DP World Tour : Soudal Open Tee Times
Marcel Siem said he is excited to make his return to the DP World Tour at the Soudal Open after a three-month recovery period following hip surgery.
The five-time DP World Tour winner, who has been absent from competitive action since the Bahrain Championship Presented by Bapco Energies, has spent the last few months recovering in Mauritius but said his game is ready for this week in Belgium.
"I'm very excited," he told the DP World Tour.
"I got really, really bored the last few weeks. I'm missing so much to play competitive golf and it was strange, too, to show up yesterday and you know usually you feel very familiar when you show up on a Monday somewhere, and I felt a little insecure. I was like, oh, I haven't been out here for four months now.
"I would say I'm at 70% now and you will see me walking a bit slower than usual, I guess for the first few tournaments, but I'm ready to go when I swing. I don't have any pain so (I) can't wait to go out there."
Siem enjoyed an impressive 2023 campaign on the DP World Tour after regaining his card through Qualifying School, highlighted by his return to the winner's circle for the first time in eight years as he held off fellow German Yannik Paul to win the 2023 Hero Indian Open.
But towards the end of the season, at the Nedbank Championship, he started to experience discomfort within his hip. With treatment from an osteopath, he continued to play through the pain, revealing the discomfort he experienced at DP World Tour Championship made for “one of my hardest days ever on the golf course.”
It was at that time he began to think about possible surgery, but then some temporary relief let him play the Mauritius Open freely in the opening weeks of the 2024 DP World Tour campaign.
It wasn't long before the injury resurfaced, and Siem continued with treatment and painkillers to play through four events in the Middle East in 2024 before undergoing surgery that has kept him away from the game until now.
Last year Siem achieved a milestone of 500 events on the DP World Tour, becoming just the 45th player to do so. It's testament to his longevity and dedication in the sport but also makes it all the more understandable that Siem missed not only competing over these past few months, but his Tour 'family' as well.
And while the time away let him have more quality time with his own family, it's clear he missed being out here.
"Everybody's greeting me, everybody's happy I'm back, so it's really, really nice to be back with the family so to say," he said.
"I left one family in Mauritius and arrived at the other family, so can't wait to tee it up on Thursday. To be honest this is almost my life since 2002, and it's not only a job, it's a lifestyle in a way.
Now, he's ready to test his game on the DP World Tour for the first time in months.
8.20 10th Marcel Siem, Nicolas Colsaerts, Edoardo Molinari
Edit *** Siem joins the rest of the DP World Tour regular players returning to action on this European Tour swing, after the PGA Championship break.
Canadian Aaron Cockerill is another who has been off since the last regular event in China. He is now ranked 20th in the Race to Dubai standings, and owgr 226.
8.00 1st Aaron Cockerill, Angel Hidalgo, Marcus Kinhult
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
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