Kaymer gets his first taste of Augusta
If I play well I think I might be able to contend. But it's a very, very long golf course nowadays, very different to what it was five years ago.
Bernhard Langer
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The past and future of German golf will be on display at this week's Masters.
The past will be represented by Bernhard Langer - although that is somewhat harsh on a 50-year-old who remains competitive on the main tours and almost won in both Europe and America last year.
The future - and the present - is Martin Kaymer, who has burst onto the world scene over the last 18 months.
The 23-year-old was last season's Rookie of the Year on the European Tour, and beat a world class field in Abu Dhabi in January for his maiden win.
Then, just two weeks later against an even stronger field, only Tiger Woods could beat him, Kaymer taking second place with a breathtaking birdie, birdie, eagle finish.
The two performances earned him his first major championship start and while many young Europeans cut their teeth at the Open, the young man who dreamt at first of being a soccer star goes in at the deep end that is Augusta National with all its mystique, history and atmosphere.
Kaymer had never even met Langer until the BMW International Open in Munich last June and because of the former Ryder Cup captain's Florida base they have not seen much of each other since.
Rising star
But that did not stop Langer telephoning the rising star - currently eighth in the race for places in the Ryder Cup - and asking him if he fancied a practice round at Augusta together.
"It would be a great honour to play with you," replied Kaymer.
"He has done so much for German golf. Even in the nine holes we had together in Munich I learnt a couple of things about course management."
Langer's two victories at Augusta came in 1986 and 1993, but Kaymer does not remember even the second of them.
"I didn't get into golf until 1995 when my father took me and my older brother down to a driving range.
"I was big into soccer then and wanted to be a professional. In one season I scored the most goals of any strikers in our league and Dusseldorf used to give me some money - not much, but it helped to buy boots and things.
"When I was 14 or 15, though, I had to choose and I chose golf. I don't regret it."
And why would he? He also earned his first £1million and at an age when most of his contemporaries are delighted to earn and then keep a Tour card, and now he is mixing it with the best at the Masters.
Langer, meanwhile, plays his 26th Masters this week and he still cuts an impressive figure on the course.
He has won two of his last four tournaments on the Champions Tour, the second of them by eight shots, and with nearly £450,000 already banked this year he is £125,000 clear at the top of the money list.
Contend
Asked about his Masters prospects, he said: "If I play well I think I might be able to contend. But it's a very, very long golf course nowadays, very different to what it was five years ago.
"With that in mind it is going to be that much harder for me because I'm not short, but there are many guys out there on the Tour who hit it 40 yards past me and 40 yards means four irons less into a green.
"That is huge, especially at Augusta where the greens look big, but you always have these small pockets, small plateaus. Hopefully I can make some of that huge disadvantage up by experience and by knowing the course very well and with a short game and hitting it straighter, whatever."
