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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.”
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