Veteran Marcel Siem started the 151st British Open on Thursday (07/20/2023) as the best German golfer.
The 43-year-old from Ratingen played a solid round of 71 at the start of the fourth and final major tournament of the year in Hoylake, England, and shared 32nd place with Northern Irish golf star Rory McIlroy, among others.
“If you don’t put them in the front…”
“I created a lot of chances, but unfortunately I didn’t really take advantage of them with my putter today”, said Siem after the first day at Royal Liverpool Golf Club. The Rhinelander managed four birdies on the first seven holes of the par 71 course, but then he made a few mistakes. “It’s like football: if you don’t put them in the front, you’ll get them in the back.”
The Heidelberg Hurly Long needed just one shot more. The Olympic participant in Tokyo is in 48th place in his first major tournament.
The German tiger almost had no chance
The other two German starters have to worry about the cut at the event, which is endowed with 16.5 million dollars.
The 19-year-old Tiger Christensen from Hamburg not only managed two double bogeys, but also a triple bogey and, after his round of 77 and 130th place, has practically no chance of winning the “Silver Medal” for the best amateur.
South African Lamprecht with a dream round
Like Christensen, Ryder Cup aspirant Yannik Paul (Mannheim) stayed six strokes over par. Only the best 70 of the 156 golfers on the west coast of England reached the two rounds at the weekend.
The South African amateur Christo Lamprecht surprisingly played a dream round. The 22-year-old, 2.03-metre giant needed 66 strokes in his major debut and shares the lead in the world’s oldest golf tournament with local English hero Tommy Fleetwood and Emiliano Grillo from Argentina.