Fuente: © World Golf Championships
http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/

WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP: Victorious Germans erase generation gap in World Cup victory

/noticias.info/ By Helen Ross
PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents

ST. JAMES, Barbados -- You only had to watch the trophy presentation Sunday afternoon to see how different the two Germans who won the World Golf Championships-Barbados World Cup are.

Marcel Siem held his half of the John Hopkins Trophy in his left hand and excitedly pumped his right fist repeatedly into the air. Bernhand Langer, on the other hand, simply smiled and finally was coaxed to wave, almost shyly, at the crowd.

The 49-year-old Langer and his 26-year-old countryman proved to be a potent combination, though, at Sandy Lane Resort this week -- beating Scotland on the first playoff hole to earn the $1.4 million first prize.

“It’s just unbelievable,” Siem said. “I already won a tournament in sudden death … in South Africa, but this is just another world. It’s so much bigger, and on the side of Bernhard Langer, winning a trophy this big, in Barbados, on Barbados, actually, so far away, was so much fun.

“I can’t believe it right now, actually. I love it. It’s such a great feeling.”

The words had tumbled out helter-skelter, and Seim, whose wavy blond hair is pulled back into a ponytail, finally stopped to breathe again. Langer patted his young partner on the shoulder and smiled.

“It’s early Christmas,” the always succinct veteran said.

The victory was Germany’s second in the World Cup. Langer, who will join the Champions Tour when he turns 50 in August, won the event in 1990 before it came under the World Golf Championships umbrella, teaming with Torsten Giedeon.

“It’s not easy to believe, to tell you the truth -- 16 years later, or whatever it is, to still be in the winner’s circle with another young man,” Langer admitted. “It just shows you the golf ball doesn’t know how old you are. Just keep hitting it, try to stay fit and have fun with it.”

Sunday also marked a second victory in as many weeks for Langer. He won the Del Webb Father-Son Challenge last Sunday with his 16-year-old son, Stefan, who came to Barbados and caddied for Langer at Sandy Lane.

“Every trophy is special, as you can guess,” Langer said. “The last few years, I didn’t win a lot of trophies, to be honest. It was nice to be on a roll. …

“I truly enjoyed playing with Marcel because we actually never played much golf together even though we’re from the same country. He’s a totally different generation than I am. He comes from up north more so and I’m from down south. When I played in Germany, he was too young. …

“We just felt there was something. It was a spark. We had chemistry. We enjoyed each other’s company and we just said, let’s have fun no matter what the outcome will be.”

The Germans forced the playoff when they came from behind with a 66 in Sunday’s rain-plagued Foursomes competition. The steady twosome hit an impressive 17 of 18 greens on the windswept afternoon on the way to posting the low score of the day.

Germany’s success on Sunday should come as no surprise, though. Langer is one of the most accomplished alternate shot players of all-time with an 11-6-1 record in Ryder Cup play.

But Scotland was led by a man who’s no slouch in Foursomes, too. Colin Montgomerie has an 8-3-3 Ryder Cup mark in the format – with three of those wins, ironically, coming with Langer.

Langer and Montgomerie hit first for their teams in the playoff, and both missed the green. Siem remembered talking to a rules official and Montgomerie’s partner, Marc Warren, before the veterans teed off.

“I said it’s unbelievable to be here on Sunday with Montgomerie and Langer,” Siem said. “This is the best that could happen actually. It’s two legends with Marc Warren and Marcel Siem, it was incredible.”

He admitted to being nervous over the chip shot he was faced with after Langer’s tee shot on the par 3 settled into the rough. But Siem took his lob wedge and coaxed the ball onto the green, leaving Langer 24 inches for what turned out to be the win.

“I was extremely impressed today,” Langer said. “He played like a guy who has been out here for 20 year. Nothing fazed him. He hit great drive, long and straight. He hit fantastic irons. He made putts from all over the place.

“You know, the chip on 18 was like nobody could play better. You could put Phil Mickelson and Seve (Ballesteros) there and they could not have done it any better. To leave me a two-foot putt uphill, that’s about as easy as it gets.” notas_de_prensa_archivo