Record Prize Money of 2.7 million euro has been announced for the 2000 Linde German Masters to be played at Gut Lärchenhof on September 28-October 1.
With this announcement title sponsor Linde and tournament sponsors Commerzbank, Corpus and Siemens further enhance the position of the Linde German Masters as an elite event on the European Tour International Schedule.
Bernhard Langer, the 1985 and 1993 winner of the Masters Tournament, said:“ I´m very pleased to be associated with Linde and have them as our title sponsor. They have been a tremendous supporter of European Golf over the last five years. I´m looking forward to welcoming my fellow professionals to another outstanding Linde German Masters in Cologne.”
Dr. Hans Meinhardt, Chairman of the supervisory board of Linde AG, said: “We are delighted to see that the Linde German Masters 2000 brings together many of the best players in the world, as for example the winner of the US Masters 2000 Vijay Singh who will be joined in the world-class field by recognised stars like Colin Montgomerie, Jesper Parnevik and Sergio Garcia. This is in line with our declared policy to offer a top event and to underline the worldwide reputation and international importance of the Linde German Masters.”
Sergio Garcia will be defending the title following his sudden death victory over Padraig Harrington and Ian Woosnam last year. The Spaniard, a teenager at the time, holed putts from 25 feet and then 12 feet to claim his second European Tour title after the trio had finished level on 277, 11 under par.
With the qualification system for the 2001 European Ryder Cup team underway the Linde German Masters will take on added significance.
Ken Schofield, Executive Director of the European Tour, said:” This announcement further enhances the Linde German Masters as one of the premier events on the 2000 European Tour International Schedule. We congratulate Bernhard and Erwin Langer for their foresight and sincerely appreciate the superb support from Linde over many years. We can now look forward to another tremendous Linde German Masters.”
Langer, a winner of 37 European Tour events and a further 26 worldwide, will be attempting to win his fourth Linde German Masters title and eleventh title in his native Germany.
