Sam Torrance believes Ian Woosnam should succeed him as Ryder Cup captain for the 2004 contest at Oakland Hills in Michigan.
Woosnam has stated he would like to wait until the contest is staged in Wales for the first time, at Celtic Manor in 2010, before taking on the role. But Torrance believes that would be too late for his vice-captain at The Belfry, for the same reasons he has declined the possibility of captaining the team again in two years.
"I honestly believe I wouldn't be the right man for the job and that's the most important factor," said Torrance, who himself went from vice-captain under Mark James in 1999 to victorious skipper in 2002.
"I'd have been two years on the senior tour, I would have some rapport with some of the team but not the whole lot of them, not watching them week in, week out. I couldn't create the same atmosphere. It's someone that has to be still playing on the tour.
"Langer and Woosie are both playing well enough to make the next team, they have to decide. Woosie definitely deserves the captaincy and so does Langer.
"But I wouldn't like to see Woosie wait until Wales. He'd be 52 then, he'd be in the same situation as I would be in the next one, and I think he should be the next captain.
"He was a fantastic vice-captain, he was great with the players, but he is tenacious and he will want to play again so it will be a tough decision for him."
Langer had emerged as an odds-on favourite to captain the side after Nick Faldo withdrew his unofficial application last week, the German admitting he would be giving it serious consideration over the winter.
The selection process for the next few European captains is threatening to become a complicated affair with so many credible candidates vying for the role. If Woosnam were to become captain in 2004, that would mean Langer's next opportunity would be in 2006, but the matches will be staged in Ireland and the pressure will mount for an Irish captain - Des Smyth being the frontrunner - at the K Club.
The names of Faldo and Colin Montgomerie also come into the equation, and by 2008 Langer would be 51 and presumably not playing on the main tour, a major criteria as far as Torrance is concerned.