Maximilian Kieffer delighted the home fans at the BMW International Open with a stunning albatross during his opening round in Munich.
The 31-year-old German had been going along nicely, level par after ten holes, before lighting up his card at the 555-yard, par-five 11th. Kieffer’s drive found the rough just off to the left of the fairway and with 211 yards left, he smashed a perfect four iron.
He flew the water short of the green and landed just over the bunker guarding the front left. Two short hops on the dancefloor and it was in the bottom of the cup.
It took a moment for him to realise it had dropped, then Kieffer raised two arms in the air, launched his cap in celebration and hugged his caddie before it was high-fives all round with playing partners Dean Burmester and Victor Perez and their caddies.
Kieffer enjoyed the walk to retrieve his ball and was still beaming from ear to ear on his way to the 12th.
Once there, he almost went two-two when his 25-foot birdie putt at the par-three hit the lip and stayed above ground.
Kieffer’s albatross was his first, and the fourth in the history of the tournament.
He signed off by draining a long birdie putt on the 18th to post a four-under 68 and sit six shots off the pace set by Li Haotong.
Kieffer said: "I hit a great drive and I was a little disappointed I was in the rough, it didn’t roll out. But we had an OK lie in the rough, about 200 metres, wind off the right and we were discussing if we should try and draw a five iron in.
"Then I thought if I caught it heavy out of the rough and it doesn’t get it, it might end up a little short, so we hit four iron straight at it. If it’s the right number, that’s the right number. If not, easy bunker shot or easy up-and-down.
"It came off great, looked good in the air. I didn’t see it but when you heard the people behind the green, you knew it was in. It was a great feeling.
"It’s my first albatross, and to do it here with the German fans it was super special. It’s something I’ll always remember, but it was difficult to get back into the rhythm after that a bit. But we did a good job and hit some nice shots after that."
