Double champion Bernhard Langer, for so long the sole carrier of his nation's hopes, is joined this week by the youngster who certainly fits the bill of heir apparent.

Or should that be Herr apparent?

Martin Kaymer was last season's Rookie of the Year on the European Tour, but even that did not prepare people for the way he began this year.

Against a strong field gathered for the Abu Dhabi Championship in January the 23-year-old conquered all for his maiden victory on the circuit.

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.

Langer, meanwhile, plays his 26th Masters and while he may not at 50 be the force he was, write him off at your peril.

On the US Seniors Tour - the Champions Tour as they call it - Langer, to the surprise of nobody who saw him close to winning on both the main US Tour and the European circuit last season, has swiftly become the main man.

Winner of two of his last four tournaments, the second of them by eight shots, Langer has earned nearly £450,000 already this year and is £125,000 clear at the top of the money list.

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."

Kaymer had never even met Langer until the BMW International Open in Munich last June and because of the former Ryder Cup captain's new career and Florida base they have not seen much of each other since.

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.

In order not to be star-struck by the surroundings he paid an advance visit a few weeks ago while in America for the CA World Championship in Miami.

Accompanying him was Fanny Sunesson - best known, of course, as caddie to Nick Faldo in the past and now Henrik Stenson, but part of Kaymer's inner circle from her coaching work with the German federation.

"When we got there she told me that it was best if we just walked round first. She said if I was hitting shots I would be focusing on my swing and not the course.

"Every hole is special and the greens were so fast even then. On the ninth my first three putts from the back to the front all went off down the fairway.

"It's going to be great experience for me. Once I started playing golf I always watched the Masters."

A sign of the strides he has made came in Dubai before the prize-giving ceremony. Entering the players' lounge the world number one stood up, approached him and said "Hi, I'm Tiger Woods."

The American then said he had heard a lot about him. What Kaymer did not tell him was that earlier in the week he had joined the crowd watching Woods practise and stayed for 45 minutes.

He has already hit the heights of the world top 25, but this week will show up a lot more about what he is capable of.

It will also show us what Langer is still capable of against people younger than him rather than older than him.

Even if Woods dominates proceedings, keep a look-out for this fascinating sub-plot.