Everything you need to know from the final day at Green Eagle Golf Courses.
Kalle overturned a seven-shot deficit to land his maiden Tour title, U.S. Open qualifying spots were sealed, Wil registered his career-best finish and Tommy praised the crowds.
Here is everything you need to know from Sunday in Hamburg.
Superb Samooja comes through the field to win
Kalle Samooja started the day seven shots off the lead, but he recorded eight birdies in his closing 13 holes to produce a spotless final round of 64 to set the new course record. His scorecard could have made for even better reading as his eagle chip from over by the hospitality area around the 18th green hit the flag and landed just in front of the hole. A two-hour wait followed, but with no-one able to match his six-under-par total, the Finn was able to celebrate a maiden title in his 89th DP World Tour event. "We had a number in mind today and we reached that. We thought it might be enough and it was a long two-hour wait at the clubhouse, seeing the guys battle it out,” he said. "In the end, fortunately it was enough. We were pretty sure that it was going to be a play-off or we might even miss the play-off.”
Producing your best when it matters most
Samooja’s 64 was three shots better than the next best round of any other player all week. Prior to his stellar closing round, Samoja had not broken par in his first three round. Indeed, the 34-year-old had missed the cut in his last three events. “I was hitting the ball really well all week and when I saw the pins this morning, I said to my caddie there is a low one out there today,” Samooja added.
Ten book spots at U.S. Open
The Porsche European Open was the final tournament of a four-event qualifying series on the DP World Tour for the U.S. Open at The Country Club later this month. Dutch Open champion Victor Perez, who fell short of winning back-to-back titles as he made three bogeys in his last seven holes on Sunday, topped the points list, while Samooja’s impressive win moved him among the qualifiers. It will be his first start ever in the USGA’s flagship championship and only the second Major appearance of his career after the 2021 PGA Championship. Also heading to Brookline are 2022 DP World Tour winners Ryan Fox, Thorbjørn Olesen and Sam Horsfield, along with Sebastian Soderberg, Wil Besseling, Yannik Paul, Richard Mansell and Marcel Schenider.
Besseling finishes outright second
Speaking to us ahead of the Dutch Open in his Player Blog presented by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Wil Besseling told us of his belief that a maiden DP World Tour title was nearer than it ever had been in his career. After a missed cut at his home Open, he bounced back to register his career-best finish of outright second after mixing four birdies with a double bogey and a bogey in his closing 71 on Sunday. A first Major Championship appearance at the upcoming U.S. Open awaits.
Tommy praises crowds
Tommy Fleetwood was the highest-ranked player in the field this week and the Englishman concluded his week in Germany with a one-under-par 71 total to finish in a share of tenth place at one under. Reflecting on the event, Fleetwood wrote on Twitter: “A huge thanks to the fans that came out to support this week in Hamburg and especially great to see so many kids watching!”
Defying the statistics
The 475-yard par-four sixth hole played the toughest during the final round, with just seven birdies made during the course of the day. Of those, two were courtesy of chip ins from opposite ends of the putting surface. Step forward Niklas Nørgaard Møller...
... and Daan Huizing.
