By Rahul Banerji
Marcel Siem was pushed all the way but held on to emerge as Germany’s first winner of the $2 million Hero Indian Open at the DLF Golf and Country Club on Sunday.
The 42-year-old, a popular champion, survived a tense 72nd hole to win his first tournament in eight years at the expense of younger countryman Yannik Paul and Joos Luiten of the Netherlands.
Siem’s second shot on the Par-5 18th was headed for the water, but the rough caught it. His wedge onto the green stopped shy of the pin as well, leaving him with a 25-foot birdie putt, which too he left short.
As Paul missed his 12-footer for birdie to tie for the lead, Siem holed his second and final putt for the win.
Hero MotoCorp chairman and CEO, Dr. Pawan Munjal, and Indian Golf Union president Brijinder Singh presented Siem with the Trophy.
Siem’s win was worth $340,000 and more importantly, gave him a two-year exemption that will carry on till 2025 since he already has a full card for the current DP World Tour season.’
The top Indians were Shubhankar Sharma (68), who had his best day of the week on Sunday, and Veer Ahlawat (73) at four-under in tied 13th place.
Catching up
Siem, started the final day a shot behind Paul, who had led from day one but caught up at the turn with two birdies on the front nine as compared to one by Paul.0
Back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11 put him two ahead but there was a twist in the tale on 13 as Siem bogeyed and Paul birdied for a two-shot swing.
Suddenly, the two Germans had thrown the contest wide open again.
Siem though was not done yet and picked up a critical shot on 16, that was to prove decisive even as Paul and Luiten pushed him all the way.
Paul needed a birdie to force a play-off but missed from just over 12 feet leaving Siem with a par putt to seal the win.
It was Paul’s second runner-up finish in as many weeks after missing out in Thailand.
Luiten, who had an eagle putt to get into a tie for second, managed only a birdie on 18th to finish a 68 and the tournament on 12-under for third place.
Siem, who spoke to his mother minutes after the win, was candid in admitting, “I just made it a little bit too difficult and 18 was really tough.
“First of all, this golf course doesn’t allow you to make any mistakes so the pressure is on anyhow and then Yannik and Joost were just pushing.
“I know Joost has gone for everything and I thought he’s going to make eagle on the last and then who knows what could have happened. It could have been a three-man playoff or whatever.”
Solid display
“Yannik was playing very solid as well. I’m really, really tired. I think it was one of the toughest golf rounds I’ve ever played in my life. It’s exhausting.
“But I’m back. I’m back in the winners’ circle now. My life coach has always said, ‘Dude. You’re so good. There’s just a few screws we have to loosen and tighten up again’.
Japan’s Masters-bound Kazuki Higa was on fire at the start of the day with two birdies and an eagle in his first four holes.
But he was unable to maintain that tempo and finished the day at 68 to be tied fourth with Spaniard Jorge Campillo (69) at 8-under.
Alexander Knappe and Thailand Classic winner Thorbjorn Olesen, who had an up-and-down day, finished with 70 for tied sixth, while Simon Forsstrom (67) and Gavin Green (67) were tied eighth.
Angad Cheema, who seemed set for a top-10 finish came to grief on the Par-5 18th, where he had a quadruple bogey and dropped to tied-20th alongside Honey Baisoya (73).
Siem’s fifth DP World Tour win came in his 502nd start and came after a gap of eight years and 116 days after his fourth, at the 2014 BMW Masters.
Hanging in
Though it was hard to overcome two consecutive over-par rounds on days two and three, Shubhankar Sharma was satisfied with his finish. “Today was really good, I played quite well and hung in there,” he said later.
“Played well on the back nine, which I’m quite happy about. Didn’t really have my best on the back nine all week, but today was quite nice. It’s a good way to finish the event.
“Today, I just got off to a good start, I made birdie on the first which was good and after that something clicked which I was really happy about.
“Even though I made a mistake on the eighth, I was still able to stay within my zone and I’m particularly happy with the way I played the back nine, it was really solid.
Sharma was putting for a birdie on 18 that would have put him in the top ten, but the ball stopped on the edge of the hole. “The pin position was really tough and my second shot actually went slightly over the green and then it was a tough two putts there,” he pointed out.
“I actually hit a good first putt, but the green was really slow so it got to the pin. And even the second putt was nice but just unlucky as it turned on the face. I made a lot of putts today, so it was a good day overall,” he added.
Also read: All-German tussle builds at the top in Hero Indian Open
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