Porsche European Open: The Debrief

Paul Casey came out on top of a congested leaderboard to collect his 14th European Tour title at the Porsche European Open.

The Englishman worked as a 14-year-old volunteer in 1991 at Walton Heath as an aspiring golfer, hoping to emulate winner Mike Harwood in the future.

And Casey did just that as he held off Austrian duo Matthias Schwab and Bernd Wiesberger and joint overnight leaders Robert MacIntyre and Bernd Ritthammer to record his first European Tour victory since the 2014 KLM Open.

Here is everything you need to know from an absorbing week in Hamburg.

‘The Beast’ tames world elite

Many players were wary about the length of Green Eagle Golf Courses and they were right to be. World Number Nine Xander Schauffele called the Hamburg course ‘a beast’ while Casey referred to it as ‘brutal’. Standing at 7,544 yards, it is the third longest course on the European Tour this season, which also includes five par fives in the final 10 holes. American Matt Kuchar could not make the cut, while Schauffele finished two over par and 2018 Master Tournament winner Patrick Reed was only one shot better - proving the nature of the ‘Beast’.

Fast start for tournament leaders

Event sponsors Porsche offered the overnight leader of the tournament a chance to drive home one of their top model cars as a reward. Paul Casey had the honour on Thursday but Robert McIntyre was the man behind the wheel on Friday and Saturday. A little tentatively - the 23-year-old drove to Green Eagle Golf Courses in a state of the art car on Sunday morning and he looked pretty chuffed with the prize.

Spanish touch in Hamburg

Spanish players are renown for their touch around the green and Pablo Larrazábal continued that trend at the Porsche European Open. The four time European Tour winner plays with his heart on his sleeve but the 36-year-old was more than happy to produce this delightful chip in from the deep rough on the penultimate hole on Saturday as he finished for a tie for seventh.

Family time for Ritthammer

Ritthammer gave the home support something to cheer about as he entered Sunday as joint-leader with MacIntyre. The Nuremberg native had never led a round on the European Tour before Saturday evening but he showed no signs of nerves before becoming the final player to tee off at the Porsche European Open, spending time with his young son.

Diving in to save the day

What do you do when the rope of the signage breaks loose from its mooring in the water? Obviously you have to jump in! That is exactly what happened on Sunday morning and one of the signage contractors had to brave the cold water to fix the problem. Tom Daley would have been happy with that entry.

Raining birdies at Green Eagle

The weather conditions were at there best on Sunday and this was proven by two players breaking the course record at Green Eagle Golf Courses. Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger and Frenchman Romain Wattel were in the same group for the final round as both men carded eight under par 64 and 15 birdies between the pair as they settled for fifth and sixth placed finishes respectively.