John Daly goes for a German double this week after heeding Bernhard Langer's pleas to overcome his dread of flying in the wake of the terrorist attacks on America.

Daly won the BMW International Open in Munich a month ago but took plenty of persuading to cross the Atlantic again so soon for this week's German Masters in Cologne.

Daly was on the verge of pulling out of the £1.7 million event until Langer, one of the co-promoters, convinced him to join him on a private jet.

"Nobody wants to travel in the States commercially," said Daly, not a fan of flying at the best of times.

"Pretty much every airline has dropped 20-30,000 employees and it's very difficult to travel. Bernhard and I travelled privately here with my wife and my agent and his agent. It's the only way to travel right now.

"I'm still scared to get on a commercial airliner. I don't care what people say - it's the safest way to travel and the security we have now - but I still don't believe it."

Daly is the first high-profile American-based player to travel to play in a European Tour event since the terrorist attacks, days after the Ryder Cup was scheduled to have been played at the Belfry.

Tiger Woods was quick to cancel his trip to play in the Lancome Trophy in Paris two weeks ago and Daly admitted many American players would take a long time to get back into the old routine - if they can.

"For myself I wouldn't care if I never fly commercially again," the double major winner added. "Two Fridays ago there was a plane leaving Boston and between the first class seats there were six box knives. I know a lot of FBI guys and they tell me that stuff which people haven't heard yet."

Langer admitted it was not easy to persuade the charismatic Daly to make the trip. "We spent many hours talking to his manager and him and eventually we were able to convince him to come and we are very pleased that he's here," said Langer.

Weather permitting however - the Gut Larchenhof course is struggling to cope following recent heavy rain - the tournament goes ahead with New Zealand's Michael Campbell returning to defend his title.

Campbell won by one shot from Argentinian Jose Coceres when the tournament was reduced to 54 holes by more rain on the final day but faces stiff competition from a high-class field.

Campbell is another player worried about playing in Europe because of the current political situation.

"I've decided to fly my family home to Sydney - as far away as possible from what's happening here," said Campbell yesterday. "I'm over for two or three weeks and then I'll go home to the family again."

Campbell has a house in England but has taken his wife Julie and children Thomas and Jordan to the family's other home in Sydney.

Darren Clarke will be hoping to reduce the gap between himself and US Open champion Retief Goosen at the top of the Order of Merit, the duo paired together in the opening two rounds.

Goosen has shown his determination to become European number one by fitting in an extra tournament, the Madrid Open next month. The South African, $650,000 ahead in this year's European money list, said: "There's still quite a long way to go, with three big money events to come."

Colin Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington, joint third here last year, are also in the field alongside current European number one Lee Westwood, Jose Maria Olazabal, Ian Woosnam and Paul Lawrie.