Bernhard Langer of Germany, who Captained Europe so magnificently to a record 18 ½ - 9 ½ victory over the United States in The 35th Ryder Cup Matches at Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Township, Michigan, USA, has been named as The European Tour Golfer of the Month for September.
Langer’’s superb organisation and inspirational leadership of The European Team secured the vote of the judging panel in a month of many exceptional performances on The European Tour International Schedule.
The 47 year old two-time Masters Champion, said: “I am very proud and honoured to receive this award. However, as Captain, I could only do so much in terms of preparation and organisation. The players did the hard work. They hit the shots on the course and this award is as much for all of them as it is for me.”
Other players considered for the Award included Fiji’’s Vijay Singh, who was highly commended for his outstanding displays on the US PGA Tour during a month in which he won three times and ended Tiger Woods’’s 264-week reign as World Number One.
Singh won the Deutsche Bank Championship, the Bell Canadian Open and the 84 Lumber Classic to lift his season’’s total to eight victories and push his 2004 earnings to $9,455,566. Those phenomenal achievements were praised by the panel, who also considered the strong claims of several other contenders.
Elsewhere, England’’s Luke Donald won for the second time in seven weeks by capturing the Omega European Masters while Padraig Harrington of Ireland and Sweden’’s Henrik Stenson claimed the Linde German Masters and The Heritage respectively on either side of The Ryder Cup.
Finally, at the end of an outstanding month, Ernie Els of South Africa consolidated his position at the head of the Volvo Order of Merit and moved above Woods to World Number Two by winning the World Golf Championships – American Express Championship in Ireland.
The Award is presented to a European Tour Member each month from January to November for his performance on The European Tour International Schedule and in worldwide competition. Previous winners this year have been Miguel Angel Jiménez (January), Ernie Els (February), Adam Scott (March), Vijay Singh (April and August), Scott Drummond (May), Retief Goosen (June) and Thomas Levet (July). At the end of the year, the panel will select The European Tour Golfer of the Year.
