of WINSTONgolf, was delighted to welcome the star attraction back to the tournament.
She said: “We have been following his victories on the Champions Tour in the United States and in the Senior Open Championship, and always hoped that he would come back to play our tournament. Now we are proud and happy that we can offer Germany’s golfing fans the chance to see Bernhard in action.”
On his only previous appearance in the €400,000 tournament two years ago, Langer finished in a tie for eighth place behind the inaugural champion Terry Price, who romped to victory by six strokes.
The Australian returns to WINSTONgolf bidding to become the first player to win the tournament on more than one occasion, as does the man who succeeded him as champion, Scotsman Gordon Brand Jnr.
Twelve months ago, Brand Jnr took the title by one shot after holding off an astonishing final day surge from his compatriot Andrew Oldcorn, who closed with a round of 61.
On the eve of this year’s tournament, two of the finest footballers in history, Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer and Dutchman Johan Cruyff, will be joined by several of their former international team-mates in a golfing recreation of the 1974 World Cup Final.
Forty years on from the fiercely contested encounter in Munich, Cruyff and Co will be looking to gain a measure of revenge over their German counterparts, having lost the final 2-1.
