Bernhard Langer believes winning The Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex for a second time this week at Royal Porthcawl would taste particularly sweet, with his first European Tour victory in 1980 coming in Wales.
Even the popular German could not have predicted a further 41 European Tour titles and two Senior Majors would follow that maiden win 34 years ago in Chepstow, at the Dunlop Masters.
Langer, who lost in a play-off to Mark Wiebe 12 months ago in The Senior Open Championship’s first Monday finish, is certainly pleased to be back in Wales.
“It’s great to be in Wales,” said the 56 year old. “I fondly remember my first win all those years ago, and believe I did well here a year later. So Wales has been good to me. This is certainly a gem of a links course that can measure up to any of the iconic links venues, so that makes it even better and I can’t wait to get started.”
After winning The Senior Open Championship at Carnoustie in 2010 with a five under par total, Langer went on to prevail at the US Senior Open a week later.
He came close to making it three Senior Majors at Royal Birkdale last year, letting slip a two stroke advantage on the last hole only to then be beaten by eventual winner Wiebe in a play-off.
There will be plenty of interest then when Langer gets his challenge under way on Thursday alongside the American, and Spain’s Miguel Angel Jiménez, the oldest winner in the history of The European Tour who is looking to triumph on his Senior Tour debut.
“Miguel is one of the best over 50 players in the world and Mark Wiebe is defending here, so it's certainly a great draw,” said Langer, the two-time Masters champion.
“I was playing with Jiménez a couple of months ago when he first played on the Champions Tour, and he won and I finished second. I enjoyed my couple days with him. I'm sure we're going to have some fun going around here as well.
“In regards to playing with Mark, he just took his chance last year when I messed up on 18. So that was my fault and it was frustrating as I played really well for the rest of the week. Hopefully I'll put in a similar performance this year and be in contention come Sunday afternoon.”
Langer is plying his trade on the US Champions Tour at the moment, where he has enjoyed considerable success, posting top ten finishes in his last 10 events on the circuit. However, the Ryder Cup veteran is delighted to be back playing links golf again.
“The thing I enjoy the most is the firmness of the ground and how you can just nip the ball,” he said. “It makes a certain sound when you hit it as well, and you can create some spin.
“It’s interesting round the greens too - you have so many options. You can use a four iron, a seven iron or a nine iron, or even a lob wedge. You just need imagination to see the shot. Some courses we play on have six inches of rough, so there's no options. But here, you can almost use any club in the bag and that makes it fun.”
