Golf pro Maximilian Kieffer didn’t miss much to win the BMW International Open. His courage to take risks was not rewarded. A German colleague was deeply disappointed.
On his birthday, golf pro Maximilian Kieffer narrowly missed out on the second German victory in the history of the BMW International Open.
The 33-year-old from Düsseldorf tied for third place on Sunday at the tournament in Munich, which is endowed with two million dollars (around 1.8 million euros). Victory went to South African Thriston Lawrence, who won for the fourth time on the DP World Tour with 275 strokes.
“It’s mixed feelings,” said Kieffer, who would have loved to “hold up the trophy” at his “favourite tournament”: “I had the chance, I should have taken it, it was annoying. But it was a great day at one great tournament.” He was two shots behind 26-year-old Lawrence. The only German victory so far in this tournament, which was attended by more than 50,000 spectators this year, was achieved by Martin Kaymer in 2008.
Kieffer, who started the final day in ninth place, made up a lot of ground ten months after his first win on the Tour. When he took full risk on hole 16, the tee shot landed in the water. Kieffer put on his sunglasses and looked contrite. Marcel Schneider was the second best German in 14th.
Siem ranks 73rd
Marcel Siem, who finished second together with Kieffer in Winsen/Luhe at the beginning of June, had to settle for 73rd place after a disappointing weekend. On Saturday and Sunday he had to digest 14 bogeys, a double and a triple bogey. “Saturday took me extremely hard,” said the 42-year-old: “I couldn’t shake it off. No matter what I did, I only had dirt layers. It’s a spiral that pulls down.”
Like the injured absent Yannik Paul, he could not increase the chances of a nomination in the prestigious Ryder Cup. The comparison between Europe and the USA will take place in Rome from September 29th to October 1st.