Home favourites Marcel Siem and Maximilian Kieffer hailed an “amazing” occasion at the 2023 Porsche European Open despite coming up just short of victory in Hamburg.
Rookie Tom McKibbin finished nine under par for his maiden DP World Tour win, two shots clear as the German pair shared second place with France’s Julien Guerrier.
Kieffer was four under through 11 holes before having to settle for a three-under-par 70, one shot better on the day than Siem who had four birdies and two bogeys in a 71.
Siem, the 42-year-old making his 507th DP World Tour start, was left to rue what he labelled a “rookie error” at the 16th hole.
Having just birdied the 15th to move into a share of the lead at the time, Siem took his three wood off the next tee and found the water down the right side.
It led to a costly bogey and he was still visibly emotional after hitting his approach to the last, where he found the right side of the green to set up a closing birdie.
“It was amazing. It was great,” he said of the atmosphere. “I’m just sad that the thing on 16 was still in my head so I couldn’t enjoy it 100 per cent, unfortunately.
“But the people were amazing. I’ve never seen this in Germany before, or anywhere. The Open was great with spectators, but this was the best I’ve ever had.
“Thank you so much to all of the guys supporting me.”
Siem had recovered from an opening bogey with a birdie at the ninth and another when he holed out of a bunker at the tenth.
“I’m very proud of myself,” he said. “I stayed calm. It’s easy to lose your head when you hit good shots and the ball doesn’t go where it’s supposed to go.
“That bunker shot on ten was really cool. The only thing I can say I’m really upset about is 16.
“I didn’t do my homework. I thought it was 280 metres to the water on the right, that’s why I hit three wood off the tee box. But they measured the distance from the back-back tee and I didn’t see it was 40 off.
“It was stupid, it was a rookie mistake. So it was only 240 metres to the water. I thought it was shorter, but then I get that in the water. So that was disappointing.
“A rookie mistake, I still have to do my homework, even after 23 years.”
Kieffer was on the charge after birdies at the fourth, seventh, ninth and 11th but bogeys at the 13th and 14th allowed McKibbin to pull ahead once more.
“I had an amazing front nine, or the first 12 holes were absolutely amazing,” said Kieffer.
“I played really well, holed the putts I had to hole and I was totally in the zone.
“Unfortunately on 13 I bogeyed, which can happen because it’s a very tough hole, and on 14 I three-putted. I left the first putt short, which was a bit stupid.
“But then I actually calmed down a little bit. I made a nice birdie on 16 and it’s a shame I couldn’t birdie 18.
“But overall it’s been a great day, it’s been really emotional. Great support from the crowd, I had lots of goosebumps today, it was awesome.”
