'Golden oldies' deserve more chances to play in majors, says Langer

SUNNINGDALE, England (PA) -- Bernhard Langer has called on golf's governing bodies to introduce world ranking points for senior events and allow more veterans into the field at major championships.

Langer was the leading player on the Champions Tour in America last year, but has not been exempt from British Open qualifying for several years.

Tom Watson's performance at last week's Open at the age of 59, along with that of Greg Norman a year earlier at Royal Birkdale, has forced the R&A to consider upping the exempt age for former winners back to 65 from 60, which it was lowered to two years ago.

But Langer says leading players on the Champions Tour and European Seniors Tour should also be given exempt status -- and that players on senior tours should have the chance to gain ranking points.

"I'm not saying it's bad to have them play until 65," said Langer as he prepared for this week's Senior British Open at Sunningdale. "But I personally think it would be good to include maybe the top two or three on the money list from our tour.

"I don't think people realize how high the level of play is on the Senior Tour and the Champions Tour," he explained. "It is really difficult to win out there.

"We are actually very surprised that there are no world ranking points on our tour," he added. "You take Tom Watson and Greg Norman, they both came very close, finished second and third in one of the majors.

"I played my last two European Tour events, I was in contention right up until the very last six holes and finished in the top 10 in both of them (sixth at the UBS Hong Kong Open and ninth at the BMW International Open)," he said. "There's a lot of us out there who can play at the very highest level and compete on the regular tour.

"The weird thing is we don't get much opportunity to play in major championships. I haven't been exempt in the British Open for five or six years now.

"I think it would be a good move to either give us some world ranking points so we can qualify for some of the events, or maybe invite two or three of the top-ranked players on the tour," Langer stated. "The same players over the years have shown that they are competitive. They can play with the very best -- it's not a fluke.

"It wouldn't be a bad thing for any tournament to have a Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Mark O'Meara, whoever, in your tournament," he added. "It's not like you're inviting or getting in players that have no history -- they are some of the legends, some of the greatest guys that ever swung the club."

Wales' Ian Woosnam is also in favor of more recognition for senior players. Woosnam won the Order of Merit on last season's European Senior Tour, and finds it strange that he is not exempt for major tournaments as a result.

"It's a good point. Someone said to me: 'Winning the Order of Merit in Europe last year -- why aren't you in the Open Championship?' Good point -- that's an incentive to play for really," said the former Ryder Cup captain.

Australian Norman, who led going into the final round at Birkdale in 2008 only to be outdone by Padraig Harrington, added that it was only a matter of time before one of the game's senior statesmen landed a major.

"I truly believe somebody post-50 is going to win a major championship very, very shortly," said the two-time Open victor. "It may not happen on a course like Bethpage Black (where this year's U.S. Open was staged).

"It may not happen at a course like Augusta National in April when it's cold and wet and damp," he said. "But it will happen at a PGA Championship, it will happen at a British Open somewhere down the line."

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