Mercedes-Benz Championship (European Tour)
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- For the identically named event on the PGA Tour see Mercedes-Benz Championship (PGA Tour).
The Mercedes-Benz Championship is a European Tour men's professional golf tournament played in Germany and hosted and promoted by Germany's greatest golfer Bernhard Langer and his brother Erwin.
The tournament was played as the German Masters from 1987 to 2005. From 1987 to 1993 it was played in Stuttgart. It then moved to Berlin from 1994 to 1997, and from 1998 to 2005 it was played at Golfclub Gut Lärchenhof in Cologne. The prize fund was €3 million in 2005, meaning that the German Masters was one of the richer events on the European Tour at that time outside of the major championships and the three individual World Golf Championships events. In 2005 it was one of three European Tour events held in Germany, alongside the Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe and the BMW International Open.
After a one year break in 2006 the tournament is returning to the European Tour schedule in 2007. It will have a maximum field of 75 consisting of players who have either won tournaments on the European Tour in 2007 or are in the top 75 of the Official World Golf Rankings or in the top 60 of the European Order of Merit. It will be played in mid-September in a week vacated by the shifting of the HSBC World Match Play Championship to an October slot. It aspires to be one of the leading events on the European Tour, but as it will clash with the PGA Tour's Tour Championship many leading players will be unavailable.
[edit] Winners
Mercedes-Benz Championship
- 2007 13-16 September.
Linde German Masters
- 2006 No tournament
- 2005 Retief Goosen - South Africa
- 2004 Padraig Harrington - Republic of Ireland
- 2003 KJ Choi - South Korea
- 2002 Stephen Leaney - Australia
- 2001 Bernhard Langer - Germany
- 2000 Michael Campbell - New Zealand
- 1999 Sergio García - Spain
- 1998 Colin Montgomerie - Scotland
- 1997 Bernhard Langer - Germany
- 1996 Darren Clarke - Northern Ireland
Mercedes German Masters
- 1995 Anders Forsbrand - Sweden
- 1994 Seve Ballesteros - Spain
- 1993 Steven Richardson - England
- 1992 Barry Lane - England
- 1991 Bernhard Langer - Germany
- 1990 Sam Torrance - Scotland
German Masters
- 1989 Bernhard Langer - West Germany
- 1988 José María Olazábal - Spain
- 1987 Sandy Lyle - Scotland
[edit] External links
- Official site - in German
- Coverage on the European Tour's official site - use the schedule browser on the left to access other years.
